Released last week, the College of Law’s Australian Legal Salary Survey 2024 was conducted in late 2023 and early 2024 and comprises responses from more than 1,300 lawyers from across the country.

The largest respondent age group was 25 to 29 years (34 per cent) – an age group between Millennials and Gen Z. Twenty-five per cent of these respondents worked in boutique firms, with 14 per cent working in government departments, 12 per cent in large firms, 11 per cent in sole practices and 10 per cent in corporate organisations. The predominant role was solicitor at 43 per cent, followed by law clerk/graduate at 13 per cent.

Neville Carter, chief executive of the College of Law, said that the report reveals a number of interesting trends, including that the gender pay gap is still present at each career stage.

“An interesting thread throughout the responses was the impact of further education on increasing remuneration, such as a master of laws. What was also interesting was the fact only 17 per cent of respondents said, ‘further education’ was an available benefit, and on average, 70 per cent of respondents said further education did not factor in their salary or promotion reviews,” he said.

“Of note was the persisting gender pay gap, even at entry level. This is an issue that needs to be tackled holistically across the industry.”

According to the report, female annual base salaries are, on average, lower than males, regardless of role or level of experience. The pay gap then widens to 35 per cent at principal level.

“The only role that bucked the trend was ‘Associate’ where females averaged $3,732 more. Of those surveyed, the average base salary for a male is $102,659 and for a female $92,079, reflecting a 10 per cent difference,” the report stated.

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“These responses indicate that gender pay inequity is not a legacy issue, female respondents from every experience level, including less than one year and one to five years, reported earning thousands less than their male counterparts.”

Higher salary averages exist within corporate organisations, and interestingly, higher salaries were more common among more experienced legal professionals, especially those who studied either an MBA or a master of laws/applied law.

While the report noted that lawyers holding an MBA are uncommon, lawyers who do hold an MBA or a master of laws earned higher annual average base salaries across every type of organisation. Those with an MBA had an average salary of $151,039 compared to $99,494 for a bachelor of laws.

In law firms, respondents reported receiving up to $30,267 more, $101,300 more annually in corporate organisations, $16,428 more annually in government roles, and $8,389 more in non-for-profits (NFPs).

Despite these findings, the report also noted that the majority of respondents across corporate organisations (72 per cent), government agencies (69 per cent), not-for-profits (69 per cent), and law firms (71 per cent) said within salary reviews, further education and training has not been something that has been discussed in the context of a salary increase or promotion.

Bonuses and other benefits

According to the report, performance-based bonuses were more commonly offered to legal professionals working at law firms and corporate organisations (36 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively).

In contrast, only 7 per cent of legal professionals who work for the government and at NFPs were eligible for these bonuses.

Of those eligible for performance-based bonuses, 53 per cent of those eligible for bonuses get between $1,001 and $10,000 on an annual basis, most commonly calculated through personal key performance indicators (KPIs). Twenty-six per cent of respondents said they did not get any additional benefits at all.

Fifty-five per cent of respondents had flexibility within their organisations, followed by the ability to purchase extra leave (22 per cent), electronic devices (21 per cent), further education support (17 per cent), car park (16 per cent), free legal work (14 per cent) and phone plan (14 per cent).

Of the 26 per cent of respondents who said they didn’t receive benefits, 31 per cent worked in law firms, compared to 16 per cent in the corporate and NFP sectors and 10 per cent in government roles.

Looking at flexible work arrangements, government agencies were the most flexible (82 per cent), followed by corporates at 72 per cent, NFPs at 62 per cent, and law firms “lagging” at 45 per cent.

Finally, 20 per cent of law firms provided health and wellbeing days, with 25 per cent of government agencies doing so but 0 per cent of those in corporate organisations reporting wellbeing days. Corporates had the highest percentage of employees receiving corporate and retail discounts at 38 per cent.