Solicitor/Senior Solicitor

Solicitor/Senior Solicitor – ACT

• Location: Canberra
• Term: Ongoing
• Full-time: 37.5 hours per week (flexible working arrangements will be considered)
• Remuneration: SCHADS Level 5 to SCHADS Level 6: $102,179 – $114,845 + 12% super + 17.5% Annual Leave Loading
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are particularly encouraged to applyJob title: Solicitor/Senior Solicitor

Reporting to: Managing Lawyer NSW/ACT or Deputy Director

Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) is the leading environmental law practice in the Australia Pasifik Region delivering legal solutions for people, nature and our climate. Our vision is for a world where nature thrives. We are ambitious about the role we can play in delivering that vision and we have an incredible team across the country working to achieve it.

We are dedicated to protecting our climate, communities and shared environment by providing access to justice, running ground-breaking litigation and leading law reform advocacy. Over our 40-year history, we have developed a formidable track record of empowering communities and delivering effective protection of the environment through legal services.

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 lawyer based in Canberra to join the EDO.

This role offers the opportunity to work across human rights, climate change and environmental law and offers a high level of autonomy. Lawyers who think outside the box and want a chance to think creatively about delivering systemic change are strongly encouraged to apply.

Candidate Profile:

You are an experienced lawyer looking for an opportunity to use your skillset and experience to work with the largest public interest environmental law centre in the region.

You want to contribute to the delivery of community legal services to people living in the ACT region.

You want to work at the intersect of climate justice, human rights, the rights of First Nations and the environment and want an opportunity to make an impact for peoples and nature.

Key selection criteria:Core skills

• For the Solicitor position: A valid practicing certificate in the ACT or entitlement to one and a minimum of 2+ years PAE desired
• For the Senior Solicitor position: An unrestricted practising certificate in the ACT with a minimum of 5+ years desired
• Demonstrated experience in administrative and/or environmental law highly desirable
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to make sound judgements and decisions based on consideration of different views
• Demonstrated ability to work productively and to deadlines
• Excellent oral and written communication skills suited to a range of audiences

Substantive experience

• Demonstrated litigation experience in administrative, human rights or environmental law and/or related disciplines
• For Senior Solicitor level: Demonstrated ability to mentor and contribute to the performance of junior legal staff
• Capacity to undertake law reform or policy, experience desirable
• Capacity to deliver community legal education desirable
• Demonstrated experience working with First Nations people or diverse communities and individuals highly desirable

Personal qualities and cultural competency

• A champion of the EDO values
• Strong initiative and self-motivation
• Commitment to the protection of human rights and the environment
• A strong sense of ethics and understanding of professional obligations
• Demonstrated awareness of and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of First Nations and peoples from diverse cultures, backgrounds and orientations in both the delivery of our work and our internal culture
• Demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative and 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
• 8 weeks paid parental leave, regardless of gender or carer status
• 15 days personal/carer’s leave
• 20 days annual lave
• 3 days paid cultural leave
• Ability to attend NAIDOC week events
• ICIP and Colonial Loading protection within employment contract
• Extra leave over the Christmas period
• Access to Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Ongoing professional development opportunities
• Option to work from the office or from home, however regular in-person in the Canberra office is required
• 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.
• Affinity groups for the following: Global Majority*, LGBTQIA+ & People with Disability

*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/2025/10/EDO-Position-Description-Sol-Sen-Sol-ACT-October-2025.pdf

If you have queries in regard to this advert, please contact: recruitment@edo.org.au

Applications close on Wednesday, 11 February 2026. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to be considered for this role.

Applications must include a CV and a letter that addresses each of the selection criteria in the Position Description.

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.