Ninth Biennial Pro Bono Survey – Australian Large Law Firms

Published on 24 February 2025 The Australian Pro Bono Centre is pleased to release the results of the 9th Biennial Pro Bono Survey – Australian Large Law Firms, which demonstrate that the Australian legal pro bono community has continued to mature and grow in the last two years.

The Australian Pro Bono Centre is pleased to release the results of the 9th Biennial Pro Bono Survey, which highlight the remarkable contributions and ongoing commitment of large law firms in Australia to providing pro bono legal services.

Forty-eight firms responded to the 2024 Survey. This was a strong response rate and represents the largest cohort of respondent firms since the Survey began. The 48 respondent firms collectively employed a total of 16,815 full-time equivalent (FTE) lawyers, representing nearly 20% of all lawyers in practice in Australia. This was an increase from 15,512 FTE lawyers employed by 47 respondent firms in 2022.

In 2024, Australian large law firms provided more pro bono legal services than ever before. The 48 respondent firms performed 704,888 pro bono hours, a significant increase from the 564,531 hours reported in 2022. On average, 62% of firm lawyers were involved in pro bono, undertaking an average of 41.9 hours per lawyer per year, up from 36.2 hours in 2022. For the first time, a majority of respondent firms exceeded the National Pro Bono Target of 35 hours per lawyer per year.