Salary by Occupation Australia — Pay Rates for Every Profession
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How much you earn in Australia depends heavily on your occupation, your industry, your level of experience, and where you live. Some professions have narrow salary bands with minimal variation; others span hundreds of thousands of dollars between junior and senior roles.
This section covers average and median salaries across every major occupational group in Australia, with data sourced from the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey, the ATO’s taxation statistics, and major recruitment platforms.
What Drives Salary Differences Between Occupations?
Salary differences between occupations in Australia reflect several interconnected factors:
Education and training requirements: Professions requiring lengthy university or vocational training (medicine, law, engineering, dentistry) typically command higher salaries partly to offset training costs and reflect the limited supply of qualified workers. Trades requiring multi-year apprenticeships similarly attract above-average wages in skilled shortages.
Licensing and regulation: Occupations requiring professional registration (AHPRA-registered health practitioners, ASIC-licensed advisers, engineers under state schemes) operate with controlled supply, which supports salary levels.
Industry profitability: Professions embedded in high-revenue industries (mining, finance, law) tend to have higher salaries than equivalent-skill roles in lower-revenue industries (education, community services).
Unionisation and award coverage: Many Australian occupations are covered by Modern Awards or enterprise agreements that set minimum pay rates. In unionised industries (construction, healthcare, manufacturing), wages tend to be higher and more compressed relative to the private sector norm.
Location and specialisation: Specialists (specialist physicians vs GPs, tax lawyers vs general practitioners) earn significantly more within the same professional category. Location adds a premium in high-cost cities like Sydney, while some remote and regional roles attract location allowances.
Average Salary by Occupation Group
Healthcare and Social Assistance
| Occupation | Typical salary range | ABS average (FT adult) |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist Physicians | $300,000–$500,000+ | — |
| Surgeons | $350,000–$600,000+ | — |
| Dentists | $100,000–$220,000 | ~$175,000 |
| GPs | $180,000–$350,000 | — |
| Psychologists | $85,000–$150,000 | ~$100,000 |
| Pharmacists | $80,000–$130,000 | ~$100,000 |
| Registered Nurses | $70,000–$105,000 | ~$85,000 |
| Physiotherapists | $70,000–$110,000 | ~$85,000 |
| Social Workers | $70,000–$100,000 | ~$78,000 |
| Aged Care Workers | $47,000–$65,000 | ~$53,000 |
Healthcare salaries may include allowances, shift penalties, and weekend rates under the relevant Award.
Law, Finance, and Business
| Occupation | Typical salary range |
|---|---|
| Senior lawyers / Partners | $180,000–$500,000+ |
| Solicitors (5–10 yrs) | $100,000–$180,000 |
| Graduate lawyers | $70,000–$95,000 |
| Investment bankers (senior) | $200,000–$500,000+ |
| Accountants (CA/CPA, 5yrs) | $90,000–$150,000 |
| Financial planners / Advisers | $90,000–$180,000 |
| Financial analysts | $80,000–$130,000 |
| HR managers | $90,000–$140,000 |
Engineering and Technology
| Occupation | Typical salary range |
|---|---|
| Mining engineers | $130,000–$220,000 |
| Civil engineers (10yrs) | $100,000–$160,000 |
| Software engineers (senior) | $130,000–$200,000+ |
| Data scientists | $110,000–$180,000 |
| Cybersecurity specialists | $110,000–$180,000 |
| Mechanical engineers | $90,000–$150,000 |
| Graduate engineers | $65,000–$85,000 |
| IT support technicians | $55,000–$85,000 |
Trades and Transport
| Occupation | Typical salary range |
|---|---|
| Electricians (licensed) | $85,000–$140,000 |
| Plumbers (licensed) | $80,000–$130,000 |
| Construction managers | $130,000–$220,000 |
| Truck drivers (long-haul) | $75,000–$110,000 |
| Chefs (head chef) | $70,000–$110,000 |
| Aircraft pilots (senior) | $130,000–$250,000+ |
| Automotive mechanics | $60,000–$90,000 |
| Carpenters | $70,000–$105,000 |
Education and Government
| Occupation | Typical salary range |
|---|---|
| University academics | $95,000–$180,000 |
| School principals | $110,000–$180,000 |
| Secondary teachers | $75,000–$115,000 |
| Primary teachers | $68,000–$100,000 |
| Police officers (constable to sergeant) | $75,000–$120,000 |
| Australian Public Service (EL1/EL2) | $100,000–$160,000 |
| APS 5/6 | $80,000–$100,000 |
How to Research Your Market Rate
Understanding what your specific role is worth requires using multiple sources — aggregated averages are useful context but your actual market rate is specific to your role, level, industry, and location.
Key research steps:
SEEK Salary Insights: Provides median salary data based on job ads in each category — useful for understanding the current market rate for your job title in your city.
Hays Salary Guide (published annually in January): Detailed by profession and level, covering Australia and major cities. Available free from the Hays website.
LinkedIn Salary: Shows compensation distributions for specific job titles at specific companies — useful if you have access to data for your employer.
