PanAust Limited is an Australian-headquartered copper and gold mining company with operations in Laos, and pre-development assets in Papua New Guinea and Chile.

In Laos , PanAust owns a 90 per cent interest in Phu Bia Mining Limited with the Government of Laos owning the remaining 10 per cent. Phu Bia Mining owns and operates PanAust’s two award winning operations – Phu Kham Copper-Gold and Ban Houayxai Gold-Silver, both located in Xaisomboun Province, 120km north of Vientiane.

In Papua New Guinea , PanAust holds a 100 per cent interest in the Frieda River Limited Copper-Gold project, which is a transformative pre-development integrated mining, renewable energy and infrastructure project.

In Chile , PanAust holds a 66 per cent interest in the Inca de Oro Copper-Gold Project through a Chilean incorporated joint venture company, Inca de Oro S. A.

The Role

We are currently recruiting for General Counsel to join our senior leadership team, based in our Corporate Head Office in Fortitude Valley’s James Street precinct. Reporting to the Acting Managing Director & CEO, the role will be responsible for protecting the legal position of the PanAust group by delivering strategic legal advice, governance oversight and company secretarial support. The role provides leadership across all legal and governance functions and serves as joint Company Secretary for the Group and its subsidiaries.

Key Responsibilities include:

- Assist the Board and senior management in relation to corporate governance and ensure compliance with the Corporations Act and other relevant laws
- Safeguard and advance the legal position of the PanAust Group and its Officers through proactive legal strategy and risk management.
- Lead the identification, assessment, and mitigation of material legal and corporate governance risks, ensuring timely and effective response strategies.
- Oversee the delivery of effective, high-quality legal services,



including ownership of the legal and governance budget and external counsel management.
- Direct legal due diligence and lead negotiations for mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic transactions.
- Set and execute the strategy for managing and resolving disputes, litigation, and other legal proceedings.
- Deliver clear, insightful reporting to the Board on legal, regulatory, and corporate governance matters.
- Provide commercially focused legal advice across Australian and international jurisdictions, supporting strategic business outcomes.
- Lead and support complex commercial negotiations with contractors, counterparties, financiers, and strategic partners across global operations.
- Oversee robust corporate records and document management systems to ensure compliance with domestic and international regulatory requirements.
- Serve as joint Company Secretary or appointed officer for subsidiaries and joint ventures, ensuring strong governance and statutory compliance.
- Provide strategic leadership to Group Business Support functions, driving alignment, performance, and organisational effectiveness.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates who:

- Bachelor of Laws or equivalent legal qualification is required for the role
- Admitted to practise as a legal practitioner in Australia
- Demonstrated experience serving as General Counsel, Senior Legal Counsel, Company Secretary or a comparable senior legal leadership role




- Experience managing cross-border legal matters and working across multiple jurisdictions
- High levels of discretion, judgement and integrity when handling confidential and sensitive matters
- Previous experience working for, or in partnership with, Chinese-owned or Chinese-invested organisations will be highly regarded
- Eligibility to act as Company Secretary under applicable corporate legislation.
- Mandarin Chinese language capability, including the ability to communicate effectively with Chinese-speaking stakeholders, is highly desirable.
- Frequent travel to China and PanAust entity locations will be required to fulfil the role requirements for this position.

You must have full Australian working rights to apply for this role.

Why Join Us?

- Our Values : Our corevalues of Care, Leadership, Integrity and Performance and represent the foundations of our great culture.
- Remuneration: We offer a competitive salary, bonus and benefits package.
- Meaningful Work: The work we do is valuable and connects all of our employees through a shared vision and our values.
- Sustainability : We actively focus on our environmental footprint and build upon community development initiatives in communities where we operate.

PanAust is focussed on building a workforce that embraces diversity and inclusion, aiming to create an environment that brings us all together through connection, security and community and harnessing what makes us unique. As an Equal Opportunity employer, we encourage and welcome applications from all genders, abilities, generations and cultural backgrounds.

Please note that due to the volume of applications we receive, only shortlisted candidates may be contacted regarding their application status.

We are not working with agencies to recruit this role.

If you’d like to learn more about us, please visit

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📌 General Counsel (Brisbane City)
🏢 PanAust
📍 Brisbane City