Billing for Pro Bono and Reduced Fee Work in Australian Law Firms

April 2026 · 9 min read

Pro bono billing is the practice of recording time spent on unpaid or reduced-fee legal work using the same time recording systems and standards applied to commercial matters, enabling law firms to track contributions, measure against targets, and report to the Australian Pro Bono Centre. Despite the work being free to the client, accurate time recording on pro bono matters is essential for firm reporting, practitioner development tracking, and demonstrating the profession's contribution to access to justice.

The Australian Pro Bono Centre reports that in 2024, the 55 largest law firms in Australia collectively contributed over 550,000 hours of pro bono legal work — an average of approximately 38 hours per lawyer. The National Pro Bono Target, now endorsed by over 180 organisations, asks signatories to aspire to at least 35 hours of pro bono work per lawyer per year. Meeting and reporting against this target requires the same billing infrastructure used for paid matters.

Yet many firms — particularly small and mid-size practices — struggle with pro bono time recording. The work gets done, but it does not get recorded. A 2023 survey by the Law Council of Australia found that 42% of sole practitioners and small firm lawyers who perform pro bono work do not systematically record their pro bono hours. The result is significant underreporting of the profession's contribution and lost data for internal management purposes.

Why Record Time on Unpaid Work?

Recording time on pro bono matters serves purposes that go beyond billing the client (since there is nothing to bill). The most important reason is reporting — firms that are signatories to the National Pro Bono Target must submit annual reports detailing their pro bono hours, the types of matters handled, and the client demographics served. Without time records, this reporting is based on estimates rather than data.

The second reason is valuation. Many firms need to quantify the dollar value of their pro bono contribution for annual reports, CSR disclosures, tender responses, and government panel applications. The value is calculated by multiplying pro bono hours by the lawyer's standard billing rate — a calculation that requires both time records and rate assignments.

Third, pro bono time recording supports lawyer development. Junior lawyers often gain their first client-facing experience, court appearances, and matter management responsibilities through pro bono work. Recording this time creates a development record that can be referenced in performance reviews and CPD tracking.

Finally, accurate pro bono time data helps firms manage capacity. If a particular team is contributing 15% of its time to pro bono work, that affects budgets, utilisation targets, and revenue forecasts. Without data, practice managers are guessing at the impact.

Setting Up Pro Bono Matters in Your PMS

The most effective approach is to treat pro bono matters exactly like paid matters in your practice management system, with two key differences: the rate and the matter type classification.

Rate configuration. There are two schools of thought. The first approach is to set the fee earner's rate on the pro bono matter to $0. Time is recorded in standard 6-minute units, entries have full descriptions, but the value is zero. This is the simplest approach and is recommended for small firms and sole practitioners. The second approach is the shadow rate method — record time at the lawyer's normal commercial rate, then apply a 100% write-off at the matter level. This preserves the commercial value calculation for reporting purposes while ensuring no invoice is generated.

Both approaches work in Actionstep, LEAP, Clio, and Smokeball. The shadow rate method is preferred by larger firms because it automatically generates the "value contributed" figures needed for Pro Bono Centre reporting and tender submissions.

Matter type classification. Create a specific matter type or tag for pro bono work — "Pro Bono", "PB", or similar. This allows you to run reports filtering for pro bono matters across the firm, by practice area, by lawyer, and by time period. Some firms also create sub-classifications: "full pro bono" (entirely unpaid), "reduced fee" (discounted rate), and "community legal centre secondment" (work performed at a CLC).

Reduced Fee Work: The Grey Area

Not all below-market work qualifies as pro bono under the Australian Pro Bono Centre's definition. The Centre defines pro bono legal work as work that is provided free of charge, or at a substantially reduced fee, to individuals or organisations who could not otherwise access legal assistance, and that would not otherwise be undertaken by the firm.

The practical distinction matters for billing. Reduced fee work — for example, acting at 50% of normal rates for a not-for-profit organisation — requires a different rate configuration from full pro bono work. You still need to generate invoices (at the reduced rate), and the time needs to be tracked at both the reduced billing rate and the commercial rate to calculate the value of the discount contributed.

