Western Australia’s legal profession continues to grow and evolve, according to the latest 2024 National Profile of Solicitors, released by the Law Society of New South Wales in collaboration with all state and territory law societies.
WA is now home to 7,698 solicitors, representing 10 per cent of the national legal workforce. The report confirms long-term trends toward gender parity, sector diversification, and a slowly ageing profession.
For the first time, WA has achieved near-equal gender representation in private legal practice, with a female-to-male ratio of 1:1. Women now dominate in the government sector, making up over two-thirds of practitioners.
The data confirms that WA has not only caught up but is helping to lead the way in gender equality across the profession.
The average solicitor age in WA is now 43 years, slightly above the national average of 42. The state has a particularly high proportion of older solicitors, with those aged 65 and above making up a growing share of the workforce.
This trend reflects national changes, with the number of solicitors aged 65 and over increasing by 92 per cent since 2014. At the same time, the number of younger solicitors has also grown significantly, creating a widening age spectrum across the profession.
While 64 per cent of WA solicitors remain in private practice, the report shows substantial growth in the corporate and government legal sectors, now representing 17 per cent and 14 per cent of WA’s legal workforce, respectively. A small but stable 3 per cent of solicitors work in the community legal sector.
Most WA practitioners remain concentrated in the Perth metropolitan area, with 63 per cent practising in the city, 30 per cent in suburban areas, and just 6 per cent in regional or rural parts of the state.
Private practice in WA remains heavily weighted toward smaller firms, with 42 per cent of solicitors working as sole practitioners. Larger firms with 21 or more principals remain rare, consistent with national figures.
Since 2014, WA’s legal profession has expanded across all sectors. The most dramatic growth has occurred in the government legal sector, which has more than doubled in size (up 105 per cent) over the past decade.
The findings highlight a profession that is diversifying, becoming more inclusive, and adapting to new client and workforce expectations.
