Credit, Debt and Consumer Law Solicitor – Financial Abuse Service NSW
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Redfern Legal Centre has an exciting opportunity for a credit, debt and consumer lawyer to join our Financial Abuse Service, which is an integrated, best practice model that assists victim survivors experiencing financial abuse in intimate partner relationships to recover and thrive.
- Permanent, full time or part time roles.
- Salary and benefits: $111, 697 – $132,566 (pro rata for part time) depending on qualifications and experience.
Our Financial Abuse Service is an innovative and dynamic statewide practice with a specialist, cross-jurisdictional, and integrated approach that provides holistic legal and non-legal support to clients, increasing their safety and wellbeing and leading to financial independence and empowerment. We also drive systemic change through test cases, advocacy and law reform.
The credit, debt and consumer law solicitor will work collaboratively with social workers and other specialist solicitors (family law, corporations law, tax law and immigration law) in an integrated model to assist people across New South Wales by telephone, teleconferencing, email and in person. Our specialist, cross-jurisdictional, and integrated approach provides holistic legal and non-legal support to our clients, increasing their safety and wellbeing and leading to financial independence and empowerment.
The solicitor will work closely with the Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer to contribute to the development of systemic advocacy, policy and law reform to both address the causes of financial and economic abuse and improve outcomes for victim survivors.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
1. Redfern Legal Centre
Redfern Legal Centre is a non-profit community legal centre that promotes social justice and creates change. We provide free legal advice, legal services and education to people experiencing disadvantage in New South Wales. We drive innovation and change through policy and law reform work to address inequalities in the legal system, policies and social practices that cause disadvantage.
We provide effective and integrated free legal services that are client focussed, collaborative, non-discriminatory and responsive to changing community needs, to our local community as well as state-wide. Our specialist legal services focus on tenancy, credit, debt and consumer law, financial abuse, employment law, international students, First Nations justice, police accountability, and provide outreach services, including through our health justice partnership.
2. Position responsibilities
- Provide trauma informed advice, representation and referrals in the area of credit, debt and consumer law, according to the centre’s eligibility criteria, including the preparation of internal and external dispute resolution complaints, and the preparation of applications and appearances in Courts and Tribunals.
- Work collaboratively with other professionals (internal and external) to deliver holistic socio-legal outcomes for clients.
- Identify and undertake test cases.
- Coordinate and supervise volunteer solicitors and students.
- Identify systemic legal and policy issues and contribute to policy and law reform.
- Provide community legal education with an emphasis on areas of frequent inquiry, perceived need and recent innovation.
- Work with community, government, professional and media organisations and attend stakeholder and sector events and meetings.
- Contribute to Redfern Legal Centre through attendance at staff meetings, contribution to board and funding reports, assistance with intake including intake supervision shifts, and contribution to the effective implementation of our Reconciliation Action Plan.
3. Knowledge, skills and experience
Essential
- Qualified to practice as a solicitor in NSW and eligible to hold a current practicing certificate with at least two years relevant post admission experience.
- Demonstrated experience providing legal advice and representation in credit, debt and consumer law cases that involve financial abuse.
- Demonstrated understanding of the credit, debt and consumer law issues faced by people experiencing financial abuse (including potential for collaboration with financial counsellors), and the intersection with other areas of law, specifically company law, tax law, family law and immigration.
- Experience working with First Nations clients and/or culturally and linguistically diverse clients, and a commitment to culturally safe practice.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex information in a practical, accurate and accessible way to clients in stressful and emotionally charged situations, and to engage professionally with interpreters, government, creditors, regulators and other support services.
Desirable
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team.
- Experience supervising casework of staff and/or volunteers.
- Experience conducting law reform, policy work, campaigns or strategic litigation.
4. Conditions
- Salary and benefits: $111,697 – $132,566 p.a. (pro rata for part time) depending on qualifications and experience.
- Superannuation and annual leave loading are paid in addition and salary packaging is available.
- Redfern legal Centre is a flexible workplace that supports wellbeing. We offer a 35-hour working week, time in lieu options and a paid end of year closure of two weeks (including public holidays) on top of four weeks annual leave.
- As a Public Benevolent Institution, Redfern Legal Centre is able to offer staff generous salary packaging options. The tax savings for a staff member choosing to take full advantage of the salary packaging option mean that their take home salary may be increased by up to $6,000 per annum.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible because the position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate is identified.
Your application should be no more than six pages long, and must include:
- a cover letter,
- your resume; and
- must include a statement addressing the Essential Knowledge Skills and Experience criteria in the position description.
Only applications that include a cover letter, resume and responses to the selection criteria will be considered.
Redfern Legal Centre welcomes applications from First Nations people, people from diverse cultural backgrounds and people with disabilities.
Redfern Legal Centre is a diverse, culturally safe and inclusive workplace that offers flexible conditions and supports wellbeing.
Please submit your application via Employment Hero.
Enquiries should be directed to Catherine Hewett at catherine@rlc.org.au.
