About Macarthur Legal Centre

Macarthur Legal Centre is a not-for-profit community legal centre (CLC), based in Campbelltown (NSW), which provides free legal advice, referrals and assistance to people living in our catchment (which currently includes the Macarthur region and various LGA’s in regional NSW).

We firmly believe that professional legal services should be available to ALL members of our community, regardless of social, cultural, or economic background. We work collaboratively with our internal specialist domestic violence, tenancy, youth, and Aboriginal workers to provide vulnerable clients with wrap-around legal and quasi-legal support services.

In addition to our client-focused services, we also work to increase awareness of everyday legal/social issues, via community education, and use our coal-face experience to help inform positive legal/policy reforms in our main areas of practice.

Family Law/Family Violence Solicitor

MLC has recently received Commonwealth family law/family violence funding to help improve financial, social, and legal outcomes for clients experiencing family violence and/or those with complex family law issues.

The solicitor will work closely with our auspiced Macarthur Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service (MWDVCAS) to provide legal advice/support services to MWDVCAS clients and others experiencing, impacted by, or at risk of family/domestic violence. Given the close work with our MWDVCAS client group, being a woman is a genuine occupational requirement of this role.

We are looking for a female solicitor, with significant family/generalist legal experience and a commitment to assisting people experiencing domestic/family violence to work with MLC fulltime (70 hours per fortnight).

Pay range of $46.95/hour - $53.07/hour (Level 5 pay point 3 – Level 7 pay point 1, under Social, Community, Home Care & Disability Services Industry Award (SCHCADS)), plus super and Public Benevolent Benefits (Salary Sacrificing). PAY RATE, WITHIN THIS RANGE, WILL BE DEPENDENT ON RELEVANT EXPERIENCE/ABILITIES etc. This position is currently funded until 30 June 2025, with the position otherwise subject to availability of funding.

The primary functions of the FLFV Solicitor are to:

• Provide professional legal services to clients impacted by family violence (i.e., advice, referrals, task and casework assistance).
• Where necessary, represent clients in court proceedings (Local and Family Courts) (e.g., urgent family law applications, where clients are not eligible for Legal Aid grants and/or otherwise unable to self-represent or afford private legal representation, debt matters etc.).
• Independently manage a personal caseload of legal matters and/or non-legal projects (e.g., community legal education, law reform activities).
• Undertake family law work, as required by the practice.
• Undertake generalist legal work, as required by the practice (credit and debt, employment, discrimination, administrative law, wills and estates, Centrelink, child support, victim services claims etc.)
• Work effectively with clients experiencing, at risk of, or impacted by family/domestic violence.
• Attend MLC outreach services, at targeted partner service locations throughout our catchment (this may include attendance at Campbelltown Local Court on DV list/hearing days, outreaches, hospitals, community organisations etc., as required etc.).
• Work collaboratively with our legal team and our other auspiced services to provide mutual clients with holistic wrap-around support (including our Aboriginal Legal Assistance Program (ALAP), Children’s Court Assistance Service (CCAS), Macarthur Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service (MWDVCAS) and our South West Sydney Tenant’s Advice and Advocacy Service (SWSTAAS).
• Develop and deliver community legal education (CLE) materials.
• Establish and maintain a reliable network of relevant specialist workers/services for warm referral purposes.
• Participate in relevant networking activities with the local community and relevant service providers (including CLCNSW, CLC Australia, Legal Aid NSW etc.)
• Attend internal/external meetings, as required.
• Participate in relevant law reform activities.
• Work effectively as a part of the broader MLC team.
• Complete admin and related tasks, as required (e.g., properly documented advice/task/casework files, accurate data entry, ongoing reporting, documented case studies etc.)

Selection Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Being female is considered a genuine occupational qualification for this position. The position is exempt under section 31(2)(h) of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW).
• Tertiary qualifications in law, admission as NSW Legal Practitioner and a current NSW Practicing certificate.
• At least 1-2 years post-admission experience as a solicitor, practicing in family law, and/or relevant areas (with ability to demonstrate relevance of other experience, where there is no direct family law experience).
• Ability to undertake independent family law, and generalist legal work (e.g., credit/debt, employment, Centrelink, Child Support, administrative complaints etc.) as required by the practice. This may include court representation/attendances, on occasion).
• Experience working with clients experiencing, impacted by, or at risk of family/domestic violence and an understanding of the possible impacts of vicarious trauma which may result from working with this client group (and willingness to attend internal/external supervision/counselling about this issue).
• Demonstrated understanding of the role and functioning of Community Legal Centres.
• Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to social justice issues and those experiencing economic, social, and cultural disadvantage and lack of access to legal services.
• Demonstrated understanding of cross-cultural factors across a broad range of social issues.
• High-level oral and written communication skills including advanced ability to work in an electronic environment.
• Capacity to develop and deliver community legal education materials to community groups and workers.
• Commitment to social justice and capacity to participate in law reform activities.
• Awareness of issues facing women who deal with domestic and family violence and an empathy in dealing with this client group on the phone and face-to-face.
• Understanding of issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and ability to work effectively with this client group.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Capacity to work unsupervised, with an ongoing willingness to seek assistance and take guidance from allocated managers, as required.
• Demonstrated high-level interpersonal skills, and ability to work as a member of a team.
• Demonstrated ability to comply with MLC COVID-19 vaccination policy, and willingness to comply with MLC vaccination policies and/or policies of partner services, as they may apply from time-to-time.
• Driver’s licence, and access to vehicle with comprehensive insurance cover, for work travel purposes. Including willingness and ability to travel for work purposes.

next steps

If you’re interested in applying, please click Apply Now to submit your application.

Any questions should be sent to [email protected], using the subject line: Family Law Family Violence Solicitor enquiry via EthicalJobs.  

Further information about our services can be found at maclegal.net.au.