In your PMS, set up reduced fee matters with a custom rate scale that reflects the agreed discounted rate. If your standard rate is $400 per hour and you have agreed to act at $200 per hour, create a rate scale entry at $200 for this matter. To track the discount value, you can either maintain a parallel matter record at the full rate or use a report that calculates the difference between the custom rate and the standard rate multiplied by hours recorded.

Time Recording Standards for Pro Bono Matters

The quality of pro bono time recording should match commercial work. Each entry should include the date, a description of the work performed (not just "pro bono work" or "attending to file"), the time in 6-minute units, and the fee earner responsible.

Good pro bono billing descriptions follow the same principles as commercial descriptions. "Attending upon client Ms [Name] to take instructions regarding eviction notice served by landlord; reviewing notice for compliance with Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) s 85; advising client on options including disputing the notice at NCAT" is far more useful than "Client meeting re tenancy issue." The detailed description serves the client's interests too — if the pro bono matter proceeds to a costs assessment (which can happen in litigation even when the lawyer is acting pro bono), detailed time records support a costs claim against the opposing party.

For lawyers using AI billing tools like LexUnits, pro bono matters can be processed through the same workflow as paid matters. Record the client conference, upload the recording, and the AI generates structured entries. The only difference is the rate applied — set it to $0 or the reduced rate in the session context before generating.

Reporting to the Australian Pro Bono Centre

Signatories to the National Pro Bono Target must submit an annual report to the Australian Pro Bono Centre. The report covers the total number of pro bono hours contributed during the reporting year, the number of lawyers at the firm and the average hours per lawyer, the types of matters handled (categorised by area of law), the types of clients assisted, and any pro bono partnerships with community legal centres or legal aid bodies.

If your time recording is set up properly — with pro bono matters tagged, hours recorded in standard units, and rate information maintained — generating this report is a matter of running the appropriate PMS report and extracting the figures. Without systematic time recording, the annual report becomes a painful estimation exercise.

The Pro Bono Centre publishes aggregate data from its signatories each year. In the most recent report, the average contribution among signatory firms was 38.1 hours per lawyer — above the 35-hour target. Firms that fall significantly below the target are not penalised, but the data is published, creating reputational incentive to meet the commitment.

Common Pitfalls

Not recording pro bono time at all. The most common mistake. If the work is not billable, it feels pointless to record it. But the data serves reporting, capacity planning, and lawyer development purposes that have real business value.

Using a different time recording method for pro bono. Some lawyers record pro bono time in a separate spreadsheet or notebook rather than their PMS. This creates data silos, makes reporting harder, and usually results in less detailed records. Use the same system for all time recording.

Failing to distinguish pro bono from write-offs. A commercial matter where you write off 30% of your time is not pro bono work — it is a commercial write-off. Pro bono work is work undertaken for a qualifying client or organisation from the outset, not unpaid commercial work reclassified after the fact. Keep the two categories separate in your PMS.

Not calculating the value. If you record pro bono hours at a $0 rate, you lose the ability to report the dollar value of your contribution. Consider using the shadow rate method or maintaining a report that multiplies pro bono hours by the lawyer's standard rate.

Do Australian law firms have to do pro bono work?

There is no legal obligation to perform pro bono work in Australia. However, the National Pro Bono Target asks signatories to aspire to 35 hours of pro bono work per lawyer per year. Over 180 firms and organisations are signatories. Some state law societies include pro bono commitments in their professional conduct expectations, and many government panel arrangements require firms to demonstrate a pro bono commitment.

Should I record time on pro bono matters the same way as paid matters?

Yes. Pro bono time should be recorded with the same detail and rigour as paid work. This enables accurate reporting against pro bono targets, provides data for the firm's annual Pro Bono Centre report, creates a record of the value contributed for tender responses and CSR reporting, and maintains professional discipline in time recording habits.

How do I set up pro bono rates in my practice management software?

Most PMS platforms (Actionstep, LEAP, Clio, Smokeball) allow you to create a $0 rate scale or a specific pro bono rate. Set the fee earner's rate to $0 for the pro bono matter, but record time in standard 6-minute units. Some firms prefer a shadow rate approach — recording at the lawyer's normal rate but writing off 100% — to track the commercial value of contributions.

Last verified: April 2026.