Women lawyers in Australia outnumber men for the first time, but more needs be done to encourage women into leadership, says the Law Society of NSW.

July 19, 2017

Female lawyers in Australia now outnumber men for the first time, with women joining the profession at twice the rate of men in the past two years.

Law Society of NSW chief executive Michael Tidball said the “equalising of opportunity” had begun and the increase reflected the continued movement of women into roles once dominated by men.

“There is a re-ordering of work with women wanting to, probably because the opportunities are there, participate at a very positive level in the economy and our society,” he said.

A poll conducted for the Law Society of NSW found there were 35,799 women practising as solicitors last year, just over half of the nation’s 71,509 legal eagles. 

The study also found the legal industry had grown by 24 per cent in the past five years with NSW and Victoria employing the largest number of registered lawyers.

Mr Tidball said the growth was due to economic demand but with law now available at many of Australia’s universities it was increasingly seen as a good all round degree for a variety of careers.

Despite the positive findings, Mr Tidball said women held only 25 per cent of partnership positions across the country’s top law firms and there was a need to boost the number of women in leadership roles.

“Across all of the statistics there is evidence women are moving into senior roles, but there is clearly a long way to go,” he said.

He called for mentors and for women to be considered on merit.

The difficulties of balancing the demands of a legal career with family were seen as the main obstacle to more women filling leadership positions that often take decades to reach.

Encouraging more workplace flexibility is the key, Mr Tidball said.

Mr Tidball said although most employers now had policies for flexible working, their failure to implement them had prevented more women reaching the top roles.

Change will take time and the industry’s leadership are encouraging this change, he said.

“Women expect that their rights are expressed in opportunity and they are certainly contributing to the leadership of the overall profession,” Mr Tidball said.

Mr Tidball said men also needed more flexibility in the legal workplace to be able to perform their role as fathers and husbands.

“Flexibility is of benefit to everybody, not just to women,” he said.