Average Attorney Salary in Australia for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Attorney salary for 2024 in Australia and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the Australian dollar. To keep things simple, we are using the AUD currency code instead of the currency symbol $.

How Much Does an Attorney Make in Australia?

An Attorney working in Australia will typically earn around 187,500 AUD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 84,600 AUD to the highest average salary of 295,400 AUD.

Average Annual Salary
187,500 AUD
Average Monthly Salary
15,625 AUD

Lowest Annual Salary
84,600 AUD
Lowest Monthly Salary
7,050 AUD

Highest Annual Salary
295,400 AUD
Highest Monthly Salary
24,616 AUD

These are average salaries for an Attorney in Australia and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for an Attorney to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Attorney salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Attorney Salaries in Australia

So we've looked at the average salaries an Attorney will earn in Australia. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that an Attorney can earn between 84,600 AUD and 295,400 AUD on average in Australia. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for an Attorney in Australia is 199,700 AUD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 199,700 AUD, and 50% of the population earn more than 199,700 AUD.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Attorney salary in Australia, 25% of the population are earning less than 130,500 AUD while 75% of the population earn more than 130,500 AUD.

75% of the population earn less than 267,200 AUD, and 25% of the population earn more than 267,200 AUD.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Attorney Salary by Experience Level in Australia

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average attorney salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. An Attorney in Australia that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 98,800 AUD.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Attorney salary would increase to 128,400 AUD.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as an Attorney, the average salary would be 192,600 AUD.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 233,600 AUD.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. An Attorney with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 254,400 AUD.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For an Attorney with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 275,800 AUD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
98,800 AUD
2-5 Years +34%
128,400 AUD
5-10 Years +48%
192,600 AUD
10-15 Years +22%
233,600 AUD
15-20 Years +9%
254,400 AUD
20+ Years +8%
275,800 AUD

Attorney Salary by Education Level in Australia

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for an Attorney in Australia based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • Bachelor's Degree. An Attorney in Australia with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 111,700 AUD.

  • Master's Degree. An Attorney in Australia with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 172,200 AUD.

  • PhD. An Attorney in Australia with a phd education can earn an average salary of 292,100 AUD.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Bachelor's Degree
111,700 AUD
Master's Degree +57%
172,200 AUD
PhD +68%
292,100 AUD

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in Australia is around 37,800 to 114,000 AUD and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Attorney Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Australia, a male attorney will earn an average of 192,600 AUD, while a female attorney will earn around 180,500 AUD.

This means that a male attorney earns approximately 7% more than a female attorney for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Australia

Male
192,600 AUD
Female -7%
180,500 AUD

Attorney Average Pay Raise in Australia

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for an Attorney in Australia is around 12% every 16 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in Australia is around 8% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 12 ÷ 16 ) × 12  = 9%

What this means is that an Attorney in Australia can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 9% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Australia for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in Australia.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
4%
Energy
8%
Information Technology
3%
Healthcare
7%
Travel
2%
Construction
6%
Education
1%

Attorney Bonus and Incentive Rates in Australia

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

An Attorney is a high bonus based job, with 88% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

12% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 5% to 9%.

Received Bonus
88%
No Bonus
12%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in Australia earn approximately 5% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
92,500 AUD
Private Sector -5%
87,900 AUD

Salaries for Jobs Similar to an Attorney

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to an Attorney in Australia.

Job Title Category Salary
Administrative Law Judge Legal 263,900 AUD
Arbitrator Legal 119,700 AUD
Associate Attorney Legal 121,800 AUD
Bailiff Legal 58,800 AUD
Barrister Legal 49,800 AUD
Candidate Attorney Legal 100,700 AUD
Conciliator Legal 89,900 AUD
Contracts Associate Legal 58,200 AUD
Contracts Manager Legal 109,700 AUD
Contracts Negotiator Legal 83,000 AUD
Contracts Specialist Legal 55,300 AUD
Conveyancing Secretary Legal 50,000 AUD
Corporate Counsel Legal 137,100 AUD
Counsel Legal 138,700 AUD
Court Clerk Legal 39,500 AUD
Court Judicial Assistant Legal 69,700 AUD
Court Liaison Specialist Legal 79,800 AUD
Court Reporter Legal 68,800 AUD
Court Representative Legal 55,200 AUD
Crown Prosecution Service Lawyer Legal 255,000 AUD
General Counsel Legal 245,600 AUD
Immigration Executive Legal 127,600 AUD
In House Counsel Legal 128,200 AUD
Intellectual Property Specialist Legal 86,300 AUD
Judge Advocate Legal 206,100 AUD
Law Clerk Legal 45,100 AUD
Lawyer Legal 191,500 AUD
Legal Administrative Assistant Legal 47,600 AUD
Legal Advisor Legal 112,700 AUD
Legal Assistant Legal 52,300 AUD
Legal Associate Legal 87,800 AUD
Legal Consultant Legal 109,700 AUD
Legal Consultant Legal 114,600 AUD
Legal Counsel Legal 130,500 AUD
Legal Editor Legal 83,300 AUD
Legal Executive Legal 163,800 AUD
Legal Executive Secretary Legal 49,200 AUD
Legal IP Officer Legal 46,200 AUD
Legal Officer Legal 56,400 AUD
Legal Secretary Legal 47,400 AUD
Legal Services Director Legal 218,100 AUD
Legal Services Manager Legal 206,700 AUD
Legal Support Worker Legal 33,000 AUD
Legislative Liaison Legal 87,900 AUD
Litigation Attorney Legal 216,600 AUD
Litigation Paralegal Legal 116,400 AUD
Magistrate Judge Legal 281,100 AUD
Paralegal Legal 74,500 AUD
Patent Attorney Legal 139,100 AUD
Staff Attorney Legal 139,100 AUD

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in Australia, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Adelaide 192,600 AUD
Brisbane 193,200 AUD
Canberra-Queanbeyan 172,200 AUD
Gold Coast-Tweed 190,400 AUD
Gosford 165,900 AUD
Melbourne 195,200 AUD
Newcastle 167,100 AUD
Perth 193,400 AUD
Sunshine Coast 171,300 AUD
Sydney 195,500 AUD
Wollongong 163,800 AUD

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