New research from the College of Law has shown that corporate salaries continue to be the best in the legal profession, with 38 per cent of lawyers unhappy with their current pay.
Despite legal salaries, on average, rising by 7 per cent since last year, many in the profession are dissatisfied with their pay, according to the College of Law’s Australian Legal Salary Survey 2025.
The college surveyed more than 1,100 legal professionals nationally earlier this year, across a range of organisations and roles. The demographics of the respondents predominantly consisted of younger lawyers, with 40 per cent aged between 18-29 years, 30 per cent aged 30-39, 16 per cent aged 40-49 years, 10 per cent aged 50-60, and 4 per cent above 61 years. Sixty-four per cent of respondents were female, 34 per cent were male, and 2 per cent were diverse or preferred not to say.
This year marks the College of Law’s second annual national salary survey that takes an in-depth look at the legal profession’s average salaries, benefits and work structures. Last year, corporate organisations were revealed to have higher salary averages than firms, something that remained consistent in this year’s survey.
The average base salary, according to the survey, was $109,353, reflecting a 7 per cent increase on 2024’s survey result of $102,100. The fact that 40 per cent of respondents are aged between 18-29 years influenced 2024 and 2025’s findings equally.
Corporate organisations had the highest average salaries for the second year running, with an average of $151,989 (an increase of 4 per cent since last year) and boutique law firms were the lowest at $97,253 (an increase of 10 per cent since 2024).
Interestingly, not-for-profit and community legal centres were the second highest at $114,471 on average, with government agency salaries ($108,663 on average) and small to large firms ($107,367) following.
In terms of roles, the biggest salary jumps occurred at the five-to-10-year mark, with lawyers who had five years or less experience earning an average of $89,500 and those with six to 10 years of experience earning an average of $122,671.
College of Law Group CEO Marcus Martin (pictured) said this is the first year the survey has questioned respondents on how happy they are with their remuneration.
“There are some significant themes noted in this year’s salary survey data, one of which is the large proportion of legal professionals who are dissatisfied with their salaries – close to 40 per cent,” he said.
“We have seen the average base salary rise by 7 per cent on last year’s data, which is significantly above inflation, but this is the first year we have asked lawyers how they actually feel about their compensation, which is also telling.”
Overall, 38 per cent of legal professionals surveyed said they were unsatisfied with their salary, 19 per cent were neutral, and 43 per cent were satisfied. This comes after Lawyers Weekly’s own research earlier this year found that 21 per cent of lawyers were unhappy with their pay.
According to the survey, those working for corporate, government and NFP organisations were most satisfied with their salaries – 55 per cent of corporate respondents, and 51 per cent of government and NFP respondents, were satisfied. Within small to large law firms, 44 per cent indicated satisfaction, while only 34 per cent of lawyers employed in boutique firms (classified as four partners/principals or less) and sole practitioners said they were satisfied with their salaries.
“Those unsatisfied with their base salary are earning under the average of $109,353 ($94,812), and almost none of them feel that it’s keeping up with inflation and the cost of living,” the survey said.
“They are also significantly less likely to have had a promotion in the last one [to] two years or to be eligible for bonuses or benefits. And, when these things do occur, they are usually at a much lower level than their satisfied counterparts.”
Of the 38 per cent unsatisfied with their salary, only 6 per cent believe their current salary is keeping up with inflation and the cost of living. In contrast, more than 40 per cent of those satisfied with their current salary believe it is keeping up with inflation and the cost of living – although this cohort of lawyers receives better bonuses and benefits, as well as better salary increases (11 per cent on average compared to 8 per cent).
According to the survey results, 31 per cent of respondents were eligible for a performance-based bonus or incentive. Bonuses and incentives were “far more common” in corporate organisations and small to large firms. The average bonus was $15,247 annually, a 37 per cent increase on 2024’s average bonus of $11,136.
At $19,765, corporate organisations had the highest average annual bonus, while small-medium and boutique law firms sit at $15,034 and $14,843, respectively.
Bonuses were based primarily on firm performance (43 per cent) and billable hours (40 per cent), both of which remained unchanged since 2024. While personal KPIs influenced 49 per cent of bonuses last year, only 36 per cent of respondents said the same this year.
Additionally, similar to last year, 51 per cent of respondents had no billable targets. Within small to large firms, 85 per cent had billable targets, 73 per cent of which were individual targets. Fifty-six per cent of micro and boutique firms had billable targets, 48 per cent being individual-based.
The average billable hours expected to be achieved by an individual lawyer was six hours per day. Five per cent said they had billable hours targets of seven to eight hours, with 1 per cent having billable hour targets above eight hours a day. However, the proportion of professionals being incentivised to hit these targets has declined significantly from 38 per cent to 28 per cent.
More to come.
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
