Senior Lawyer, Children, Families and Education Law Unit - Melbourne VIC

Overview · Work Type: Ongoing - Full-time · Salary: $113,022 - $136,747 · Grade: VPS 5 · Occupation: Legal · Location: Melbourne - CBD and Inner Metro suburbs · Reference: VG/DE/PES/1908890 · Great opportunity to join the Department of Education as a Senior Lawyer in the Children ...

Job description

Overview

Work Type: Ongoing - Full-time

Salary: $113,022 - $136,747

Grade: VPS 5

Occupation: Legal

Location: Melbourne - CBD and Inner Metro suburbs

Reference: VG/DE/PES/1908890

Great opportunity to join the Department of Education as a Senior Lawyer in the Children, Families & Education Law Unit, providing high-quality legal advice, managing sensitive matters, and mentoring junior staff. Multiple positions available.

About the role:

An exceptional opportunity has arisen for a senior lawyer to further progress their legal career working in an outstanding legal team, in the Children, Families and Education Law (CFEL) Unit of the Workplace and Education Law branch in the Legal Division of the Department of Education.

The role of Senior Lawyer offers an exciting opportunity to make an impact and undertake rewarding work. You will be providing high quality, fast paced, and practical advice to Victorian government schools, regional offices and corporate staff in the Department of Education across a variety of areas of law including family law, intervention orders, child protection, child safety school community safety orders, trespass, privacy and information sharing, duty of care, subpoenas and witness summonses and other school-related legal matters in accordance with the VPS values. You will also have opportunity to mentor and support junior lawyers and law clerks.

The CFEL unit also manages proceedings, inquiries and investigations such as those conducted by the Coroners Court of Victoria and Commission for Children and Young People. The succesful candidate will have the ability to manage these matters with sensitivity and compassion whilst also managing the impact of this work on their own wellbeing. The unit also provides legal review of Department policies and guidelines, correspondence and Cabinet documents and assistance in legal policy issues related to early childhood, schools and higher education.

The successful candidate will be able to prioritise matters, be motivated to work collabortively in a team environment with lawyers who are passionate about their work and genuine about supporting career aspirations.

Multiple Full - Time, Ongoing and Fixed-term roles available

Why join us?

• Meaningful work that is varied, satisfying and rewarding - A career as a government lawyer provides opportunities that are unrivalled by the private sector. Scale, impact and richness of work sets the public sector apart from almost every other employer. To find out more about the wide range of opportunities for bright publicly minded lawyers visit Legal profession |
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements — Part time, flexible start and finish times, work from home to help manage your work and personal commitments.
• Competitive salary - Annual salary increases in line with the Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement
• Diversity and inclusion - As one of Victoria's largest employers, the department is committed to creating an organisation that is inclusive and ensuring it has a workforce that represents the community it serves.
• Values - The department has adopted the public sector values which are set out in the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees, which are Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values underpin how we interact with colleagues, students and families, members of the community, suppliers and government.
• Employee assistance program — For emotional, mental and general psychological wellbeing and support

About us

The Department of Education (the department) is responsible for delivering and regulating state-wide learning and development services to approximately one-third of all Victorians across the early childhood and school education sectors. The department is also one of Victoria's biggest employers, with approximately 80,000 teaching staff and around 5,000 public service employees.

The Legal Division provides highly valued legal services t o support the delivery of the department's strategic objectives, key reforms and to manage legal risk. In doing so, Legal Division provides direct, practical and strategic legal advice to portfolio ministers, the secretary, other senior staff and over 1,600 government schools, supporting approximately over 650,000 Victorian Government school students.

How to Apply

Applicants are required to submit a CV and a cover letter summarising their skills and experience (no more than two pages).

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Further Information

For more details regarding this position please see attached position description for the capabilities to address in application.

The department values diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information about our work, working for the Department, diversity and inclusion, and our employment conditions visit the Department website and our Diversity and Inclusion page

Applicants requiring adjustments can contact the nominated contact person.

Information about the Department of Education's operations and employment conditions can be located at

For further information pertaining to the role, please contact Katherine Johns, Principal Lawyer and Manager,

Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and may be subject to other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Education will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please let us know via phone or email if you require any adjustments to ensure your full participation in the recruitment process or if you need the ad or any attachments in an accessible format (e.g large print) due to any viewing difficulties or other accessibility requirements.

Applications close 11:59pm on Sunday, 08 March 2026

Applications close Sunday 8 March 2026 at 11.59pm

Posted

20 February 2026