A new ACLA survey of 239 in-house counsel has provided some insights into the salaries of in-house lawyers.

General Counsel earned a median package of A$235,000 while the median package for GCs in executive management was A$268,000, according to  ACLA’s 2014 In-house Counsel Remuneration Report.

The survey also found that one in two in-house counsel have a total salary package of between A$100K and A$200K per annum, with close to one in three receiving a total salary package in excess of A$250K. The majority of in-house counsel (61 percent) earn between A$100K and A$200K base salary per annum.

Over 80 percent of in-house counsel receive some form of value added benefit in their salary package – examples include bonuses (7 percent), superannuation greater than the mandated 9.25 percent  (22 percent) and FBT benefits associated with working for a charity (3 percent).

In-house counsel working in the energy/resources sector and manufacturing/construction industries generally had higher remuneration than those in other sectors.

 Tables summarizing ACLA’s key findings are set out below; all information, research and graphics are courtesy of ACLA and the 2014 ACLA In-house Counsel Remuneration Report.

Table one - remuneration, nationally and by state

Table two - remuneration, by role

Amounts in red are where the mean varies by more than 20% to the median indicating that there are a small number of people receiving significantly greater benefits than the norm.

Table three - remuneration, by tenure

Table four - remuneration, by size of legal department (number of persons)