Government data (ABS): The ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey provides national averages by industry and occupation — useful for broad benchmarking but lags the market by 12–18 months.
Industry associations: Many professional associations publish annual salary surveys (Law Institute, Engineers Australia, CPA Australia) with detailed breakdowns by years of experience and specialisation.
Conversations with peers and recruiters: Recruiters have real-time market intelligence about what candidates are accepting. A confidential conversation with a specialist recruiter in your field is one of the most reliable ways to confirm your market rate.
The Gender Pay Gap by Occupation
Australia has a persistent gender pay gap. As of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) 2024 report, the national gender pay gap for full-time employees is approximately 21.7% — meaning women earn, on average, 78.3 cents for every dollar earned by men.
The gap is not uniform across occupations:
- It is relatively narrow in regulated public sector professions (teaching, nursing) where pay scales are award-determined
- It is widest in finance, insurance, and professional services — driven partly by representation in senior roles
- Healthcare shows a paradox: high female representation in the workforce, but a significant gap driven by underrepresentation in specialist and surgical roles
The gap reflects a combination of occupational segregation (women overrepresented in lower-paying industries), seniority gaps, and within-role pay differences.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Australia by occupation? The overall average full-time adult salary in Australia is approximately $105,000 (ABS, 2024). However, this varies enormously by occupation — from below $55,000 for entry-level hospitality and retail to $400,000+ for specialist physicians.
How do I find out if I’m underpaid for my job? Compare your salary against multiple sources: SEEK Salary Insights, Hays Salary Guide, and industry association surveys. If your salary is below the 25th percentile for your occupation, experience level, and city, you may be underpaid. See Salary Negotiation Guides.
Do trades pay as well as degrees in Australia? For licensed trades in shortage (electrical, plumbing), experienced tradespeople can earn $100,000–$140,000, comparable to many university-educated professionals. Apprenticeship wages start low, but earning capacity can exceed that of many graduate-level roles within 5–7 years.
Salary by Occupation Guides
- Average Salary by Industry Australia
- Healthcare and Nursing Salaries Australia
- Engineering Salary Guide Australia
- Teacher Salary Australia
- IT and Technology Salary Australia
- Trades Salary Australia — Electrician, Plumber, Builder
- Police Officer Salary Australia
- Pilot Salary Australia
- Psychologist Salary Australia
- Social Worker Salary Australia
- Dentist Salary Australia
- Pharmacist Salary Australia
- Physiotherapist Salary Australia
- Chef Salary Australia
- Truck Driver Salary Australia
Salary figures are approximate ranges from ABS, SEEK, Hays and other published sources. Actual salaries vary with employer, location, experience, and negotiation. For advice tailored to your situation, speak with a licensed financial adviser. You can find one through MoneySmart.
Negotiating Salary Within Your Occupation
Understanding the salary range for your occupation is the first step. Acting on that information is the second.
Key principles for occupation-specific negotiation:
Know your award rate: If your role is award-covered under a Modern Award, you can’t be paid below the Award rate for your classification. Checking your Award classification on the Fair Work Ombudsman website (fairwork.gov.au) establishes the legal floor.
Specialisation commands a premium: Within every occupation, specialist knowledge commands higher pay. A general accountant earns less than an R&D tax specialist. A registered nurse earns less than an ICU-trained nurse. A frontend developer earns less than a distributed systems engineer. Developing a valuable specialisation is one of the most reliable pathways to higher earnings within any profession.
Geography within the profession: For most occupations, the same role pays more in Sydney or Melbourne than in regional areas. But some exceptions exist — remote area hardship loadings, FIFO roles, regional health professionals with access to rural recruitment incentives.
Industry matters: The same skills in different industries command different pay. A data analyst in mining earns more than the same role in the not-for-profit sector. An HR manager in investment banking earns more than an HR manager in retail. Industry selection can be as important as individual performance.
Resources for Salary Research
- Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au) — Award rates, classification levels, minimum entitlements
- SEEK Salary Insights — Current market rates for advertised roles in your city
- Hays Salary Guide (annual, January) — Professional and specialist roles by state
- ABS Employee Earnings and Hours — National averages by ANZSCO occupation code
- Industry associations — Many publish annual salary surveys (AHPRA, Engineers Australia, CPA Australia, Law Council, RACGP)
Staying Current: Why Salary Data Ages Quickly
The labour market for specific occupations can shift significantly within 12–18 months. Tech roles that were commanding $200,000+ in 2021–22 saw compression in 2023–24 as global tech layoffs increased supply. Aged care and early childhood education roles have seen government-mandated pay increases in 2023–24 that significantly lifted pay above prior benchmarks.
Always use the most recently published data sources and check the publication date of any salary guide you’re relying on. Guides published in January may already reflect conditions from the prior October–November — and the labour market moves faster than annual publications.
The most real-time data is always from current job ads — SEEK Salary Insights, LinkedIn Salary, and Hays Online Salary Checker update based on live postings and accept data from active job seekers, making them more current than ABS surveys, which lag by 12–18 months.