Ruah aims to promote measures to achieve equality. Section 51 of the Equal Opportunity Act applies to this role.

Care and Protection Lawyer

Our mission is open hearts and bold strides.

About the Role

Due to new funding, we are expanding our care and protection legal service and are now searching for a forward-thinking, innovative and dedicated Lawyer to join our multidisciplinary team. This is a full-time position. The position is a funded to 30 June 2024 with the possibility of a permanent position. We will consider applications from Lawyers who wish to work part-time.

Our integrated service delivery model is cutting-edge and we are seeing fantastic results for our clients as a result. In order to excel in this role, you need to have a passion for wrap-around legal service and a commitment to the case management model it requires.

You need to be passionate about the law, challenging the status quo and making change. Our clients face adversity against systems that are often weighted against them, and we need lawyers and leaders who recognise the important role we play in being the voice for our clients, and to challenge the systems and its norms wherever we can.

This role requires a level of emotional resilience and excellent interpersonal skills. You must understand and be committed to principles of holistic, trauma-informed and culturally-safe legal practice, and it is essential that you have the ability to communicate sensitively and effectively with clients who are traumatised and have complex personal circumstances, including mental illness.

You must love being in court and advocating for your clients as this role will be focused on the provision of legal information, advice, and representation (including at trial) to parents in Children’s Court care and protection proceedings. In keeping with our integrated service delivery model, you may also be required to assist clients with legal problems across a range of other areas of law, including restraining orders, family law, and criminal law.

In addition to your client and advocacy work, as part of the legal team you will mentor junior lawyers, supervise paralegals and volunteers, and participate in the community legal education opportunities.

This role will involve regular outreach work, including meeting with clients at a variety of community and health settings. At Ruah we work flexibly across many places which might include the office, home or while out and about.

About Ruah Legal Services

Welcome to Ruah where everyone is welcome, and everyone belongs. We are a Community Legal Centre and while you think you might know the community legal sector; we do things differently around here! Ruah Legal Service is the result of an innovative and WA-first merger of a community services organisation (Ruah Community Services) and a community legal centre (Mental Health Law Centre). This merger has allowed us to take bold strides into a new way of delivering legal services to clients.

While many Community Legal Centres focus on providing discrete legal advice services and information, Ruah Legal Services focuses and specialises in the provision of end-to-end legal representation with integrated psycho-social support. What does that mean? It means we help clients from the beginning to the end, in and out of Court, with advocacy and representation and until whatever the end might be. It might be a trial, or a sentencing, but whatever it is, we are there alongside the clients.

Ruah Legal Services’ key practice areas include Care and Protection and Family and Domestic Violence (FDV). Additionally, we continue to trade as the Mental Health Law Centre (MHLC) for the provision of legal services to clients subject to involuntary treatment orders under the Mental Health Act 2014. As well as representation before the Mental Health Tribunal, MHLC provides representation for criminal law matters and matters under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990.

What we offer is a cutting-edge workplace that focuses on using technology to maintain a work-life balance. We believe in working flexibly, and our sophisticated, cloud-based practice management systems enables our staff to do so. At any given hour of the work day, our staff might be working from home, in the office, in a quiet corner of a café or at the local park. This flexibility allows our staff to maintain their own wellbeing and the stress of a sometimes-challenging client group. We focus on client need and on business need, and so long as both are being met, you can manage your own flexibility.

What do we offer?

• An opportunity to work with a dynamic and supportive team
• Level remuneration package of up to $94,000 (excluding super) pro rata depending on experience.
• 16 weeks paid parental leave, with flex to take at 32 weeks half-pay (uniquely, new staff can access 4 weeks paid parental leave after just 6 months’ service).
• 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave.
• Salary packaging up to $15,900.
• Annual leave loading of 17.5% (for award-based staff).
• Flexible working hours and office locations
• An extensive learning and development program.
• Opportunities to be active in the Ruah Community such as participating in a wide range of working groups, joining us at Pride events, being a part of a range of cultural events to promote and support reconciliation and much much more!

It is expected that the successful applicant will be able to demonstrate the following:

Essential:

• Be admitted as a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and hold an unrestricted practicing certificate.
• At least 3 years post admission experience in family or care and protection law and a willingness to practice in other areas including restraining orders and criminal law.
• Demonstrated competence in advocacy before Tribunals and Courts.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including demonstrated ability to engage respectfully and effectively with clients experiencing complex trauma and other circumstances of vulnerability.
• An understanding of issues facing Aboriginal and culturally and linguistically diverse communities and clients, particularly in the care and protection jurisdiction.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including demonstrated ability to engage respectfully and effectively with clients experiencing complex trauma and other circumstances of vulnerability.
• High level written and oral communication skills.
• Exceptional time management skills and demonstrated ability to prioritise tasks.
• Demonstrated capacity to work independently and collaboratively within a team and a willingness to contribute to the vision, mission, core values and the guiding principles of the organisation.

Desirable:

• Experience working in a Community Legal Centre.
• Experience with integrated approaches to legal practice which involve collaboration with non-legal support services.

Addressing the Selection Criteria:

You must clearly detail how you meet each selection criteria by addressing them separately. If you do not address the selection criteria, it is unlikely you will be considered for the position.

For each of the selection criteria, make a separate heading and then detail your knowledge, skills, abilities and experience and ensure you emphasise your major achievements by giving examples. Also include any non-working or volunteer activities, such as involvement in a community organisation.

It is your responsibility to convince the selection committee you are the best candidate for the position. You should ensure the information you provide is adequate for the selection committee to assess the strength of your application.

How to Apply

We hope the information in the below Position Application Kit will give you a better understanding of our recruitment and selection procedures and help you in preparing and submitting your application.

All application are to be made via our recruitment platform, LiveHire. Applicants are asked to complete the following in order to apply for this role:

• Covering letter addressing selection criteria below in no more than 3 A4 pages
• Copy of your CV

Applications that do not adhere to the above requirements will not be considered.

A position description is attached.

Applications will be considered as they are received. If you feel this is the perfect role for you, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible as this role will be filled if a suitable applicant is identified before the closing date.

We are building a workplace where difference is embraced and encouraged - and to do this, we need people on our team who are representative of the clients we work with, who are passionate about change and courageous enough to stand up for what is right.

Everyone is welcome. Everyone belongs.