Human Rights Law Centre · Naarm/Melbourne, Australia
The Human Rights Law Centre (the Centre) exists to take fearless human rights action for a fairer future for all. We use strategic legal action, policy solutions and advocacy in partnerships to support people and communities to eliminate inequality and injustice and build a fairer, more compassionate Australia. Our vision is an Australia where people and communities live with dignity and have the power to challenge injustice, and human rights at the core of institutions and laws. We exist to transform laws and policies to protect human rights. We exist to work with communities to stand up for human rights. We exist to ensure that governments and parliaments promote human rights. We exist to ensure accountability and redress when people’s rights are violated. Our strategy is to work in partnership with people and communities, challenge Australian laws and policies which stand in the way of justice and equity for all. Our current strategic priorities aim to progress the following goals: Australian laws and policies advance racial and socio-economic equality; A healthy workplace and sustainable organisation; A trusted partner, deeply connected to people and communities. We maximise our impact by working closely with key partners, including community organisations, pro bono law firms and barristers, academics and experts, and international and domestic human rights organisations. We are independent of government and business, with most of our funding coming from donations and philanthropic grants. The Centre is a registered charity with offices in Naarm/Melbourne and Gadigal/Sydney. We are a diverse team with a strong, shared commitment to creating a better, fairer Australia, and as an equal opportunity organisation are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive Board and workforce. The Centre’s legal, policy and advocacy work is organised into a number of impact areas. Currently these are Corporate Accountability, Climate Justice, Migration Justice, First Nations Justice, Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights Foundations. This role is located within the Centre’s Migration Justice team but may also be required to work across other impact areas as determined by the Centre. This is a 2-year fixed-term contract, with an extension subject to funding. Our Migration Justice work aims to help create an Australia where all people who cross national borders have a right to dignity, safety and a pathway to making Australia a permanent home. Our team works in close collaboration with the communities we represent and with other organisations in the migration and refugee rights and services sector. We aim to build relationships of trust and accountability with the communities, partners and clients we work with. Our current areas of focus include: Ending the offshore detention regime and ensuring permanent safety for people subjected to it; Bringing families back together and changing the laws and policies that are keeping people separated from their loved ones for years on end; Advocating for pathways to permanency for migrants and combatting the exploitation of migrant workers; and Ending mandatory and indefinite immigration detention in Australia. The Senior Lawyer will work with senior staff and the Legal Director, Migration Justice, to provide legal and policy support for the Migration Justice team. It is anticipated that this opportunity will support the team’s work to undertake litigation, provide migration advice, undertake public and political advocacy, draft policy submissions, participate in and build coalitions, and engage in partnership with the communities we work with. Full details of this role including Selection Criteria are set out in the Position Description (attached below). We know our team and our work is stronger with a diversity of backgrounds and experience, including lived experience of the issues we work on. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people of colour, people from culturally and linguistically diverse and refugee backgrounds, people with diverse religious beliefs, women, LGBTIQ+ people and people with a disability are strongly encouraged to apply. Our staff have access to 5 weeks’ Annual Leave, 11 days Personal/Carers Leave, and 4 days of additional Special Wellbeing Leave each year (all pro-rata for part time). Our EA, the Human Rights Law Centre’s Enterprise Agreement provides further paid leave including Flexitime leave, 18-weeks Parental leave, and 5 days of Cultural and Ceremonial leave. Generous salary packaging provisions are available, the tax savings of which can significantly increase staff take home pay where full advantage is taken. The Centre offers a hybrid workplace with flexible working arrangements, opportunities for professional development and mentoring, and a workplace culture that is collaborative, dynamic, values diversity and is committed to learning and looking after each other. We encourage you to submit your application ASAP as we will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis as they are submitted and upon identifying great candidates may progress the selection process prior to this closing date. Please note that applicants must have the right to work in Australia. Don't meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with all the selection criteria in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. We welcome and support diversity in all its forms and believe that a wide range of experiences and perspectives enriches our organisation and our work. For further information about the Human Rights Law Centre, see www.hrlc.org.au . We respectfully acknowledge the Kulin Nations – the traditional owners of the place now known as Melbourne, on which our office stands. We pay respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We also recognise that no treaty was ever signed with the Kulin Nations, nor was this land ever ceded by them. We support the treaty currently being negotiated to make amends for past wrongs.