• Care & Protection/ Family Law practice
• Newcastle
• Permanent ongoing

About the ALS

Born out of a protest movement, the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited is the primary legal service for Aboriginal people in NSW and the ACT. Our vision is to achieve social justice and equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families and communities.

It’s an exciting time for the ALS, with both our services and teams growing significantly. We recently received additional government funding to deliver a range of new programs aimed at addressing systemic issues and driving structural reforms. This is creating unprecedented opportunities for the ALS and our communities.

We offer a diverse, inclusive and supportive work environment. We’re passionate about what we do and we work hard. The ALS values the health and wellbeing of our employees, and we are proud to offer flexible work practices. Staff can choose to take advantage of benefits including salary packaging to maximise take-home pay.

About the role

The primary objective of the position is to deliver culturally appropriate legal advice, and representation to clients in accordance with the ALS policies, procedures and guidelines in Care & Protection/ Family Law including early intervention and outreach services, community legal education and referrals.

What you’ll bring to the role

To be successful in this role you will need to demonstrate:

• Knowledge and appreciation of the cultural and social needs of Aboriginal communities combined with continuing respect and support for Aboriginal cultural practices when considering service delivery and other support for clients, their families, communities and staff
• Appropriate legal qualifications and a current NSW Practicing Certificate
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience representing clients in Care & Protection areas of law
• Demonstrated sound commitment to the principles of social justice
• In-depth knowledge, understanding and of Care & Protection legal area, including current/ contemporary practice and procedure
• Excellent written and oral communication skills combined with strong time management, legal research and problem-solving skills
• Ability to mentor and supervise less experienced solicitors
• Ability to work autonomously and in a team environment, applying sound judgement, meeting conflicting deadlines and managing a demanding workload
• Ability to display sound judgment and proven capacity to provide high quality legal representation and advice to Aboriginal clients
• Ability to meet deadlines, work without supervision and manage a diverse workload, together with high level conceptual, analytical and research skills
• Highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills and excellent oral and written communication skills
• A willingness and ability to travel to regional, metropolitan and interstate locations for work purposes

How to Apply

Please download the application package for this position, attached below.

Please submit the completed application package to Ann Pitkeathly, Recruitment Manager, via the Apply Now prompts.