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Court and Legal Clerks

ANZSCO ID 5992

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
16,800
Future Growth
10.2%
Weekly Earnings
$1,242
Full-Time Share
64%
Female Share
75%
Average age
35
About this data

Summary

Court and Legal Clerks provide administrative and operational support to Legal Professionals by performing clerical work associated with the functions of courts, legal practices and the administration of trusts and estates.

Tasks

  • listing actions for hearing and processing documentation for court actions

  • documenting details of court proceedings, actions and decisions

  • enforcing the law as an officer of the court by executing court orders such as eviction notices

  • serving legal orders and documents such as summonses and subpoenas

  • organising jury and witness lists, and summonsing and swearing in juries and witnesses

  • maintaining order in court and hearing rooms and adjacent areas

  • assisting Solicitors in areas of conveyancing, contracts, common law, probate and other legal practice matters

  • satisfying statutory requirements, establishing beneficial entitlements and distributing assets

  • maintaining probate and trust files, investing trust funds and administering accounts

Characteristics

Job Type
Clerical And Administrative Workers
Skill Level
Medium skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
5992 Court and Legal Clerks This occupation is Current selected
Unemployment Rate
Average
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary
  • Light

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. The latest data are for the five years from November 2021 to November 2026. Over this period, the number of workers:

  • is expected to grow strongly
  • is likely to reach 18,700 by 2026.

    • Source: Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.

    Notes: The number employed includes people who work in this occupation as their main job. People who work in more than one job are counted against the occupation they work the most hours in.

    Employment projections figures are rounded to the nearest 100. Calculations based on these rounded figures may result in differences to the numbers that are displayed on this page. Employment projections data (including occupations) can be downloaded from the Employment Projections page.

Projected Change
10.2%
(or 1,700 jobs)
From
17,000
in 2021
To
18,700
in 2026

Number of Workers

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.
Year Employment
2011 15,000
2012 12,900
2013 13,500
2014 11,500
2015 12,200
2016 11,900
2017 19,700
2018 21,700
2019 14,500
2020 10,400
2021 17,000
2026 18,700

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, ABS seasonally adjusted data to November 2021 and Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections to 2026.

Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 65% of people employed as Court and Legal Clerks work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is similar to the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 40 hours per week in their main job. This is 4 hours less than the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    More than a third of workers regularly work overtime or extra hours (either paid or unpaid).

    Median full-time earnings are $1,242 per week, this is much lower than the all jobs median ($1,593):

    • 3 in 4 workers earn more than $1,047
    • 1 in 4 earn more than $1,519

    Median hourly earnings are $33, this is lower than the all jobs median ($41 per hour).

    Sources: Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average. Overtime hours: ABS, Characteristics of Employment, 2021. Full-time median earnings and median hourly earnings: ABS, Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021. Compared to all jobs median.

Weekly Earnings (Before Tax)

Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.
Earnings Court and Legal Clerks All Jobs Average
Full-Time Earnings 1,242 1,593
Total Earnings 0 0

Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2021, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.

Industries

Main industries

1
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
50.9%
2
Public Administration and Safety
43.0%
3
Financial and Insurance Services
3.0%
4
Health Care and Social Assistance
2.4%
5
Other industries
0.6%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

28.5% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

33.0% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

17.7% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

6.8% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

8.8% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.8% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

1.0% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

2.4% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Court and Legal Clerks All Jobs Average
NSW 28.5 31.6
VIC 33.0 25.6
QLD 17.7 20.0
SA 6.8 7.0
WA 8.8 10.8
TAS 1.8 2.0
NT 1.0 1.0
ACT 2.4 1.9


  • Around 70% of Court and Legal Clerks live in capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 62%.

    Victoria has a large share of employment relative to its population size.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
35
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
75%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Court and Legal Clerks is 35 years. This is younger than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 75% of the workforce. This is 27 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Court and Legal Clerks All Jobs Average
15-19 2.4 5.0
20-24 20.3 9.3
25-34 26.5 22.9
35-44 16.1 22.0
45-54 17.7 21.6
55-59 7.3 9.0
60-64 5.6 6.0
65 and Over 4.1 4.2
Median Age 35 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Court or Legal Clerk. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification or a university degree in legal services, law, justice, criminology or another related field.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Public Sector VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Court and Legal Clerks All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 7.6 10.1
Bachelor degree 25.0 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 13.5 11.6
Certificate III/IV 11.3 21.1
Year 12 29.9 18.1
Year 11 5.3 4.8
Year 10 and below 7.4 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.

Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Court and Legal Clerks, who are professional, courteous and responsible.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 57%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 55%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 55%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 52%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 52%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 48%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 45%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 45%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 43%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 43%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 41%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 41%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 41%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 39%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 32%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 30%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 27%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 25%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 25%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

  • 20%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 79%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 56%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 53%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 51%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 44%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 32%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 24%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 22%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 19%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 17%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 15%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 11%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 10%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 10%

    Geography

    Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.

  • 7%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 6%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 5%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 5%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 4%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

  • 3%

    Mechanical

    Machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 64%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 55%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 55%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 54%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 54%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 50%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 46%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 45%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 43%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 43%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 43%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 43%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 43%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 32%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 29%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 29%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 25%

    Auditory attention

    Pay attention to a certain sound when there are other distracting sounds.

  • 25%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 21%

    Control precision

    Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

  • 20%

    Colour discrimination

    Notice differences between colours, including shades of colour and brightness.

Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 74%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 67%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 65%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 64%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 63%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 62%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 61%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 57%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 57%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 56%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 55%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 55%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 54%

    Providing office support

    Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.

  • 53%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 52%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 51%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 48%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 45%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 39%

    Coming up with systems and processes

    Deciding on goals and figuring out what you need to do to achieve them.

  • 36%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 100%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 62%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 52%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 48%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 29%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 14%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.

  • 67%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 62%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 48%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 48%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 48%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 45%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:

  • 96%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 94%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 93%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 91%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 91%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 91%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

  • 89%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 87%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 87%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 83%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 82%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 77%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 77%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 76%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 76%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 72%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 70%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 70%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 66%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 59%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 43-4031.01 - Court Clerks.

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