Are you a New Zealand Qualified Lawyer considering a move to Australia? Have you considered Brisbane as a location of choice?
As well as a great lifestyle, sunny climate and affordable place to live there are some great career opportunities available.
Brisbane has a population of over 2 million and it has grown over 3% in the last 3 years – check out this article to get an idea of the continued development projects that are happening in Brisbane.
As the third largest city in Australia most of the Top Tier and Mid-Tier Law firms have sizeable offices in Brisbane and they are growing; for lawyers this means opportunities to develop their careers and skills.
From a snapshot of the year there are, on average, 300 legal job vacancies open per month in Brisbane.
If you are a Construction, Infrastructure or Projects lawyer the work you can expect in front-end advisory is complex and diverse, and will add much value to your experience. As well as opportunities in law firms there is an appetite to hire inhouse lawyers from the project management consultancy, development and engineering sectors. Next phase property lawyers are also in high demand where expertise in complex transactions, leasing and contracts is highly desirable.
Brisbane is attracting across all facets
Brisbane is also attracting business as well as people, and the knock on effect of this is a need for lawyers across all facets of business; commercial law, employment law and litigation experience is in demand.
Many of the national firms also work as “one team” so if there is a concern in terms of the quality of work on offer many lawyers often find themselves working for Sydney or Melbourne based Partners, therefore securing a great diet of international work if that is the desired choice.
The region is also home to a number of local law firms, some of which have been established in Brisbane for over 50 years, and these offer lawyers in the general practice space a stable and secure employer.
From connecting and working with many Brisbane contacts, a common thread in terms of culture tends to be that teams have a “big town feel” – this means a collegial, warm atmosphere where colleagues are supportive of each other.
Salaries are lower than in Sydney, on average by 10%, but are on a par with those in Melbourne and when you take into account living costs (the average cost of a 3 bedroom house in Brisbane is AU$816k compared to AU$1.6million in Sydney) there are some great factors as to why many are considering Brisbane as their long term base.
With a 3 hour flight time from Brisbane to Auckland for New Zealand Lawyers, this is close enough to home to stay in touch with friends and family. Check out or thoughts on working in Perth.
Sample Job List in Brisbane:
- Construction Lawyer – 3 years PAE – AU$110,000+super
- Property Lawyer – 3 years PAE – AU$110,000+super
- Commercial Lawyer – 5 years PAE – AU$140,000+super
- Family Lawyer – 4 years PAE – AU$110,000+super
- Commercial Litigation Lawyer – 5 years PAE – AU$140,000+super
- General Practice Lawyer – 3 years PAE – AU$95,000+super
If you would like to consider your career path in Brisbane then please get in touch with Lisa Gray +64 (0)9973 5470.