Problemas de la certificación social

The grade or broad designation of solicitor positions within Legal Aid NSW, the ALS and CLCs is summarised in Table 19. Positions that were designated as solicitor positions made up 77 per cent of all public legal assistance solicitor positions. The percentage of solicitor grade positions in the ALS (85%) and Legal Aid NSW (81%) was higher than in NSW CLCs (62%). There were proportionally more senior solicitor and principal solicitor positions in CLCs than in the other two public legal services. A little less than 20 per cent of solicitor positions in CLCs were graded as principal solicitor positions compared with just three per cent of principal solicitor positions in the ALS and six per cent in Legal Aid. There was also a higher proportion of senior solicitors in CLCs (17%), compared with ten and 11 per cent respectively in the ALS and Legal Aid NSW.

Table 19: Grade/designation of solicitor positions in Legal Aid NSW, ALS and CLCs, 30 June 2009

Grade/designation CLC ALS Legal Aid Total

n % n % n % n % CEO/Manager/Coordinator 4 2.4 1 1.1 9 2.0 14 2.0 Principal solicitor 33 19.5 3 3.4 28 6.3 64 9.2 Senior solicitor 28 16.6 9 10.3 49 11.1 86 12.3 Solicitor 104 61.5 74 85.1 355 80.5 533 76.5 Total 169 100.0 87 100.0 441 100.0 697 100.0

Note: A small number of original grade/designation categories are grouped together in this table. Source: LJF census of NSW public legal assistance solicitor positions (30 June 2009).

All four vacancies within CLCs were for solicitor positions. Within Legal Aid NSW, 32 of the 40 vacant positions were for solicitors, seven were for senior solicitors and one vacancy was for a principal solicitor (on leave). In the ALS, five of the six vacant positions were for solicitors with the other vacancy existing at the time for a senior solicitor.

Salaries

In addition to information on grading, information was obtained from public legal assistance agencies on the salaries for all solicitors employed by their organisation. However, as the question was expressed broadly and the request understood differently by respondents, the data ultimately received proved difficult to compare. For instance, some respondents provided salary information in terms of the actual salary received as at 30 June 2009, while others provided a salary range (band) for each position, and other respondents provided a description of the position’s award. Yet others provided an hourly rate.

Only the ALS consistently provided a single figure for each solicitor position. Legal Aid NSW provided a general grade and salary range (band). Salary information received from CLCs (as 35 separate centres) was the most variable. Furthermore, information was not requested on salary packaging and what differences this would make to ‘take home pay’. In addition, it was not always clear whether the salary figures provided included the superannuation component.

In order to enable some comparisons to be made between (and within) services, the salary information provided for each solicitor position was transformed to a yearly range with a minimum, maximum and mid-point salary amount. Where a single salary figure was provided this was taken to be the mid-point salary. The mid-point salary was then used to compare solicitor salaries across all three services.

Recognising the difficulties in the definition of the salary data, the variability of the information provided and the extent to which the salary information was recoded and standardised, the analysis will only report

on salaries in general terms. That said, the final figures derived were comparable with salary amounts already in the public domain. For example, Urbis (2009b) used data collected from individual solicitors by the Law Society of NSW to report on solicitor income by sector (or practice type). As indicated in Table 20, the reported mean annual income for solicitors in CLCs was $28,600 less than for ‘government’ lawyers. The category, ‘government’, includes, but is not restricted to, solicitors employed by the Aboriginal Legal Service and Legal Aid NSW.

Table 20: Urbis (2009b): Estimated mean annual income, NSW solicitors, 2008/09 financial year

Sector Mean annual income

Community Legal Centres $58,100 Government (incl. Legal Aid, ALS and other government lawyers) $86,700

Private $94,800

Corporate $123,900

All solicitors $96,900

Source: Urbis, 2009b, Table 13.3.

Based on this study’s census of public legal assistance solicitor positions, the average annual salary for all Legal Aid NSW solicitors (regardless of grade) on 30 June 2009 was $87,548 (Table 21). The average annual salary for CLC (again, regardless of grade) was found to be almost one-third less, at $59,155. Similarly, the average annual salary for ALS solicitors was one-third less than for Legal Aid solicitors. At the level of principal solicitor, Legal Aid NSW and ALS salaries were comparable. However, CLC salaries stand apart at this level, with principal solicitors in CLCs paid some 36 per cent less than principal solicitors in the other two services. Nonetheless, as information regarding the responsibilities of individual principal solicitors was not collected (including the number of staff reporting to each position), salary differences may, in some, part reflect higher or lower levels of responsibilities of principal solicitors (or equivalent) within each service.

The pattern for senior solicitors is somewhat different. The average annual salary for senior solicitors in Legal Aid NSW was around 40 per cent more than for senior solicitors in both the ALS and CLCs.

Table 21: Mean and median annual salaries* for Legal Aid NSW, ALS and CLCs solicitors, 30 June 2009

Agency Grade Annual salary

Mean Median

Legal Aid NSW Principal solicitor^ $109,099 $104,151

Senior solicitor $106,184 104,151 Solicitor $82,670 $85,650

All Legal Aid solicitors $87,548 $88,955

ALS (NSW/ACT) Principal solicitor $106,500 $106,500

Senior solicitor $63,417 $63,500 Solicitor $55,507 $50,000

All ALS solicitors $58,883 $52,000

CLCs (NSW) Principal solicitor $68,070 $67,000

Senior solicitor $65,741 $66,500 Solicitor $53,896 $53,534

All CLC solicitors $59,155 $55,577

* Based on calculation of mid-point salary. ^ Or equivalent solicitor position in Legal Aid NSW.

In all three services, the majority of legal practitioners were employed at the lower level of ‘solicitor’: Š 81 per cent of all Legal Aid NSW lawyers were employed as solicitors with an average annual salary

of $82,670 (median salary = $85,650)

Š 85 per cent of ALS lawyers were employed as solicitors with an average annual salary of $55,507 (median salary = $50,000)

Š 60 per cent of CLC lawyers were employed as solicitors with an average annual salary of $53,896 (median salary = $53,534).

As can be seen, on average, solicitors in the employment of Legal Aid NSW were paid an annual salary that was 33 per cent higher than solicitors working for the ALS and 35 per cent higher than solicitors employed by NSW CLCs.

It should be noted that most solicitors employed by CLCs were generally on a Social and Community Services (SACS) Award (i.e. an award structure basically for social workers) and not an award for lawyers.