Legal Officer

Are you a legal professional looking for a change? Join Mental Health Tribunal!
Parental leave cover until 30/06/2025 + career development opportunities in VPS
VPS 4 Salary + CBD Based + Hybrid Working
About the role:
Reporting to the Principal Legal Officer, the Legal Officer has responsibility for providing Tribunal members and staff with legal information and advice regarding the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 and the Tribunal's statutory functions. The position requires a highly motivated individual who is committed to the highest level of client service, is able to set priorities and work under pressure. The Legal Officer may be asked to act as the Principal Legal Officer from time to time.
How you'll make a difference:
The Legal Officer provides legal advice to Tribunal members and staff (including advising Tribunal members during hearings), co-ordinates the preparation and editing of statements of reasons and as well as de-identifies select statements of reasons for publication; and prepares responses to more complex FOI and other requests for hearing documents. The Legal Officer also develops or contributes to legal projects such as preparing or updating Tribunal practice notes, forms, templates and internal guidance and procedures.
To be successful in this role, you will possess:
A current practising certificate (or eligible to obtain).
Admission to Supreme Court of Victoria
Strong Communication, consultancy and problem-solving skills
High attention to detail
Commitment to excellence and teamwork ability
Whilst not essential, experience in court/tribunal legal or registry support or comparable experience in providing legal/registry support to areas with a high-volume case-flow system is highly desirable.
To learn more please click ‘Apply' to view the Position Description on the Careers.vic website.
What we offer:
The opportunity to perform meaningful work, making direct contributions toward enabling Victorians to be the healthiest people in the world.
A wide range of growth and development opportunities within the department and wider Victorian Public Service & Sector.
A strong commitment to work-life balance, including a diverse array of flexible working arrangements.
About MHT:
The Mental Health Tribunal (the Tribunal) is an independent statutory authority under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 (the Act).The Tribunal is an essential safeguard to protect the rights and dignity of people with mental illness. The primary function of the Tribunal is to determine compulsory mental health treatment for individuals pursuant to the Act. The Tribunal makes compulsory Treatment Orders if certain criteria under the Act apply for a person.A treatment order enables an authorised psychiatrist to provide compulsory treatment to a person who will be treated in the community or as an inpatient in a designated mental health service for a specified period.The Tribunal also determines: • applications for electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) for both compulsory and voluntary adults and young persons.• a variety of matters relating to security patients (prisoners with mental illness who have been transferred to a designated mental health service)• applications to review the transfer of a patient's treatment to another mental health service• applications to perform neurosurgery for mental illness.
How to apply:
Applications should include a resume and a cover letter. Click the ‘Apply' button to view further information about the role including key contact details and the advertisement closing date.
We are committed to developing and supporting a workforce that is well equipped and highly motivated to provide responsive and quality services to all Victorians. We continue to build an inclusive workplace that embraces diversity of backgrounds and differences to realise the potential of our employees for innovation and delivering services aimed at enhancing the lives of all Victorians.
All roles can be worked flexibly and we encourage applications from Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ and people from culturally diverse backgrounds. Please contact us if you require any adjustments to participate in the recruitment process at inclusion@health.vic.gov.au. Please view our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion here.
Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and other pre-employment checks including proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence, in line with our Privacy Policy.
The Jobs and Skills Exchange (JSE) Recruitment Policy allows for priority consideration for Victorian Public Service (VPS) and select employees of the Victorian Public Sector who apply through the Jobs Skills Exchange (JSE) jobs board platform. As such, these employees are strongly encouraged to submit their application through JSE rather than via external advertisement.