Family Law/family Violence Solicitor

**JOB DESCRIPTION**:
**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.

**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).
- 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**:
1. 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).

2. Tertiary qualifications in law, admission as NSW Legal Practitioner and a current NSW Practicing certificate.

3. 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).

4. 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).

5. 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).

6. Demonstrated understanding of the role and functioning of Community Legal Centres.

7. Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to social justice issues and those experiencing economic, social, and cultural disadvantage and lack of access to legal services.

8. Demo