About Women's Legal Service WA

Women’s Legal Service WA is an accredited and specialist gender-specific community legal centre, providing trauma-informed services to women around Western Australia who are financially disadvantaged, prioritising assisting women who have or are experiencing family violence.

In addition to poverty and family violence, WLSWA clients live with multiple vulnerabilities and complex unmet social and legal needs that creates additional barriers to accessing justice.

WLSWA practice areas include family law, child protection and care matters, family and domestic violence and criminal injuries compensation. The specialised legal services provided by WLSWA ensure that clients access a single legal service, that is responsive to their different legal needs. Assistance is tailored to ensure continuity in support and mitigate re-traumatising clients with a high complexity of legal and social issues.

WLSWA aims to empower WA women to make informed legal choices and participate fully in legal processes that greatly impact on their lives and the lives of their children.

WLSWA also promotes and advocates for women’s human rights to be upheld and fosters legal and social change through a range of strategic activities, including community legal education and policy reform.

WLSWA provides socio-legal assistance to women in collaboration with our sector partners.

About Sexual Assault Legal Service WA

Sexual violence is one of the most underreported crimes in Australia. Coupled with high attrition rates, sexual violence also has one of the lowest prosecution rates. Many victim-survivors who choose to report find the process traumatic, have limited support to protect their legal rights, and rarely see perpetrators held to account.

In response, the federal government is funding three locations across Australia to provide victim-survivors with greater access to specialised and trauma-informed legal services to support their recovery and safe participation in the criminal justice system. WA is one of these locations.

The Sexual Assault Legal Service WA pilot is a partnership between Women’s Legal Service WA, Aboriginal Family Legal Services and Ruah Legal Services, all specialist community legal services.

SALSWA will deliver state-wide, integrated, culturally appropriate and trauma-informed socio-legal assistance to victims-survivors in Western Australia.

The aim of the SALSWA is for clients to understand their legal rights, make informed decisions, have better engagement with the justice system, and have improved justice outcomes. Services will be provided from as early and close to the place of disclosure as possible and tailored to meet the unique needs of each client and include legal and community services. Wherever possible, assistance will be ongoing. Services will be targeted at known points of victim-survivor disengagement or departure from the system.

About the social work position

Social work at WLSWA is an important aspect of our innovative and integrated socio-legal assistance to women. Ensuring that women’s co-occurring unmet legal and non-legal needs are responded to in a coordinated and holistic way leads to better outcomes.

The social worker at SALSWA provides holistic, trauma-informed support to women and victim-survivors of sexual assault, with legal practitioners, to address both practical and emotional needs. Grounded in feminist principles and an inclusive support model, the role centers victim-survivors autonomy, lived experience, and self-determination while supporting navigation through complex systems such as criminal justice, health, housing, and financial support.

With a strong understanding of the structural and systemic factors contributing to gender-based violence, the social worker builds dignity-affirming relationships and walks alongside clients as they define their own goals, explore what justice means to them, and access needed specialist services.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of an innovative pilot delivering integrated assistance to victim-survivors of sexual violence. This position is funded to June 2026, with probable extension.

Based in the Perth office, social workers may be required to undertake some travel to regional centres.

Whilst this position is full-time, there is also provision to configure part-time arrangements between successful applicants too.

About the successful applicant

The successful applicant will have a great combination of social work experience and expertise. They will value effective teamwork and have a supportive and positive approach to working alongside their SALSWA peers and other stakeholders in the sector. They will be able to work under pressure, multitask and be flexible. 

Above all they will be passionate about advancing the interests of women, reducing gender inequality, and empowering women through the provision of excellent services to know and understand their legal and human rights.

Conditions

In addition to the opportunity to join a great team, WLSWA offers flexible working arrangements, employee assistance program, targeted professional development, opportunity to salary sacrifice, and additional paid leave between Christmas and new year.

A position description is attached.

For a confidential discussion about the position, please contact Dr Jennie Gray 0427 017 467.

We strongly encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds.

We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible. If the suitable candidate is successful prior to this date the ad will close early.