The firms agreed to develop the survey in response to the Australian Human Rights Commission's Leading for Change report in 2016. The AHRC and the Asian Australian Lawyers Association helped design the survey and Omnipoll collated the results.

Allens, MinterEllison and Corrs Chambers Westgarth are also doing their own surveys and will soon provide their data as part of the project.

Baker McKenzie partner Richard Gough, who led the research, said it was the first time the profession has had “a robust data set which gives us insight into the cultural mix of the profession at different levels”.

“Crucially, we can identify the drop-off point for our culturally diverse talent,’’ Mr Gough said.

Jinny Chaimungkalanont, a partner and chair of the multicultural network at Herbert Smith Freehills, said the data shows the younger generation of lawyers “are more culturally diverse than ever before”.

“We can see there is a significant improvement needed at the partner level, and the initiatives we’ve committed to as a group will help this new generation pursue their ambitions and become more diverse leaders for our profession.”

The surveys were sent to more than 6500 people last August and asked them to describe their own background, and the heritage of both their parents and grandparents. Omnipoll said 4675 replied, a response rate of 59 per cent.


The results also reveal that those with an Asian background had more chance of occupying a senior position if they were in a support role. Almost 17 per cent of those working in business services were Asian, but only 9.8 per cent were managers.

The survey also confirmed the chronic under-representation of Indigenous people in the nation's leading law firms. Only 0.9 per cent – about four people – of the legal staff identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and 1.4 per cent worked in non-legal roles.

The 11 firms involved are part of the Managing Partners' Diversity Forum, and signed a commitment to work on diversity in March 2017.

Mr Gough said it included reviewing position descriptions and key competencies for senior leadership roles and comparing the effectiveness of programs such as unconscious bias training to overcome barriers to progress.