Life in Australia Guide
Australia Salary Guide
Select an occupation and region to view user-submitted salary statistics. Share your salary to help improve data accuracy.
Average Pay by Occupation (2026)
Focused on jobs commonly held by migrants in Australia. Annual = SEEK average range, hourly = PayScale/market (AUD).
National minimum wage: $26.44/hr / $1,004.90/wk (from 1 July 2026). Full-time avg weekly earnings (AWOTE): $2,051 (~$106,657/yr). Highest by state: ACT, WA, NSW.
| Occupation | Annual (SEEK) | Hourly (PayScale) |
|---|---|---|
| Chef | $75–80k | $25.58 |
| Head Chef | $85–100k | $27.16 |
| Cook | — | $24.86 |
| Cleaner | — | $25.85+ |
| Registered Nurse | $90–100k | $38.67 |
| Aged Care RN | $85.9k | $44.06 |
| Software Developer | $90–110k | — |
| Software Engineer | $105–125k | — |
| Construction Labourer | $70–85k | $28.87 |
| Carpenter | $80–95k | $34.32 |
| Accountant | $80–95k | — |
| Aged Care Worker | $70–80k | $25.74 |
| Disability Support | $70–80k | $32–42* |
| Truck Driver | $75–90k | $37.84 |
| Delivery Driver | — | $25.15 |
| Retail Assistant | $60–70k | $23.19 |
★Care/cleaning/retail/transport often add 25% casual loading + weekend/public-holiday penalties, so take-home can be higher. *Disability support = SCHADS Award casual. Verify the legal minimum at fairwork.gov.au.
Salary by region & occupation (2026)
The same job pays differently by region. Full-time annual salary (AUD) for the 5 main states capital cities (Sydney·Melbourne·Brisbane·Perth·Adelaide) from SEEK location filter, Indeed and Jora.
| Occupation | NSW | VIC | QLD | WA | SA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse | $82–100k | $95–117k | $90–95k | $90–100k | $85–95k |
| Chef | $66–78k | $74–77k | $75–80k | $77–80k | $62–77k |
| Software Developer | $100–135k | $113–137k | $100–110k | $82–92k | $82–95k |
| Cleaner | $60–70k | $65–76k | $62–66k | $60–71k | $60–67k |
| Aged Care Worker | $70–80k | $63–74k | $65–70k | $56–65k | $65–75k |
| Construction Labourer | $67–75k | $68–70k | $70–75k | $65–90k | $65–72k |
| Carpenter | $79–90k | $90–95k | $85–90k | $75–90k | $80–90k |
| Accountant | $80–95k | $79–82k | $80–85k | $80–90k | $68–80k |
| Truck Driver | $78–110k | $80–105k | $75–80k | $80–90k | $72–80k |
| Retail Assistant | $60–66k | $60–62k | $60–65k | $60–65k | $50–55k |
★IT/professional roles pay most in Sydney·Melbourne; mining/construction/trucking in WA (FIFO premium); public/nursing in ACT·NT. ±5–10% variance by source and whether super is included — verify via SEEK location filter.
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In-Depth Guide — From Award Minimums to After-Tax Take-Home Pay
The 'market averages' in the table are only a starting point. What you actually take home depends heavily on your Award minimum, weekend penalty rates, employment type and tax — so here's how to work out your own legal baseline before you negotiate.
The Fair Work Award System — Finding the Legal Minimum for Your Occupation
What Is a Modern Award?
Australia has around 120 industry- and occupation-based minimum standards (Modern Awards) set by the Fair Work Commission, covering not just hourly rates but penalty rates, allowances and rest breaks. The National Minimum Wage is only the floor for workers no Award covers (award-free) — if the minimum rate in your occupation's Award is higher, the Award rate applies. A common mistake is believing you're being paid legally as long as you're above the national minimum wage — in reality, Award minimums are often higher than that.
Finding Your Award — Find My Award & the P.A.C.T. Calculator
Enter your industry and role into the 'Find my award' tool on the Fair Work Ombudsman website (fairwork.gov.au) to identify which Award covers you, then plug your employment type, age and hours into P.A.C.T. (Pay and Conditions Tool, calculate.fairwork.gov.au) and it calculates your legal minimum hourly rate automatically. Awards apply nationally, not state by state (with some exceptions such as parts of state public sectors). Running these two tools before an interview to work out your legal floor is the starting point of any negotiation.
