Job Description

Practice Administrator, Legal Practice

• Location: Naarm/Melbourne
• Term: Ongoing
• Job Type: Part-time 22.5 hours per week
• Remuneration: SCHADS Level 4: $90,949 + 12% super + 17.5% Annual Leave Loading pro rata
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and members of the Global Majority* are particularly encouraged to apply.

Job title: Practice Administrator, Legal Practice Reporting to: Head of Legal Systems and Innovation

Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) is the largest environmental legal centre in the Australia Pacific, dedicated to protecting our climate, communities and shared environment by providing access to justice, running ground-breaking litigation and leading law reform advocacy.

As the region’s legal experts in our field, we aim to be a brave, unified, and focused team, committed to inclusion and excellence in all that we do. We strive to be a diverse and inclusive workplace supporting a highly skilled, engaged, and effective team, where everyone can feel that they belong.

The opportunity:

We are looking for a talented Practice Administrator with demonstrated administration experience to support our Legal Practice based in our Naarm/Melbourne office. This role requires office presence each week, and a commitment of 22.5 hours per week.

This role is central to the smooth running of the Legal Practice by coordinating the systems and processes that our teams rely on, and acting as a first point of call for requests for legal administrative assistance from practice teams without dedicated Legal Support staff and providing direct support or liaising with the Legal Support Staff to identify capacity. You will work with staff across the organisation and particularly the Head Legal Systems and innovation and Managing Lawyers in the Legal Programs to facilitate a consistent experience and approach to coordinating, communicating, and planning. This role will also allow you to foster a collaborative culture in the Naarm office, leading its operations and shaping the office environment.

Candidate Profile:

You are an experienced legal or administrative professional who thrives in a dynamic, purpose-driven environment. You have a keen eye for detail and take pride in supporting lawyers to deliver meaningful legal outcomes. You are highly organised, recognise the power of administration, are proactive and comfortable managing competing priorities in a fast-paced setting. You communicate clearly and professionally, liaising with clients, colleagues and external stakeholders with confidence and care. You will be passionate about contributing to EDO’s mission and excel working both independently and collaboratively as part of a supportive team and wider organisation.

EDO is a diverse and inclusive workplace. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and members of the Global Majority* are particularly encouraged to apply.

Key selection criteria:

Essential requirements

• Experience providing administrative support within a legal or professional services environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work productively and to meet multiple deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong oral and written communication skills and a collaborative approach to working with others.
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy without sacrificing efficiency.
• Intermediate Excel skills and proficiency in other Microsoft Office applications.
• Excellent organisational and administration skills.

Substantive experience

• Experience with legal file management systems (desirable).
• Experience in a community legal centre (desirable).
• Experience in Environmental Law, Human Rights Law or Native Title (desirable).

Personal qualities and cultural competency

• A champion of the EDO values
• Strong initiative and self-motivation
• High degree of discretion and emotional intelligence
• Commitment to the protection of the environment and related human rights
• A strong sense of ethics and understanding of professional obligations
• Demonstrated awareness of, and sensitivity to, the needs and concerns of First Nations peoples and peoples from diverse cultures, backgrounds and orientations in both the delivery of our work and our internal culture
• Thrive in a collaborative team-based environment

Our Culture and Benefits:    

• We care deeply about creating a workplace where our team members feel valued, respected, and empowered. We are committed to providing equal opportunity regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or life stage. 
• The chance to be part of the largest environmental legal practice in the Australia-Pacific 
• A very flexible and family-friendly workplace 
• While primarily office-based, some flexibility to work from home
• 8 weeks paid parental leave, regardless of gender or carer status
• 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year
• 3 days paid cultural leave per year
• Extra leave over the Christmas period
• Access to Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Ongoing professional development opportunities 
• EDO proudly has a JEDI (Justice, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion) Committee and a Mental Health Ambassador Committee, and has developed a First Nations Program with the aid of indigenous-led consultancies. 
• Three Affinity groups for the following: Disability, Global Majority* and LGBTQIA+

*Global Majority is a collective term that first and foremost speaks to and encourages those so-called, to think of themselves as belonging to the majority on planet earth. It refers to people who are Black, African, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or, have been racialised as ‘ethnic minorities’.

Our Values

Commitment – We are committed to a united organisation, to each other, to collaboration, to justice, to our communities and to creating a world where nature thrives.  

Diversity – We are respectful of, and welcome, diversity of staff, volunteers, offices, environmental regions, communities, stakeholders.  

Integrity – We work effectively, efficiently, strategically, professionally, and ethically; “justice is in our nature”.  

Vision – We lead change and environmental empowerment using innovation, creativity, and courage.  
How to Apply

• Click 'Apply here' above
• To review the position description, please see this link: https://www.edo.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/EDO-Position-Description-Practice-Administrator_Legal-Practice-March-2026.pdf

If you have queries in regard to this advert, please feel free to contact us at recruitment@edo.org.au

Applications close on Tuesday, 14 April 2026 at 9:00AM AEST.

Applications must include a CV and a letter that clearly addresses each of the selection criteria above.

The Key Selection Criteria show the minimum essential requirements of the position. The desirable criteria outline additional attributes which would enable the successful candidate to perform the role more effectively; they are not essential but may be used to distinguish between applicants during the shortlisting process.

EDO particularly encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Pacific Island people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, workers of all ages, people with disabilities and people who identify as LGBTQIA+.

Please note: Your application may be considered for future roles at the EDO within the next 12 months without additional advertising. Please notify us in your application if you would not like to be considered for similar roles beyond this recruitment.

If you have any accessibility needs for the recruitment or interviewing process, please let us know in your application or by emailing recruitment@edo.org.au.

Vaccination Requirements

EDO is not issuing a vaccination mandate. EDO staff have the option to share vaccination details within the EDO HRIS system, EDO will maintain this record of vaccination status of EDO employees, however if staff do not wish to disclose this information, it will not be enforced.

Working with clients face-to-face:

• EDO works with diverse peoples and groups across the Australian and Pacific communities, including people who are considered a high-risk group in terms of COVID-19.
• In order to ensure the safety of all EDO employees and the people we work with and around, staff visiting overburdened communities are required to take a COVID-19 test three (3) days prior and on the day of travel to the overburdened community.

Other Information

All offers of employment may be subject to satisfactory background checks including a National Police Check, disclosure of previous or current disciplinary action, referee checks, proof of eligibility to work in Australia and qualification checks.