Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Last Updated in 2016
Field of Law
Stage of Career
Contact details
Address: GPO Box 4367, MELBOURNE, Victoria 3001
Phone: (03) 9637 2000
Visit the DEECD website
Email: hrweb@edumail.vic.gov.au
Contact person for Indigenous applicants:
Brian Wheeler
Human Resources Division
Phone: (03) 9637 3423
Email: wheeler.brian.d@edumail.vic.gov.au
Description of Organisation
The Department has five main responsibilities:
- provide policy advice to our Ministers about education, early childhood development, children's services, higher education and training in general
- implement Victorian Government policy on early childhood services
- implement Victorian Government policy on school education for all school age students
- implement Victorian Government policy on training and higher education services
- manage and drive continuous improvement in the delivery of primary and secondary education in Victorian government schools.
The Legal Division practises in all areas of law relevant to schools, early childhood and higher education (eg: employment law, discrimination, human rights, negligence, other litigation, family law, commercial and property law, intellectual property law, privacy etc)
Number of legal positions within organisation: Approx. 20 ongoing positions.
Does your organisation have a human rights officer?
Not presently. However the DEECD has a Human Rights Senior Legal Adviser.
Information for university students/graduates
Do you have a graduate clerkship program?
The DEECD does not take graduates directly into the Legal Division. When required, the Legal Division recruits through the GRADS program [insert internal link]. However, There may be a dedicated law graduate program for DEECD in the future.
Applicants that come through GRADS into the wider Department enter the Graduates @ DEECD Program open to graduates in all disciplines, not just law. See:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/careers/Pages/graduates.aspx
The Graduates @ DEECD Program involves at least two rotations in the Department.
Graduates are supported through core training such as writing for government, project management and policy development. Graduates are provided with a training budget of $3,000 for the graduate to decide with their manager how best to spend it to target the graduates areas of interest.
The Graduates @ DEECD program is positioned to help the Department develop future leaders. Graduates are involved in important work and get access to opportunities not available to others.
Dates for application:
End of April - check website for exact dates
Information for practising lawyers
What are you looking for in a permanent employee?
Key selection criteria for every ongoing position in the Legal Division are advertised on the Vic Govt Jobs website when positions become available. See the Careers page on the Victorian Government website
What prior work is viewed favourably?
It depends on the particular role. DEECD has lawyers working in different fields of expertise including, litigation, negligence, discrimination and employment law, family law, corporate and property law.
Where do you advertise your positions?
The Careers page on the Victorian Government website
Do you use a recruitment agency?
Occasionally we use the Government Panel for labour hire and this includes Hays and Hudsons.
Advice for applicants:
Regularly check the Careers page on the Victorian Government website for positions and respond with care and attention to detail to the key selection criteria in your application.