samb29

Hi,

I've made a few inquires with recruitment agencies and currently waiting on them getting back to me.

In the meantime if you work in Adelaide as a Paralegal/legal secretary/legal executive could you let me know how the job market is there and expect salaries.

If your in another city I'd also been keen to try find out some expected salaries.

I'm a paralegal just now and have been since 2006, prior to that I was a legal secretary. Salaries for paralegals I have found through doing a bit of research seem to be about $65k

Thanks

Kiwikaye

Hi samb29

I'm currently working as a legal secretary in Melbourne. Salary as always will depend on the size of the firm and your experience, but I'm on a package of $70k (including super). From what I've seen recently, that's on the good side of average for a legal secretary. We have a couple of paralegals and, while I don't know exactly what they earn, I would think in Melbourne you could get anything from around $70-90k depending on the firm and the job.

I've never lived in Adelaide, but would think the job market there would be smaller and the salaries a bit less than Melbourne or Sydney, so $65k seems fair. www.seek.com.au is the best website to look at for jobs, and you also need to determine whether any salaries quoted are just salary, or a package which also includes super. I've worked in legal in Melbourne for around 15 years now on and off, so if I can help, feel free to let me know.

No help with Adelaide, though, sorry.

samb29

Hey,

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah it was seek.com.au were I had researched salaries along with a few other websites, but I could only narrow it down by a range, and it wasn't 100% clear if super was included.

One agency so far has got back to me in Adelaide and they said about $65k, but never said if this was paralegal or legal secretary work, so just waiting to hear back from them and a couple of others.

I would have thought that Sydney and Melbourne were slightly higher.

$70-90 plus super is what I would be hoping for as a paralegal but again this may be hard to achieve in Adelaide, well the $90k end anyway.

Thanks again, and thanks for your offer of further help.

Kiwikaye

No worries. Good luck.

samb29

any other Paralegal/legal secretary/legal executive that are able to give some advice please get in touch

samb29

Still waiting to hear back from agencies so in the meantime any see my OP and please get in touch

jackieh23

"$70-90 plus super is what I would be hoping for as a paralegal but again this may be hard to achieve in Adelaide, well the $90k end anyway."


Not in a million years...

We left Adelaide in Feb this year. I found Randstad was one of the better agencies to deal with but even they weren't perfect.


Randstad
Level 2, 63 Pirie Street
Adelaide SA 5000

www.randstad.com.au

Adelaide does not have the corporate world of Melb,Syd or even Perth. The job market is tight and tightening! I do not want to come across as negative in all my answers to your posts but I am because I am telling it like it is... Adelaide and obtaining employment therein is hard work.

As is obtaining Child Care spots...

samb29

Thanks for the info,

I know the salaries will be harder to achieve than the like of Sydney and Melbourne, but we only have the choice of Perth and Adelaide well for 2 years anyway, and Perth is looking far too costly.

nicolac34

I'm in Perth, and although I never ended up working as a Legal Sec, I did get offered a couple of positions.

As a temp salary it's around the $30-$35 p/h rate, for a full-time perm position I think you're looking at around $70-$80k.

Paralegals seem to get the same sort of salary here as legal secs, think they sort of lump them all in together as "Legal Executive" but you'd be expected to do PA type duties as well.

samb29

Thanks for the update that's the figures I found on internet also, about $30p/h temp work and about $70k...pushing $80k for more experienced role, which is the UK level I am at but not the Oz level probably.

However Adelaide is more looking like $60-65k, and as you said it all seems to be rolled into one role in oz

samb29

Hi

Looking for some Salary guides for Brisbane as a Paralegal or Legal secretary

Is 70k going to be achievable?

YoSemite

That could be difficult in Brisbane. I would have excepted $55-$65k as a base, with the upper of that being at the top tier commercial firms. Crime and family would pay much less.

Again it doesn't have the same kind of market as Melbourne and Sydney. The legal paternity is also very small in comparison - less lawyers, less firms, less support needed.

Also, the Chief Justice in Queensland is adamantly opposed to "paralegals" because (to paraphrase him) some firms are charging clients for "paralegals" working on their files, when actually its a junior secretary with no training/qualifications. On the back of that, I heard rumours that a lot of roles were 'reclassified' (for want of a better term).

What you may see are "Senior Legal Secretary" positions and some of these may have an element of paralegal work.

Also (I really do sound like a merchant of doom), an awful lot of paralegal jobs that are out there are being snapped up but the tens of thousands of legal graduates and newly admitted solicitors who haven't been able to secure any other work. I understand from colleagues that this has been a particular issue in Queensland at the minute.

I know from my wife (solicitor) that her firm - very expensive, highly regarded boutique firm - pay their secretaries (no paralegals) between $55-$70k including super. That's in Melbourne though.

I would suspect that, despite your extensive experience, your lack of Australian experience (both workplace and law related) would put you on the back foot for getting the big bucks.

In saying that, it might be worth contacting some of the larger multi-nationals that have offices in Brisbane (or wherever) as they might be less worried about lack of local knowledge. In fact, UK knowledge may well come in handy.

Good luck!!