Company description:

Legal Aid

Job description:

• Statewide Talent Pool for opportunities across metropolitan and regional NSW (office locations can be viewed below)
• Legal Officer Grade IV, salary range $144,058 - 146,831 pa plus superannuation and leave loading
• Step into leadership and make a real impact for clients facing socio-economic disadvantages

About us

Legal Aid NSW delivers accessible legal services across criminal, family and civil law. We provide advice, court representation, and family dispute resolution through 28 offices and phone-based support, helping people navigate the legal system with confidence and fairness.

You can view the full list of Family Law Legal Aid NSW office locations below. Office addresses can be viewed here.

Sydney Metropolitan

Bankstown

Blacktown

Burwood

Campbelltown

Central Sydney (Head Office)

Parramatta

Penrith

Regional

Albury

Broken Hill

Gosford

Coffs Harbour

Dubbo

Newcastle

Lismore

Moree

Port Macquarie

Nowra

Orange

Wollongong

Tamworth

Wagga Wagga

About the role

This role offers an exciting opportunity for experienced family lawyers ready to take the next step in their career. You'll play a key part in delivering high-quality legal services to clients facing socioeconomic disadvantage. This includes directly providing legal services to clients of Legal Aid NSW, including in more complex matters. You will also be able to contribute towards the creation of a justice system that delivers fair outcomes for people experiencing disadvantage.

It's also a chance to step into leadership—guiding and supporting your team, contributing to service delivery, and helping shape the direction of the Family Law Division.

This talent pool recruitment is to look for legal officers who are interested in working in metropolitan and/or regional offices. This includes our litigation team as well as teams like our Early Intervention Unit and our Domestic Violence Unit.

Watch the videos below to learn more about some of our teams and discover the real impact you can have as part of our Family Law team - Australia's largest family law practice:

· Domestic Violence Unit

· Early Intervention Unit

· Family Law Service for Aboriginal Communities

· Child support service

There are a number of vacancies across different teams in different locations and we encourage anyone who is interested in working with us in any of our locations and teams to apply as part of this recruitment.

About you

We're looking for dynamic and enthusiastic family lawyers who are passionate about family law or care and protection and mentoring, supporting, and developing other lawyers.

You'll bring experience in handling complex legal matters, along with strong communication and problem-solving skills. You're adaptable, solution-focused, and confident in identifying issues and delivering practical, tailored outcomes. You'll bring some experience mentoring or supporting junior colleagues, and you'll be supported to further grow your leadership and legal skills as part of a collaborative and high-performing team.

WHY YOU SHOULD JOIN LEGAL AID NSW!

We are committed to diversity and inclusion

We are committed to creating a culturally safe and genuinely inclusive organisation and workplace for everyone who works and interacts with us. We strive to be a place where people from diverse backgrounds want to work, where voices and cultures are valued and where people feel valued, welcomed, respected and heard.

We want a workforce that reflects our clients, so we can deliver a service that meets the needs of the community. We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds — including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, the LGBTQI+ community, culturally diverse people and other diverse communities.

We acknowledge, support and accommodate the diverse access needs of people with visible and invisible disabilities. If you need an adjustment to participate in the recruitment process, experiencing issues accessing information on the application form and require this in an alternate format, or you'd like information about what we can do to help you, please contact our team at [email protected]

Other benefits of working with us

· You will have access to training, development and mentoring opportunities.

· We are an accredited Flex Ready and Carers and Employers certified employer and are recognised as leaders in flexible work. Most of our staff work flexibly — for example, from home some of the time or in a way that helps them balance family and work life

· Find out more at Working at Legal Aid NSW

The essential requirements for this role

You must:

• be admitted or be eligible for admission as a legal practitioner in NSW
• be able to provide a current NSW Practising Certificate before you start work with us
• be willing to do a Criminal Record Check and Working with Children Check
• hold Australian or NZ citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency (for ongoing vacancies) or a valid visa to work in Australia (for temporary vacancies)
• have capacity to travel regularly to regional and remote areas

The Family Law Division have several roles where it is a statutory obligation for staff to hold a valid Working with Children Check. You will be required to provide your Working with Children Check details prior to commencement in any role requiring the check.

How to apply

You must submit your application online. Applications received late or by email, will not be accepted. Please make sure your application is complete, and that you have answered all questions before submitting.

Your application must include:

• your resume (no more than 5 pages)
  
  
• cover letter (no more than 2 pages). In your cover letter, please address the following questions:

Target Question 1: Describe your experience working in family law or care and protection matters. What type of cases have you handled and how do you support clients through complex or changing situations?

Target Question 2: How have you supported or mentored junior lawyers or colleagues to help them grow? What impact did your approach have on the team?

You must clearly label your responses to each Target Question for example, by using headings such as Target Question 1 and Target Question 2. Cover Letters that do not clearly label responses may be considered as not having addressed the Target Questions.

As part of your application, you will be asked to nominate your preferred office location and team types in order of preference:

· Family Law office locations: Please refer to the ‘About Us' section above. Office addresses can be viewed here.

· Team types: Litigation Team, Domestic Violence Unit, Early Intervention Unit, Family Law Service for Aboriginal Communities Team, Child Support Service Team.

We will use this recruitment to create a talent pool for similar ongoing or temporary vacancies we have over the next 18 months.

To be placed onto the talent pool, candidates will need to submit a complete application and be assessed against the requirements and focus capabilities for the role. Being placed onto the talent pool does not guarantee a job offer, but it gives candidates the opportunity to be considered quickly when vacancies arise in the next 18 months.

Do you need help to apply?

If you have questions about the role, you can reach out to Gabrielle Cantrall, Senior Solicitor, Family Law Executive at [email protected] or (02) 4337 6653.

If you are an Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and are thinking about applying, you can contact Legal Aid NSW Aboriginal Services Branch to arrange a confidential conversation about any questions you may have.

The Role Description sets out the responsibilities and Focus Capabilities of the role.

The focus capabilities and key accountabilities in the role description indicate what is expected at that level. Being familiar with these will help you understand what the panel will be looking for in the successful candidate.

Applying for a role is a great NSW Government resource for helping you prepare your application.

Closing Date: Sunday 12 October 2025 at 11.59pm