Senior Associate/Special Counsel - Retirement Villages

Location: Brisbane

Contract Type: Permanent

MinterEllison is one of Australia’s largest independent law and consulting firms. With a heritage of almost 200 years, we are known for our excellence, and our authentic and enduring relationships with our clients, our people and our communities. Clients seek out MinterEllison to help them solve complex problems every day. We do this by our full-service legal offering and complementary consulting offering.

We offer opportunities to work on industry-leading mandates for top-tier clients, while being part of a high-performing and collaborative team that values excellence, diversity of thought, curiosity, and inclusion. We value our people and empower them to achieve their ambitions - with the support, trust and autonomy to grow their careers in meaningful ways.

At MinterEllison, we're leading the way with AI and other emerging technologies, powering innovation right across our firm. You will have the opportunity to engage with AI tools we've built, and other external AI tools, to enhance efficiencies and excellence internally and with our clients.

We support sustainable ways of working regarding how, when and where you work and offer a wide range of social, financial and health benefits (see https://www.minterellison.com/-/media/Minter-Ellison/Files/Careers/MinterEllison-Employee-Benefits-Dec_2025.pdf)

Your Role

An exciting opportunity exists for a Senior Associate or Special Counsel to join Australia's leading Retirement Living practice and cement themselves as a recognised specialist in one of the country's most dynamic growth sectors. This role can be based in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide.

Working alongside pre-eminent Partners in this sector including Tammy Berghofer, James Horwood and Robin Lyons, you will play a pivotal role in a core area of our Real Estate business, advising clients on complex commercial, regulatory and transactional matters across Australia's retirement living sector.

Your work will span multiple jurisdictions and encompass diverse matters, tailored to your experience and interests, including:

• assisting on capital transactions of retirement villages, land lease communities, rental villages and aged care portfolios
• delivering strategic regulatory advice on real estate and retirement living legislation across various Australian jurisdictions
• supporting our clients to ensure their resident contracts and disclosure documentation remain compliant across multi-village portfolios
• leading client seminars and presenting to industry groups on emerging regulatory developments
• contributing to industry thought leadership through engagement with peak bodies in the sector.

Our clients are diverse and range from private and ASX listed operators to charitable organisations, including Australia's largest retirement village operators.

More About You

While experience in retirement living law is preferable, we welcome applications from senior lawyers with general commercial, real estate and/or regulatory experience seeking to specialise in this growth sector.

We are looking for:

• 5+ years PQE
• retirement living, general commercial, real estate and/or regulatory/advisory experience
• strong technical and drafting skills and the ability to deliver quality, commercial and pragmatic advice
• a very strong client focus and demonstrated ability to form enduring relationships with peers, clients and industry stakeholders
• a desire to contribute to business development and thought leadership initiatives including presentations, client training and publications.

How to apply

We encourage applications from people of all ages, abilities, cultural backgrounds, genders (including trans or gender diverse), LGBTQ+ people and those with carer responsibilities. We particularly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to apply.

We prefer to connect with people directly, so please submit your CV by clicking on the 'Apply' button. We encourage all applications, including if you do not meet all the criteria listed for the role. Your application will also enable us to consider you for other opportunities that may be available at MinterEllison.

If you are currently a MinterEllison employee, please apply through the internal careers page.

If you would like further information, require any adjustments throughout the recruitment process or for a confidential discussion, please contact lisa.fleming@minterellison.com.