Average Legal Assistant Salary in Australia for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Legal Assistant 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 a Legal Assistant Make in Australia?

A Legal Assistant working in Australia will typically earn around 52,300 AUD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 27,400 AUD to the highest average salary of 78,900 AUD.

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

Legal Assistant 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 Legal Assistant Salaries in Australia

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

Salary ranges

We already know that a Legal Assistant can earn between 27,400 AUD and 78,900 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 a Legal Assistant in Australia is 50,300 AUD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 50,300 AUD, and 50% of the population earn more than 50,300 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 Legal Assistant salary in Australia, 25% of the population are earning less than 35,400 AUD while 75% of the population earn more than 35,400 AUD.

75% of the population earn less than 61,700 AUD, and 25% of the population earn more than 61,700 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.

Legal Assistant 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 legal assistant 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. A Legal Assistant in Australia that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 27,400 AUD.
• 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Legal Assistant salary would increase to 36,200 AUD.
• 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Legal Assistant, the average salary would be 54,300 AUD.
• 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 62,300 AUD.
• 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Legal Assistant with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 70,800 AUD.
• 20+ Years Experience. For a Legal Assistant with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 76,000 AUD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

Legal Assistant 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.

Employees that have earned a certificate or diploma from a post-secondary program can expect to earn approximately 17% more than those who only completed high school level.

If you have a bachelor's degree, you can expect to earn approximately 25% more than those who only completed to a certificate or diploma level.

For professionals reaching the master's degree level, your salary would be around 30% higher than those with a bachelor's degree.

If you are able to achieve a PhD, you can expect to earn approximately 22% more than those with a master's degree for the same job role.

Legal Assistant 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 legal assistant will earn an average of 49,300 AUD, while a female legal assistant will earn around 53,600 AUD.

This means that a male legal assistant earns approximately 8% less than a female legal assistant for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Australia

Legal Assistant 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 a Legal Assistant in Australia is around 10% every 15 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 = ( 10 ÷ 15 ) × 12  = 8%

What this means is that a Legal Assistant in Australia can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 8% 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.

Legal Assistant 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.

A Legal Assistant is a moderate bonus based job, with 54% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

46% 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 3% to 6%.

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.

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Legal Assistant

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Legal Assistant in Australia.

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.

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