The ATO published a list of medians and averages for the 2015-16 income year based on tax returns which had been processed by the end of October 2017.

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?

1. Intellectual property lawyer; patent attorney; trade mark attorney
2. Barrister
3. Lawyer; solicitor
4. Judge of law
5. Tribunal member
6. 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

The new statistics published by the ATO showed that female magistrates had an average taxable income of $265,478; while their male colleagues reported an average taxable income of $251,713. Men still outnumbered women on the bench of the local court however, comprising more than 62 per cent of all magistrates.  

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