Lawyer, Armadale Family & Domestic Violence Hub

Armadale Family and Domestic Violence Hub 

• Fixed Term contract (12 months)
• Salary, commensurate with experience and qualifications, $63,962 to $69,224 per annum, plus superannuation 
• Attractive employee benefits including salary packaging
• Generous leave provisions of 5 weeks annual leave plus leave loading, 2 weeks additional paid leave for end of year closure, and access to additional paid leave for health and well-being

Hope Community Services has been awarded a contract to establish and operate the Armadale Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) Hub in partnership with Yorgum Healing Services Aboriginal Corporation and a number of other specialist service partners including: 

• Ishar Multicultural Women’s Health Services 
• Ngala 
• Women’s Legal Service WA 
• Marmun Mia-Mia Aboriginal Corporation 
• 360 Health + Community 
• Ruah Community Services. 
• Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Limited.  

The new Hub will provide victim-survivors with access to services and supports in a single, accessible location, as well as providing off-site services for perpetrators and young people. The service model will see the creation of a blended, collaborative team, while adopting a trauma informed, culturally competent approach: while the various Hub team members will be employed by one of the nine service partners, they will work within the cohesive FDV Hub team culture under the leadership of the FDV Manager, to provide support to women and children who are experiencing family violence.   

The Hub is currently operating in an interim delivery phase and is expected to transition to the full-service delivery in approximately six months in a location in the Armadale district. 

The Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Limited (ALSWA) is funded to emply  a lawyer to work closely with the Women’s Legal Service WA and other Hub service partners. The ALSWA lawyer assists Hub clients to access legal advice and representation (either directly or indirectly through appropriate warm referrals) for a wide range of legal needs such as family violence restraining orders, child protection, criminal matters and civil law matters. 

The ALSWA lawyer will have a regular physical presence at the victim/survivor service and will undertake work at the perpetrator service site (and via outreach to prisons where applicable). ALSWA and the Women’s Legal Service work closely together to develop and deliver community legal education.

The ALSWA lawyer also provides legal information for the Hub’s program and service staff and actively engages with key external stakeholders from other professional fields to identify knowledge gaps in relation to family and Domestic Violence and encourage inter-professional collaboration through tailored community legal education sessions and outreach programs. 

The key responsibilities of the ALSWA lawyer are: 

1. To provide accessible and culturally secure legal advice and representation for family violence restraining order matters and other FDV-related legal issues. 
2. To assist clients with appropriate warm referrals to ALSWA’s Criminal Law Unit, Family Law Unit and/or Civil Law and Human Rights Unit. 
3. To assist clients with appropriate warm referrals to external legal service providers.
4. To provide community legal education (CLE) at the FDV Hub or other specified locations (including in conjunction with Women’s Legal Service WA). 
5. To assist clients with appropriate warm referrals to other services both internal and external. 

The lawyer is expected to work collaboratively in a team environment with others working at the Hub and work collaboratively with other ALSWA staff.

This position requires a responsible person who is compassionate and self-motivated with well-developed interpersonal skills and personal integrity. 

Knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal culture, society and the issues affecting Aboriginal people is required. This position also requires knowledge of and/or experience working with family and Domestic Violence, in particular in Aboriginal communities. 

If you are passionate about striving for justice for disadvantaged Aboriginal people and want to make a difference, ALSWA is the place for you. The work is both challenging and rewarding. 

To be considered for this role, you will need to meet the following criteria:

1. Demonstrated experience or understanding of FDV, in particular for Aboriginal communities. 
2. Ability to work with Aboriginal clients with an appropriate level of cultural understanding, empathy and sensitivity; 
3. Ability to assess and determine a client’s legal needs for a broad range of legal issues (including child protection, family law, criminal law and civil law). 
4. Demonstrated ability to appear as counsel in family violence restraining order proceedings. 
5. Ability to deliver culturally secure community legal education. 
6. Sound understanding of Family Violence Restraining order legislation and processes. 
7. Demonstrated organisational and time management skills with the ability to work under pressure and maintain confidentiality. 
8. Sound communication skills (interpersonal, written and verbal).
9. Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a team comprising legal and non-legal staff with a willingness to learn and share knowledge with others.

We have a friendly, caring and diverse work environment. We offer attractive employment benefits including salary packaging (making part of your salary tax-free), free counselling services to employees and immediate family through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), flexible working arrangements and opportunities for professional development. 

We also provide 5 weeks annual leave per year plus leave loading, 2 weeks additional paid leave for end of year closure, and access to additional paid leave for health and well-being.

ALSWA is a not-for-profit independent government funded organisation working to provide high quality legal representation, supports and assistance to the Aboriginal community in WA.  

ALSWA has 11 offices across regional WA and provides legal assistance in criminal, civil, human rights and family law, engages in law and policy reform and community legal education activities and provides services which support clients in the areas of youth diversion, bail support, unpaid fines and the Custody Notification Service.

We live our values of caring, sharing and respect.

To submit your application, please send it to ***********@als.org.au. Your application must include a cover letter outlining what strengths you could bring to the role and your resume. Selection criteria is not required. 

If you wish to discuss this opportunity in further detail, please contact Victoria Williams Manager Policy and Programs or Human Resources on (08) 9265 6***. 

APPLICATIONS CLOSE: Wednesday 21 February 2024

For full position details, roles and responsibilities please visit the employment section of www.als.org.au/employment.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are seeking to increase the diversity of our workforce to better meet the differing needs of our clients and to improve equal opportunity outcomes for our employees. ALSWA strongly encourages applications from Indigenous Australians. We also encourage applications from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and people with a disability. We provide an environment that values diversity and supports all staff to reach their full potential.