“Partner expectations are also evolving, with more partners wanting to work longer. Community and client expectations are shifting too.
“In considering our approach to the review of voluntary retirement provisions, fairness was an underlying principle, together with competitiveness to recruit and retain the best talent, and alignment to community expectations,” she said.
“The changes are in the best interests of both existing and future partners, and strengthen our firm over the long term.”
Age-based retirement policies are used by tradition in many professional service firms, including in the legal field, but were effectively outlawed by the Age Discrimination Act in 2004 for partnerships with six or more partners.
Lawyers, experts and federal politicians have criticised the rule as archaic and breaching age discrimination laws.
The use of these clauses was first highlighted in a series of stories by The Australian Financial Review in 2018.