Women are increasingly shaping the legal landscape in Australia, everywhere from the courtroom to community advocacy and legal reform.
They are challenging long-standing norms and redefining what leadership in the profession looks like.
But despite women continuing to dominate the sector at the entry level, breaking through to senior leadership remains a persistent challenge.
Across the country, most law students are women and women now make up 58 per cent of lawyers, according to the latest report, released in 2026, by Law Council Australia.
This number, however, shrinks to 45 per cent at the senior level, revealing a stark leadership gap that continues to shape career progression, pay equity and influence within the profession.
Renée Bianchi, president of Australian Women Lawyers (and pictured above), tells Women’s Agenda that the profession has seen “an improvement in women being promoted to partner, but the same increase has not occurred for women being promoted to equity partner or to leadership positions within law firms”.
Research has also shown women are more likely than men to leave the legal profession, with system barriers at play such as the gender pay gap and a factor called equitable briefing.
In 2016, the Law Council of Australia launched the Equitable Briefing Policy to increase the number of women briefed by law firms, barristers, and corporate/government entities. This set a target for women barristers to receive at least 30 per cent of all briefs and 30 per cent of the value of all brief fees, with annual reporting required.
“Over the years there has been an improvement in the number of briefs going to women, but not the same increase in the fees for those briefs going to women,” says Bianchi, noting that the briefs going to female lawyers are too often for smaller or shorter matters that aren’t worth as much.
To help level the playing field, there’s a need for innovative strategies and support for women in the legal profession, such as encouraging more firms and entities to adopt the equitable briefing policy.
Strong parental leave policies are another area where growth can occur in the profession, as more law firms recognise the benefits of flexible work arrangements and as greater leave uptake by male carers increases.
Founder of Connecting Lawyer Mums, Lauren Cassimatis, tells Women’s Agenda that a common misconception she sees in the legal profession is that “mothers are unable to commit to their job or simply don’t have the capacity to prioritise their work”.
Cassimatis says that if cultural change is to occur, there needs to be greater support for women, including flexible arrangements and initiatives that promote leadership and empowerment.
It’s advocates and lawyers like Cassimatis and Bianchi that are leading a broader cultural shift across the profession.
This is why Women’s Agenda has published a list of Women to Watch in the legal sector today, aiming to elevate the profiles of those included, and to expand their impact by sharing more stories of women in law over the coming months.
Check out the Women’s Agenda of Women to Watch in Law here.