Take the next step in your legal career at one of Australia’s most successful Community Legal CentresSupportive culture with a strong focus on staff wellbeingNot for profit salary packaging and additional leave benefitsFull-time contract to 30 June 2026We are:
Refugee Advice & Casework Service (RACS), a nonprofit providing essential legal support and advocacy for people who have fled persecution to find safety in Australia. We help refugees, people seeking asylum, stateless individuals and those who are displaced. Our vision is of justice and dignity for and with refugees and since 1987, we’ve helped tens of thousands of people secure protection in Australia.
RACS provides free, dedicated legal services to people seeking asylum and refugees. Through individual advice sessions, community education and public advocacy, RACS strives to ensure that individuals and families, at risk of persecution or other forms of significant harm, gain access to equal and fair representation before the law, and are granted protection by Australia, and opportunities to seek family unity, in accordance with Australia’s international obligations.
The Role:
The primary role of the RACS Solicitor is to provide legal assistance to people seeking asylum, refugees, people that are stateless and displaced, in an immigration setting. You will also be contributing to RACS policy & law reform work. The position reports to a RACS Supervising Senior Solicitor. The Solicitor will carry out their duties in accordance with RACS policy and funding guidelines. The successful applicant will be working at RACS’ main Randwick office, but will be expected to travel to our outreach locations, to external meetings, detention centres and other locations as reasonably required.
The RACS working environment can be high volume and the successful applicant must be skilled in managing time and priorities.
You will:
Provide casework assistance, limited assistance and advice as required in accordance with RACS’ Casework Guidelines to people seeking asylum, refugees, stateless and displaced people. This can include advising and representing clients at Departmental, Immigration Assessment Authority, Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Judicial Review level.Identify and appropriately respond to the cultural needs or particular vulnerabilities of RACS’ clients.Manage a large volume of client data and documentation in line with legal requirements. This includes maintaining files effectively and in accordance with RACS’ file management policies and in accordance with the Risk Management Guide.Communicate with a wide range of stakeholders in a confident and a respectful manner.Attend external supervision and/or debriefing as arranged.Be alert to the danger of burnout, monitor your workload and be pro‐active in self-care.Participate in RACS’ training and education programs as required to maintain appropriate skills that will enable provision of high quality and professional migration assistance. This includes completing and maintaining records of MCLE/ CPD points completed.Level 4 solicitor has less than 3 years’ legal experience/PQE or less than 2 years’ experience in the field of Refugee Practice or other relevant experience.
You are:
An admitted solicitor with a passion for law reform and advocacy work and a sound knowledge of Australian immigration law and practice, particularly refugee law. The successful candidate will have the following:
Essential
Demonstrated experience in a legal environment with knowledge of Australian immigration law and practice, particularly refugee law.Experience working with clients from torture & trauma backgrounds and or/ culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.High-level communication and interpersonal skills, including an ability to communicate with a wide range of stakeholders in a confident and a respectful manner.Ability to work under pressure, manage time and priorities effectively and meet strict deadlines.Ability to work independently and in a diverse team.A commitment to refugee and human rights issues.A passion for law reform and advocacy work.Desirable
Experience working with people seeking asylum, refugee, stateless or displaced communities.Experience working in a Community Legal Centre or Migration practice and the ability to work in an environment with limited resources.Strong written skills and an ability to compose written pieces for various audiences.Demonstrated language other than English will be considered favourably.Experience with or exposure to working in a court, tribunal or advocacy setting will be considered favourably.Salary:
The remuneration for the position is at the SCHADS Award rate Level 4, plus superannuation contribution and loadings. Salary packaging is available.
To Apply:
If you’re ready to join our team, please submit your CV, together with a cover letter addressing the above selection criteria. To find out more, contact Kirsty Wood on (02) 8317 6537.
Please note we will be assessing applications as soon as they come in, so please get in touch at your earliest opportunity.
RACS is committed to working together to achieve a more inclusive community. Our workplace strives to be one that embraces and celebrates diversity and the wide range of skills, expertise and experience we can all bring to strengthen our dynamic, collaborative, and responsive environment. RACS encourages people from all backgrounds to apply, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, people that identify as LGBTQIA+ and people with disabilities.
Non-lawyers employed by RACS are required to comply with s 121 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law.
RACS particularly welcomes applications from those with the lived experience of seeking asylum, including those on temporary visas with the relevant permission to work.
