The Brief:
Australian lawyers clocked a record 43.2 pro bono hours each in FY2026, well above the 35-hour target.
Big Law is carrying the load, but the gap between the best and worst performers is huge.
Aussie lawyers have never done more free work.
The Australian Pro Bono Centre has released its latest report on the National Pro Bono Target, a voluntary benchmark for the profession.
Law firms, solicitors and barristers who sign up commit to using their best efforts to provide at least 35 hours of pro bono work per lawyer each year. In-house teams aim for 20 hours.
In FY2026, signatories logged 887,910 hours, up 5.1% on last year. That’s the equivalent of 493 lawyers working full time for a year.
The average hit 43.2 hours per lawyer, the highest on record.
Big Law leads
The 54 large firms that reported averaged 43.1 hours per lawyer, with 70.4% hitting the Target, up from 60.7%.
Every firm with 450+ lawyers cleared 35 hours. The top performer logged 63 hours.
But the spread is wide. One firm with 50 to 200 lawyers clocked 75.2 hours per lawyer. Another managed just 2.6.
Small firms and in-house slip
Small firms (under 50 lawyers) averaged 44.2 hours, down from 51.4 hours. Only 45.7% hit the Target.
In-house teams struggled most. The six teams reporting averaged just 7.1 hours per lawyer against a 20-hour Target, down from 9.1 hours.
Individual solicitors and barristers still lead the pack, averaging 93.1 hours each.
Victoria over-delivers
NSW led on raw numbers with 352,736 hours.
But Victoria is the standout, delivering 31.8% of the reported pro bono hours with just 25% of the nation’s solicitors. NSW holds 42% of solicitors but contributed 39.8%.
Source: Australian Pro Bono Centre