Women's legal centre (ACT)

The Women’s Legal Centre is the only feminist and gender-specific legal assistance service in the ACT. We are a values-driven and contemporary community-based legal practice, delivering real outcomes for women. Our work is purpose and outcome driven.

The Centre helps women to stay safe, strong and in control of their lives by providing expert legal advice and representation. Our multidisciplinary service model allows us to provide comprehensive and trauma-informed support to our clients, and we work collaboratively to address intersecting legal and safety issues. Courage, creativity and a belief in the possibility of change are at the core of what we do.

About the Board

The Centre is guided by a skilled and diverse board that supports the development of strategy, provides leadership, and oversees our strong governance, financial management and risk frameworks. Importantly, the board models and reflects the culture of the Centre – blending traditional board roles with creativity, commitment, mutual respect, and humour. We value deep listening and thoughtful questions.

The Centre has grown dramatically in recent years. We are seeking board and committee members who reflect our community as well as having the skills needed to lead the organisation as it continues to grow and evolve.

We are recruiting for current and expected vacancies on our Board, Governance Committee and Finance and Risk Committee, including the Board Chair and Treasurer positions.

The Board welcomes applications from First Nations women, women from migrant and refugee backgrounds, women with disabilities and women from the LBTIQA+ community.

All board and committee roles are voluntary.

If you are a lawyer, please consider whether joining the Women’s Legal Centre Board could result in conflicts of interest between the Centre’s legal practice and your own before applying. The Centre’s legal practice includes family law, employment, discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual violence and migration law. The Centre also has a specialist program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, Mulleun Mura, and delivers services through partnerships with health and community organisations including CIT, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service and several Child and Family Centres across the ACT.

The Roles

Board Chair

The Board Chair’s primary role is to provide leadership to the board, enabling it to function as the highest decision-making body in the organisation.  She also works closely with the CEO, is a key contact point between the CEO and the Board, and an ex officio member of the two board committees. We are seeking a Board Chair with:

• Highly developed inclusive and collaborative leadership skills
• Ability to encourage consensus decision-making while also ensuring rigorous testing of ideas
• High level strategic overview skills/experience
• Commitment to accountability
• The skills and attributes required of all board members (see below).

Treasurer

The Treasurer works with the Centre’s Finance Manager to oversee the Centre’s financial strategy and approach to risk and chairs the Board’s Finance and Risk Committee.  We are seeking a Treasurer with:

• Accounting qualifications and experience, ideally including experience in the not-for-profit sector
• Skills and experience in financial strategy and risk management
• Skills and experience as a committee chair
• The skills and attributes required of all board members (see below).

Board members

Board members require a range of skills and attributes. A full position description is available here. We are seeking members with:

• A good understanding of the governance role of a not-for-profit board
• High level experience on a board or similar
• Ability to work collaboratively and constructively with other board members
• Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills, including deep listening and thoughtful questioning
• A commitment to feminist and trauma-informed service delivery
• Prepared to commit the required time to the role and to use their networks to promote and contribute to the work of the Centre.

A lived experience of intersectionality will be highly valued.

Committee members

While the requirements on committee members are broader than those for board members, the board member description is a good guide to the core skills required.  In addition, we are particularly keen to hear from women with experience and expertise in the following areas:

• Governance
• Legal
• Accounting and financial management
• Risk management

Tenure and time required

• Board terms are three years and members can serve a maximum of two terms.
• The board meets six times a year. Meetings are held in the evening for 2 hours and can be attended in person or online.
• Committee terms are two years, but there is no restriction on the number of terms.
• Committees meet between four and six times a year, also in the evening. Board members are asked to join a board committee.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications should be emailed to recruitment@wlc.org.au by midnight on Monday 10 June 2024.

Please include:

• a one-to-two page expression of interest stating the role(s) you are interested in and addressing their requirements
• the names of two referees who can comment on your relevant skills and experience
• where you heard about the role (this will help us refine our advertising of future roles).

For further information or a confidential discussion, please contact:

• Elena Rosenman, CEO, on 0402 972545 or ERosenman@wlc.org.au
• Linda Crebbin, Board Secretary and Governance Committee Chair, on 0409 241501 or lindaipademail@gmail.com .