Lawyer salary in Sydney: what the data shows
If you are looking for a single published figure for a lawyer salary in Sydney, you will not find one from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The ABS does not break down earnings by occupation and city in its main Average Weekly Earnings release. What we do have are the national full-time average, the New South Wales state average, and the minimum rates set by the Legal Services Award. This page explains how to read those numbers as a year, a week, and an hour, and where a Sydney lawyer might sit relative to the national line.
The national line and the NSW state average
The site’s line is the national full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings: $2,083.70 a week, or about $108,352 a year (ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026, multiplied by 52). That is the figure the site uses to place any salary on the line. For New South Wales, the state full-time average is $2,108.80 a week, about $109,658 a year. Since Sydney is in NSW, that state average is the closest broad reference. It is about 1.2% above the national average.
Place a salary on the line to see how any figure compares to the national average. You can also explore States and territories for other state averages.
Award minimums for legal professionals
The Fair Work Legal Services Award 2020 (MA000116) sets minimum pay rates for employees in the legal industry. These are the legal minimums, not typical salaries. For a law graduate (Level 5), the minimum weekly rate is $1,291.80, which works out to $33.99 per hour and about $67,174 a year on a 38-hour week. For a law clerk (Level 6), the minimum is $1,369.20 per week, $36.03 per hour, about $71,198 a year. Lower classifications for legal clerical and administrative employees start at $1,073.10 per week ($28.24 per hour).
These award rates rose by 4.75% from 1 July 2026, in line with the national minimum wage increase. The national minimum wage itself is $26.44 per hour, $1,004.90 per week, about $52,255 a year.
How actual lawyer salaries compare
Most qualified lawyers in Sydney earn well above the award minimums and above the NSW state average. The ABS does not publish a median or average specifically for lawyers, but the national full-time median for all occupations is about $90,532 a year (ABS Employee Earnings, August 2025). The all-employees median (including part-time and casual) is about $74,100. Given that lawyers are a professional occupation, it is reasonable to expect a Sydney lawyer’s salary to exceed the full-time median, often significantly. However, without a published figure, we cannot give a precise number.
For a sense of how different occupations compare, see Job medians. For industry-level data, see Industry medians.
Reading the same pay as a year, a week, and an hour
The site’s tool accepts a yearly salary before tax and shows the equivalent weekly and hourly amounts based on a 38-hour week. For example, the NSW state average of $109,658 a year is about $2,108.80 a week and $55.49 an hour. The national average of $108,352 a year is $2,083.70 a week and $54.83 an hour. The award minimum for a law graduate ($67,174 a year) is $1,291.80 a week and $33.99 an hour.
You can use the tool to convert any salary and see how far it sits from the national full-time average. The site also shows the distance in percentage terms.
Tax and take-home pay
For the 2026–27 income year, resident tax rates are: nil up to $18,200; 15% from $18,201 to $45,000; 30% from $45,001 to $135,000; 37% from $135,001 to $190,000; and 45% above $190,000. The Medicare levy adds 2% (with possible reductions for low incomes). A Sydney lawyer earning, say, $150,000 would fall in the 37% bracket plus Medicare, giving a marginal rate of 39%. The ATO provides the official rates; this site does not calculate tax.
Where the figures come from
The national and state averages are from the ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026. Medians are from ABS Employee Earnings, August 2025. Award rates are from Fair Work’s Legal Services Award 2020, effective 1 July 2026. The national minimum wage is also from Fair Work, effective 1 July 2026. For more detail on how the figures are set, see How the figures are set.
Summary
There is no single published “lawyer salary Sydney” figure. The best available benchmarks are the NSW full-time average of about $109,658 a year and the award minimums that start around $67,174 for a law graduate. Most Sydney lawyers earn between those two points or above the state average. Use the site’s tool to compare any salary to the national line.
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