by Tenielle Hagland, Research Program Manager, Legal Services Research Centre
The Legal Services Research Centre conducted the first annual Lawyer Census in 2025. Lawyers were asked about several key issues facing the sector, including wellbeing.
This report, Wellbeing in the Legal Profession: Findings from the 2025 Victorian Lawyer Census, outlines the findings of the Wellbeing module. It looks at the prevalence and determinants of psychological distress and burnout across the profession, and examines how psychological distress and burnout relate to broader outcomes, including subjective wellbeing/life satisfaction and intention to leave the profession.
Over half of respondents experienced psychological distress and burnout
53% of respondents experienced some form of psychological distress, with 13% at severe levels. Over a third (36%) were experiencing symptoms of anxiety and almost a quarter (23%) symptoms of depression. 53% were at risk of burnout, with a quarter (25%) at very high risk.
Who is experiencing psychological distress and burnout?
Younger lawyers, women, LGBTIQA+ lawyers, and those with long-term health conditions or disabilities all experienced significantly higher rates of psychological distress and burnout. Approximately one in five lawyers aged 20–29 experienced severe psychological distress, compared to fewer than one in ten of those aged 60 and over. There was also a clear relationship between the severity of health conditions and the severity of psychological distress.
Differences between psychological distress and burnout
While both were associated with younger age, health conditions and relationship status, they diverged on professional characteristics. Psychological distress decreased steadily with age. Burnout followed a different pattern, peaking in mid-career (5–19 years holding a practising certificate). Income was also significantly associated with burnout, peaking in the $120,001–$160,000 bracket, but not with psychological distress. Differences are consistent with burnout as a specifically work-related construct, shaped more directly by the structural conditions of legal practice.
Adverse workplace conditions and experiences
Workplace conditions were the most powerful independent predictors of both psychological distress and burnout. Perceiving workload as unacceptable was the single strongest predictor in both. Frequently facing conflicts with professional obligations, experiencing sexual harassment, and experiencing or witnessing uncivil workplace behaviours were all independently associated with higher distress and burnout, even after accounting for all other factors. Conversely, feeling fairly compensated was independently associated with lower distress and burnout.
So, while some personal and professional characteristics were associated with psychological distress and burnout, adverse workplace conditions and experiences were far more powerful independent predictors. In fact, many personal and professional characteristics that were significant in bivariate analyses, such as gender, sexual orientation and income, lost significance once adverse conditions and experiences were accounted for, indicating that relationships were largely a function of increased exposure to adverse conditions among some groups.
Poor psychological health has broader consequences
Unsurprisingly, psychological distress and burnout were both associated with substantially lower subjective wellbeing or life satisfaction across all six domains measured, including satisfaction with physical health, personal relationships, time, job, financial situation, and life as a whole. Both outcomes were also associated with intention to leave the profession, with lawyers telling us that adverse workplace conditions, including workload, toxic cultures, incivility, and harassment, contributed to their intention to leave (when excluding retirement).
Workplace conditions are the key lever for change
A central message from this analysis is that workplace conditions matter. It is the conditions lawyers experience at work (their workload, whether they feel fairly compensated, whether they face sexual harassment, incivility, or conflicts with their professional obligations) that are most strongly and independently associated with wellbeing. This points clearly to where efforts to improve wellbeing are most likely to make a difference.