Director, Summary Crime & Therapeutic Justice

• Exciting leadership opportunity to oversee Summary Crime and Therapeutic Justice programs
• Influence and improve client-centred approaches
• Drive strategic direction as a member of the Senior Leadership Team

About the organisation

Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) is a statutory authority established under the Legal Aid Act 1978 (Vic) responsible for providing information, advice, and assistance in response to a broad range of legal and non-legal problems. VLA provide statewide assistance to people every day and night in courts and tribunals in Victoria across both federal and state jurisdictions. VLA’s values are fairness, care, courage and inclusion and we seek to fulfil our role in line with these values. VLA recognises the intersections between legal and social issues and works for change to increase access to justice. VLA’s Criminal Law Directorate is responsible for the delivery of services across five sub programs: summary crime, therapeutic justice, indictable crime, youth crime, and appeals and strategic litigation.

About the role

The Director, Summary Crime and Therapeutic Justice is a key role within Victoria Legal Aid (VLA)'s Criminal Law directorate, and a member of VLA’s Senior Leadership Team. This role leads the Summary Crime program, the organisation’s largest service delivery area covering criminal law services in Magistrates Courts across Victoria, and the Therapeutic Justice program, which covers our services in specialist and therapeutic courts across the state as well as broader work to embed therapeutic jurisprudence into our service delivery across criminal law.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Criminal Law, this role provides high quality leadership in the planning, design, delivery and transformation of VLA’s Summary Crime and Therapeutic Justice services while developing and maintaining strong working relationships with key stakeholders in the legal assistance and criminal justice sectors.

The Director’s current key priorities are to:

• Lead service transformation work including embedding lived experience expertise into our work, growing our Help Before Court service and improving our remand services.
• Lead the expansion of our Therapeutic Justice program, including embedding therapeutic, restorative and problem solving approaches into VLA’s service delivery.
• Use VLA’s practice experience to influence change to promote access to justice.

About you

You will have strong leadership, communication and stakeholder engagement skills and a demonstrated track record operating as a member of a senior leadership team to drive strategic priorities and influence cultural change and law reform. Tertiary qualified in law, public policy, or a related field, you possess a detailed understanding of criminal law, focusing on summary crime and therapeutic or problem-solving practice. With a proven ability to develop and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders in complex, client first service delivery contexts, you are committed to VLA’s vision and values focused on a fair and just society and making a difference in the lives of clients and the community. You have a demonstrated understanding of the issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

To apply, click ‘Apply for this job’, submitting your resume in Microsoft Word format. For more information prior to application, please call Karen Starr at SHK on 0402 164 225 or email karen.starr@shk.com.au. Direct and third-party applications will be forwarded to SHK. Applications close by 11.59pm on Friday 31st January 2025.