• Leading holistic legal practice for women experiencing family violence
• Mentor/supervise community family lawyers as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Part-time (0.6 FTE) | Leadership opportunity with flexible hybrid working

About the Organisation

Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC) is a dynamic and respected multidisciplinary community legal organisation working to advance human rights, fairness, and justice across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. ECLC is deeply committed to supporting people experiencing disadvantage, particularly those impacted by family violence, through an innovative, integrated practice model where a multidisciplinary teamwork together to deliver holistic services to clients facing complex challenges.

The SAGE program is a trauma-informed, integrated service designed to support women experiencing family violence who face significant barriers to accessing justice. These include women from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse communities, as well as women with disabilities, mental health challenges, or those who are socially or geographically isolated. The program brings together lawyers and family violence advocates to provide coordinated legal, family violence and social support within a culturally safe and accessible framework.

Culture and Benefits

• Supportive, values-driven workplace culture
• Hybrid workplace with the ability to work-from-home
• Office locations in Box Hill, Boronia & Yarra Ranges, close to public transport and parking
• Attractive employee benefits including: salary packaging, leave loading, wellbeing leave, cultural leave and additional gifted leave
• Reflective practice and ongoing professional development

About the Role

Reporting to the Principal Lawyer - Family Violence Initiatives, you will supervise a small team of community lawyers and a paralegal, ensuring high-quality legal practice and compliance. Leading the SAGE program, you will play a vital leadership role within ECLC’s Family Violence Initiatives team and will oversee referrals, coordinate service delivery, mentor lawyers, and help build the legal capability of the team.

You will also contribute to stakeholder engagement, service integration, community legal education, and continuous improvement across the centre’s integrated family violence partnership programs. While the focus is on staff leadership, capacity building and program oversight, there may at times be a need to undertake some direct casework or provide representation in complex family law and family violence matters.

Skills and Experience Required

To thrive in this role, you’ll be a confident legal professional with significant family law practice and litigation experience, a deep commitment to social justice and a collaborative, values-led approach. You’ll bring the technical expertise, leadership capability, and emotional intelligence needed to support a high-performing team working in complex family violence matters, and commitment to trauma-informed practice, reflection and self-care practices
You will also:

• Hold (or be eligible for) an unrestricted practising certificate in Victoria
• Lead with empathy and a collaborative, mentoring approach
• Bring experience or aptitude in supervising, mentoring, and working within an integrated legal model
• Demonstrate strong understanding of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 and Family Law Act 1975

If you want to apply your family law experience to lead and mentor a dedicated team supporting women affected by family violence, we would love to hear from you. Submit your resume and a cover letter addressing the skills required or contact Kelly Gentle in confidence at 03 8080 8978 to discuss your interest.

Please note there is no formal closing date for this role, if you are interested, we would encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

NGO Recruitment values equitable recruitment practices and is committed to representing candidates reflective of the diverse organisations and communities we work with. We welcome and encourage applications from all backgrounds, ages, and identities, and are happy to adjust our recruitment process to support accessibility needs. If you are interested in this position and have most of the skills or experience we are looking for, please go ahead and apply.