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What does the new ATO data say about your pay?
Compare your salary with the national average according to the latest data on individual taxable income released by the Australian Tax Office.
Melissa Coade
IP law leads the pack in legal sector jobs with the biggest pay gap between men and women, according to new tax statistics released by the Australian Tax Office (ATO). But if you are a legal researcher, law clerk, tribunal member or judge, you are also statistically likely to receive greater pay if you are a man.
Of the seven categories in law that taxpayers could list their occupation under, the category for intellectual property (IP) lawyers, patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys had the largest reported income difference for men and women. There was a $134,521 average salary difference in favour of men in that category for the last financial year, with women making up just over 35 per cent of taxpayers in the group.
Trailing behind IP lawyers with a slightly better average income gap were barristers (with a $105,102 gap), solicitors (with a $36,731 gap), and judicial officers (with a $20,098 gap).
The overview of the ATO’s 2015-16 income and tax status of Australians also showed that among Australia’s ranks of magistrates, income tipped in favour of the fairer sex during 2015-16. It was the only legal category where women (who made up about 37 per cent of professionals to identify in the occupational category) took home a higher average income than their male peers.
What legal occupations did women’s income fare worse than their male peers in 2015-16?
- Intellectual property lawyer; patent attorney; trade mark attorney
- Barrister
- Lawyer; solicitor
- Judge of law
- Tribunal member
- Legal researcher; articled clerk; clerk - articled; coroner; court registrar - federal, Family, Supreme, Appeals; Judicial registrar; Registrar - judicial; Registrar - legal - Court of Appeals; Registrar - legal - federal, Supreme or Family courts
How does your income compare to the ATO's 2015-16 national average?
|
Occupation
|
Gender
|
Number of Individuals
|
Average taxable income
|
Median taxable income
|
|
Barrister
|
Female
|
858
|
68,287
|
29,775
|
|
Barrister
|
Male
|
767
|
173,389
|
100,348
|
|
Judge - law
|
Female
|
215
|
363,544
|
369,996
|
|
Judge - law
|
Male
|
546
|
383,642
|
382,989
|
|
Magistrate
|
Female
|
199
|
265,478
|
281,234
|
|
Magistrate
|
Male
|
337
|
251,713
|
289,127
|
|
Tribunal member
|
Female
|
123
|
128,331
|
115,405
|
|
Tribunal member
|
Male
|
157
|
147,238
|
124,878
|
|
Intellectual property lawyer; Patent attorney; Trade mark attorney
|
Female
|
88
|
139,170
|
75,029
|
|
Intellectual property lawyer; Patent attorney; Trade mark attorney
|
Male
|
157
|
273,691
|
111,392
|
|
Legal researcher; Articled clerk; Clerk - articled; Coroner; Court registrar - Federal, Family, Supreme, Appeals; Judicial registrar; Registrar - judicial; Registrar - legal - Court of Appeals; Registrar - legal - Federal, Supreme or Family courts
|
Female
|
856
|
66,549
|
53,626
|
|
Legal researcher; Articled clerk; Clerk - articled; Coroner; Court registrar - Federal, Family, Supreme, Appeals; Judicial registrar; Registrar - judicial; Registrar - legal - Court of Appeals; Registrar - legal - Federal, Supreme or Family courts
|
Male
|
395
|
82,925
|
65,394
|
|
Lawyer; Solicitor
|
Female
|
29,831
|
106,475
|
85,420
|
|
Lawyer; Solicitor
|
Male
|
21,484
|
143,206
|
108,296
|
