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 to 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.

About the role - Ongoing, full-time

The purpose of this role is to share responsibility with a co-Director, for leading and managing the Workplace and Education Law (WEL) branch, and to support the Executive Director, Legal Division in relation to strategic, business and human resource functions for the whole Division.

The WEL branch provides legal advice and litigation management for all matters relating to negligence and duty of care, employment, discrimination, human rights, privacy, FOI, family disputes, intervention orders, mandatory reporting, child safety and other legal issues that arise in Victorian government schools. The branch also assists in legal policy issues related to early childhood and schools.

The position requires leadership and people management skills, as well as technical legal expertise in relation to the areas of practice covered by the WEL branch including duty of care, privacy, discrimination, employment, occupational health and safety, prosecutions, investigations and inquests.

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 | vic.gov.au

• 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

How to Apply

For more information, please review the attached position description.

Applicants are required to submit a CV and a cover letter (no more than 2 pages).

For a confidential discussion regarding the role, please contact Lucy Guthrie, Executive Director, Legal Division, 03 7022 0925.

Visit http://www.careers.vic.gov.au/vacancies/tips-for-applying for guidelines and tips for applying for government positions.

Applications close 11:59pm on 15-JUL-2025.