about us

The Working Women’s Centre SA Inc is a not-for-profit organisation and a community legal centre that provides a legal service to vulnerable working women and people. The Centre has three arms of work:

• Legal Service – we provide legal advice and representation to vulnerable workers who contact the Centre with work issues through one-to-one clinic appointments. Clients may require ongoing advice and if so we also provide advice outside of these clinic appointments. We provide a representation service and have the capacity to represent a client through to the conclusion of a hearing.
• Advocacy – we conduct advocacy to resolve systemic issues that affect women and other vulnerable workers, such as sexual harassment and precarious work. Our advocacy program is informed by our legal and education service.
• Education – we provide fee-for-service and free training for workers and employers about workplace rights, sexual harassment, responding to disclosures of domestic violence and other topics.

The Centre was established in 1979 and has been advising, supporting and advocating for vulnerable women for 42 years. The Centre provides support, advice, information, and representation to women who face issues in their employment in both federal and state jurisdictions. The Centre is also concerned with the structural inequalities for women in the workplace, and conducts outreach, community.

Employment conditions are specified in the Working Women’s Centre SA Inc Enterprise Agreement 2021 however a new enterprise agreement will be approved prior to the successful candidate commencing. We are currently in a 4-day week pilot project.

The Centre received National Legal Assistance Partnership funding to provide legal services relating to sexual harassment and discrimination. The Centre also received funding from the Fair Work Ombudsman to provide advice, representation and information to vulnerable workers relating to the Fair Work Act 2009. The successful candidate will be required to provide advice and representation over the two streams of legal funding.

LAWYER'S DUTIES

Client Services / Case Work

• Providing information and industrial and legal advice to vulnerable people who are primarily not members of unions and who do not have their own lawyer.
• Provide industrial legal advice across a wide range of federal and state legislation concerning industrial, discrimination and employment matters.
• Represent clients in conciliation, arbitration, and court hearings with respect to workplace claims and disputes.
• Working closely with the Director/Principal Solicitor and the Senior Lawyer the successful candidate(s) will have responsibility for carriage of disputes, pre and post conciliation/mediation.
• Provide supervision to lawyers with restricted practicing certificates;
• Maintain files and organise client data for the purpose of reporting.
• Perform ancillary tasks as directed.

Outreach and Community Education

• Represent the Working Women’s Centre on a broad range of community, union, government, legal and departmental committees as necessary.
• Prepare and present community education sessions.
• Raise awareness through innovative and target of the need of women and vulnerable people in various forums.

Union Liaison And Assistance

• Educate and assist women in gaining representation from their unions.

SELECTION CRITERIA

The successful candidate will have:

You must address each selection criteria. We suggest that you use each criterion as a heading for your response.

1. A tertiary legal qualification.
2. The ability to obtain an unrestricted practicing certificate.
3. Demonstrated knowledge of Fair Work Act 2009, state and federal discrimination legislation and a sound understanding of worker’s compensation schemes.
4. Demonstrated abilities in negotiation and conflict resolution.
5. Demonstrated high level written and oral communication skills.
6. Demonstrated ability to represent clients in tribunals, courts and commissions.
7. Demonstrated ability to manage a busy caseload. You must demonstrate how you will manage a high volume of telephone advice appointments, while committing to good customer service and competing case work demands.
8. Demonstrated ability to supervise and assist junior lawyers commiserate with PAE.
9. Exceptional time management skills and demonstrated ability to prioritise tasks.
10. A demonstrated commitment to the principles of justice and worker's rights.
11. Understanding of gender politics and the intersection with labour/employment policy.
12. A demonstrated commitment to the principles of intersectional feminism, economic justice and workers’ rights.
13. A demonstrated capability to work in a team and contribute to a positive team culture.

Desirable Selection Criteria

• Experience assisting people with sexual violence victims/survivors
• The ability to supervise junior lawyers (5 years post admission experience required)

We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

We encourage applications from people of colour.

We encourage applications from all cis and trans women, as well as non-binary people who are comfortable working on advocacy that focuses on the experiences of women.

We encourage applications from disabled applicants, please contact us about the accessibility of the workplace. Our new premises (moving in September) is wheelchair accessible and we will accomodate for any sensory needs.

We encourage LGBTIQ+ applicants.

We encourage applications from survivors of gender violence.

We know that sometimes the best people for the role may not fit the exact selection criteria.

A position description is attached.