• Location: Darwin remote travel required (open to candidates Australia wide)
• Job type: Full or part-time considered
• Term: Ongoing

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are encouraged to apply.

The opportunity:

We’re seeking a a talented and experienced solicitor or senior solicitor to join the Healthy Environment and Justice Program in our Darwin office. This is a hugely exciting opportunity to join the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) in a period of growth and rapid expansion. This role offers the chance to work in one of Australia’s most unique and challenging environmental law positions.

Your job is to help people use the law to defend the Northern Territory’s spectacular environment, heritage and culture. You will educate people about their rights and advocate for laws that deliver more effective environmental protection and justice, and have the chance to help run exciting and ground-breaking strategic litigation.

The EDO is the leading environmental law practice in the Australia Pacific Region delivering legal solutions for peoples, nature and our climate. We have a vision which is a world where nature thrives. We’ve got big ambition about the role we can play in delivering that vision and we’ve got an incredible team across the country working to achieve it.

In 2020 we underwent a 12-month period of rapid growth and change following the merger of the pre-existing eight EDOs located across Australia. And, of course, like all organisations we have had to learn to work in a world changed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Candidate Profile:

You will have an unrestricted practising certificate and strong PAE working as a lawyer with demonstrated litigation experience. This position represents an opportunity to deliver on human rights and the environment in the Northern Territory, and offer a high level of autonomy. Lawyers who think outside the box and want a chance to think creatively about delivering systemic change are strongly encouraged to apply.

EDO is a diverse and inclusive workplace. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are particularly encouraged to apply.

Perks:

• The chance to work on the major environmental issues facing the Northern Territory, including by undertaking critical outreach activities in some of the most remote communities across the Territory.
• The chance to deliver positive environmental outcomes and develop a unique legal practice within the EDO
• A flexible and family-friendly workplace
• Extra leave over the Christmas period
• 15 personal days per year
• Ongoing professional development opportunities, including media training, as required
• Darwin’s tropical lifestyle and proximity to the Territory’s diverse and unique landscapes

Key selection criteria

Core skills

• An unrestricted practicing certificate or entitlement to one in the Northern Territory
• A minimum of 2 years PAE working as a solicitor including litigation, 4-8 + years PAE highly desirable
• Demonstrated experience in administrative and/or environmental law in the Northern Territory highly desirable
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to make sound judgments and decisions based on consideration of different views
• Demonstrated ability to work productively and to deadlines
• Excellent oral and written communication skills suited to a range of audiences

Substantive experience

• Demonstrated litigation experience in administrative or environmental law and/or related disciplines
• Capacity to undertake law reform or policy, experience desirable
• Demonstrated experience working with diverse communities and individuals highly desirable

Personal qualities and cultural competency

• A champion of the agreed values of the EDO
• Strong initiative and self-motivation
• Commitment to the protection of the environment and public participation in environmental decision-making
• A strong sense of ethics and understanding of professional obligations
• Demonstrated awareness of and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds and orientations in both the delivery of our work and our internal culture
• Demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative and team-based environment.

About us

EDO is the largest environmental legal centre in the Australia-Pacific, dedicated to protecting our climate, communities and shared environment by providing access to justice, running ground-breaking litigation and leading law reform advocacy.

With the 8 Environmental Defenders Offices around Australia merging in late 2019, we are now entering a period of substantial growth necessary to meet the growing demands of the public for public interest legal services to address environmental and public health issues such as climate change.

As the region’s legal experts in our field, we aim to be a brave, unified, and focused team, committed to inclusion and excellence in all that we do. We strive to be a diverse and inclusive workplace supporting a highly skilled, engaged, and effective team, where everyone can feel that they belong.

Our Values:

Commitment – We are committed to; a united organisation, to each other, to collaboration, to justice, to our communities and to creating a world where nature thrives.

Diversity – We are respectful of and welcome diversity of staff, volunteers, offices, environmental regions, communities, stakeholders.

Integrity – We work effectively, efficiently, strategically, professionally, and ethically; “justice is in our nature”.

Visionary – We lead change and environmental empowerment using innovation, creativity, and courage.

For further information about the position please us at [email protected], using the subject line: Solicitor / Senior Solicitor enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.