Senior Social Worker – Financial Abuse Service NSW – Redfern Legal Centre
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- Sydney based
- Permanent position, full-time or part-time considered
- $119,065 (pro rata for part-time)
- Supervised by the Supervising Solicitor
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.
Position Overview
Redfern Legal Centre’s Financial Abuse Service (FAS) is a statewide service that provides trauma informed legal, social work and financial counselling assistance to victim survivors who have experienced financial abuse from an intimate partner. The integrated service comprises of credit and debt law solicitors, a financial counsellor, family law solicitors, a company and tax law solicitor, social workers and a collaboration with another CLC for immigration law services. This specialist, cross-jurisdictional, and integrated approach provides holistic support to our clients, increasing their safety and wellbeing and leading to financial independence and empowerment.
FAS also coordinates the Economic Abuse Reference Group (EARG), a network of Australian community organisations which influences government and industry responses to the financial impact of domestic and family violence. Our members include domestic and family violence services, community legal services and financial counselling services.
The Senior Social Worker leads the FAS social work service and provides case management support responding to the complex social and legal needs of victim survivors experiencing family and domestic abuse from an intimate partner.
This position supervises and mentors one other social worker and works collaboratively with lawyers and financial counsellors in an integrated model to assist people across New South Wales through different channels – telephone, teleconferencing, email and in person.
This role has ongoing opportunities 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 Responsibilities
- Work with management to maintain and innovate social work services, including processes and systems to ensure FAS is an effective integrated legal, financial counselling and social work practice.
- Supervise other social worker/s at the centre and attend regular external supervision.
- Provide trauma informed case management to clients with complex needs according to the centre’s eligibility criteria including but not limited to: Assessment, referral, safety planning, and case management.
- Assistance to obtain documents and personal information about their financial position and liabilities.
- Having knowledge of and making referrals to a wide range of support services statewide such as housing, family violence, and mental health.
- Advocating with services.
- Making housing applications and applications to Victims Services.
- Building capacity and agency for long term empowerment and financial independence.
- Outreach support at court and other locations as appropriate.
- Work collaboratively with lawyers, financial counsellors and other social workers to provide holistic services that achieve the best possible outcomes for the client.
- Identify systemic legal and policy issues and participate in the Centre’s broader policy and law reform initiatives including active participation in regular meetings and contributing to policy positions, submissions, publications and other related activities.
- Comply with the Community Legal Centres’ Risk Management Guide as applicable, including but not limited to confidentiality, conflict checking, maintaining client files at a high professional standard and entering all client records into the designated database.
- Contribute to creating and maintaining a culturally safe service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and other groups experiencing systemic marginalisation.
- Contribute to Redfern Legal Centre through attendance at staff meetings, contribution to board and funding reports, assistance with intake including intake supervision shifts, supervision of volunteers and contribution to the effective implementation of our Reconciliation Action Plan.
Knowledge, skills and experience
Essential
- Tertiary qualification in Social Work.
- Eligible for registration with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).
- Minimum 5 years’ experience providing case management in a relevant sector/workplace.
- Experience supervising and/or mentoring other social workers or equivalent.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team.
- Experience working with victim survivors of family and domestic abuse including provision of risk and needs assessment, safety planning, crisis support, case management, advocacy and referrals.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the demonstrated ability to engage and communicate with people experiencing vulnerability, support services, government, and industry bodies.
Desirable
- Experience working with clients who have legal matters involving family law, debt or in courts and tribunals.
- Experience working with First Nations communities and/or culturally and linguistically diverse clients, and a commitment to culturally safe practice.
- Ability to identify systemic barriers, and interest in working towards systemic change in legislation and policy.
Conditions
Salary and benefits: $119,065 p.a. (pro rata for part time). Superannuation and annual leave loading are paid in addition.
As a Public Benevolent Institution, Redfern Legal Centre offers 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.
Redfern Legal Centre is a diverse, culturally safe and inclusive workplace. Our enterprise agreement offers 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.
We prioritise staff wellbeing through external debrief supervision, a generous training and professional development budget and flexible working conditions.
Applications
Redfern Legal Centre is a diverse and inclusive workplace. We strongly encourage applications from First Nations applicants, people from diverse cultural backgrounds and people with disability.
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 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.
Please submit your application via Employment Hero.
Non-lawyers employed by Redfern Legal Centre are required to comply with s 121 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law.
Enquiries should be directed to Catherine Hewett, Chief Operations Officer, at catherine@rlc.org.au.
Applications close: 9am on Monday 13 April 2026
