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<p>RAAF Lawyers currently serve on most Australian bases: RAAF Base Amberley (Brisbane), RAAF Base Edinburgh (Adelaide), RAAF Base Wagga, RAAF Base Richmond (Sydney), RAAF Base Williamtown (Newcastle), RAAF Williams (Melbourne), RAAF Base Darwin, RAAF Base Pearce (Perth) and RAAF Base East Sale. One lawyer serves with the RAAF unit in Butterworth, Malaysia. Initially, however, most Lawyers will serve at Headquarters Air Command located at Glenbrook (west of Sydney), or at Defence Legal Division in Canberra.</p>

You will be paid while you train, and on completion of your Initial Military Training and Employment Training, you’ll earn at least:

Trained

Your salary once trained

In the Air Force you'll get paid a good salary from day one regardless of your age, experience or qualifications; and your pay increases as you progress through training.<br><br>In addition to your salary you'll receive a variety of allowances, extra pay for relevant qualifications – plus 16.4% superannuation, a far higher rate than you're likely to find in the civilian world.

Officer Entry: Graduate

<p>RAAF Lawyers currently serve on most Australian bases: RAAF Base Amberley (Brisbane), RAAF Base Edinburgh (Adelaide), RAAF Base Wagga, RAAF Base Richmond (Sydney), RAAF Base Williamtown (Newcastle), RAAF Williams (Melbourne), RAAF Base Darwin, RAAF Base Pearce (Perth) and RAAF Base East Sale. One Lawyer serves with the RAAF unit in Butterworth, Malaysia. Initially, however, most Lawyers will serve at Headquarters Air Command located at Glenbrook (west of Sydney), or at Defence Legal Division in Canberra.</p>

Officer Entry: Undergraduate

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Hear first-hand about what working in the ADF is really like. 

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<p>On a day-to-day basis, Permanent Air Force (PAF) Lawyers (Legal Officers) may provide legal advice to Air Force leaders at all levels, from commanding officers to the Chief of the Defence Force. PAF Lawyers will also be deployed overseas in order to provide legal support to military commanders, or in order to perform specific tasks, for example, as legal advisers in peacekeeping or targeting missions.</p>
<p>The primary areas of practice for PAF Lawyers are administrative law, military discipline law, and international and operations law. These areas reflect the key roles of PAF Lawyers: assisting commanders with the management of their personnel, ensuring the smooth operation of the military justice system, and enabling military operations and military aviation in Australia, and overseas, to comply with Australia's domestic and international legal obligations. </p>
<p>Outside of these key areas, PAF Lawyers will assist in identifying and advising on the full range of legal risks that are relevant to the activities of the Air Force and the Australian Defence Force. These legal risks can arise under, for example, environmental law, work health and safety law, and contract law. </p>
<p>Exceptionally, PAF Lawyers may also provide personal legal advice to Air Force personnel in relation to their conduct, or take on non-legal Air Force postings, in management or instructional positions.</p>
<p>To succeed as a PAF Lawyer, you need to have a willingness to learn about the full range of work undertaken by the Air Force: from air shows to targeting, and from managing the welfare of personnel to advising on cyber operations. PAF Lawyers are expected to be able to build strong professional relationships with their commanders and their colleagues, remaining impartial while providing practical solutions that enable the Air Force to accomplish its missions. And, given the important role of PAF Lawyers in training Air Force personnel on the application of the law to their work, Air Force also expects PAF Lawyers to have the ability to distil complex legal concepts into clear and understandable ideas. </p>
<div class="p" ><strong>Administrative law: </strong>Commanders frequently turn to Lawyers to ensure they comply with the requirements of administrative law when they make decisions that affect ADF members. Consequently, Lawyers may provide advice on equal opportunities and anti-discrimination matters, on responses to applications for redress of grievance, and the conduct of administrative inquiries. PAF Lawyers also play an important part in training commanders and other ADF personnel who are involved in administrative decision-making.</div>
<div class="p" ><strong>Operations and International Law:</strong> PAF Lawyers provide advice on domestic and international law and their effects on the use of aerospace power. As Air Force continues to develop its unmanned aerial vehicle and cyber capabilities, Air Force Lawyers are also playing a role in advising on the application of the law to these new areas. International law issues may include the interpretation and negotiation of international treaties, agreements, and memoranda of understanding, international air and space law, the law of the sea, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and UN Security Council Resolutions. Operations law also includes all aspects of law that may impact on Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations, including domestic law issues. </div>
<div class="p" ><strong>Military Discipline Law:</strong> The Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 (DFDA) provides a code of military discipline for the ADF. Specialist legal input is necessary because of the complexity of the work undertaken under the DFDA. Lawyers provide legal reports for reviews of proceedings, and can act as counsel. Lawyers also play an important part in training commanders and other ADF personnel who are involved in the military discipline process.</div>
<div class="p" ><strong>Other areas of practice: </strong>Lawyers will also provide advice in relation to workplace health and safety, copyright law, environmental law, management of common law claims, and government contracts.</div>

Take on new legal challenges while broadening your professional expertise, supporting the justice system and advising commanders on legal aspects of military operations. 

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Benefits you won't see anywhere else

You’ll enjoy the following:

Great salary from day one, which increases with experience

Generous superannuation of 16.4% – a huge 4.9% over the Australian standard

Help to buy a home, a subsidised home loan or rent allowance

Free medical and dental for you, and subsidised healthcare for you and your family

Fully paid training

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