Which Award Covers Which Job — Common Mappings
Cafes and restaurants typically fall under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award or the Restaurant Industry Award; fast food under the Fast Food Industry Award; retail under the General Retail Industry Award; aged care under the Aged Care Award; disability support and home care under the SCHADS Award; nursing under the Nurses Award; cleaning under the Cleaning Services Award; childcare under the Children's Services Award; farm work under the Horticulture Award; construction under the Building and Construction General On-site Award; transport under the Road Transport and Distribution Award; and office roles under the Clerks—Private Sector Award. Different Awards can apply within the same workplace depending on the role, so check against your own duties using 'Find my award'.
Award-Free Occupations and the IT Professional Trap
Some roles, such as senior management, have no Award (award-free), so the National Minimum Wage is the only floor and the rest comes down to contract negotiation. That said, IT and engineering are widely assumed to be award-free when the Professional Employees Award 2020 may actually apply — don't take it for granted; check. Even if you are award-free, the NES (National Employment Standards — the legal minimums for annual leave, sick leave and so on) still apply in full.
Reading Your Minimum Rate from Your Classification
Every Award contains classifications by Level or Grade, each with its own minimum rate — the Fair Work Ombudsman publishes a Pay Guide (pay table PDF) for each Award. One of the most common disputes is employers classifying staff below the level of work they actually do to pay a lower rate, so compare your actual duties (whether you supervise others, your qualifications, years of experience) against the classification definitions yourself.
Supported Wage System — A Special Minimum Wage for Workers with Disability
Workers whose productivity is affected by disability can be employed at a set percentage of the Award rate under the Supported Wage System (SWS), following an independent assessment. The government service JobAccess (jobaccess.gov.au) explains the process and conditions — an employer setting a lower rate on their own, without an assessment, is not permitted.
What Really Drives Your Pay — Casual Loading and Penalty Rates
What the 25% Casual Loading Actually Means
Casual employment comes with no guaranteed regular hours, and under most Awards casuals receive the base rate plus 25% (base rate × 1.25). That 25% compensates for having no paid annual leave, sick leave or notice of termination — so even when the hourly rate looks high, you need to factor in that there's no leave. If you're a casual being paid the flat base rate, your loading may be going unpaid.
How Weekend and Public Holiday Penalty Rates Work
Penalty rates are what make or break take-home pay in Australia — under many Awards, working Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays attracts a higher multiple of the base rate, and in Hospitality and Retail, for instance, Sundays and public holidays can climb to 1.5–2.5 times the base rate (varies by Award and employment type). The same '30 hours a week' can produce a very different weekly pay packet if a Sunday is involved, so check the exact multipliers day by day with the P.A.C.T. calculator.
Shift Loading and Overtime
Many Awards add a separate shift loading for evening, night and rotating shift work, and overtime beyond set hours is commonly paid at 150% for the first few hours and 200% after that. How overtime is calculated for casuals (whether it stacks with the loading) differs from Award to Award, so don't apply one rule across the board — it's safest to check the relevant clauses in your Award.
Penalty Rates Differ by Industry — Same Hourly Rate, Different Weekly Pay
Hospitality, SCHADS (care work) and Retail each structure their weekend multiples and night allowances differently, so even on the same base rate, the more weekend and night work your job involves, the wider the gap in actual take-home pay. Rather than comparing the hourly rates on job ads, put your expected roster pattern (days and times) into P.A.C.T. and compare on a weekly-pay basis — that's the accurate way to do it.
Calculating Weekly Pay in Practice — Why Simple Multiplication Undersells You
For example, a casual care worker doing 22 weekday hours plus 8 hours on a Sunday earns (base rate × 1.25 × 22 hours) + (base rate × the Sunday casual multiple × 8 hours) — working it out as 'base rate × 30 hours' understates the real figure. Conversely, if an employer offers a simple calculation on the basis that it's 'averaged out', treat it as a red flag that penalties may have been left out.
The Flat Rate Trap
Some employers offer a flat rate — '$X an hour regardless of the day' — but if that comes to less than what the Award calculation would give you once weekends, nights and overtime are added up, it may be unlawful. The same can apply to annualised salaries — the all-in figure has to be at least what the Award would pay including penalties — so keep records of your hours and cross-check against the P.A.C.T. figure every quarter.
Pay Negotiation and Contract Checklist — What to Confirm Before You Sign
Check the Award, Classification and Rate Are Written into the Contract
Before signing, make sure the contract spells out the applicable Award name, your classification, and your base hourly rate or salary. A verbal 'we'll sort it out later' is hard to prove in a dispute, and the standard process in Australia is a written contract plus receiving the Fair Work Information Statement (which must be given to every new employee).
'Plus Super' or 'Including Super'?
Superannuation Guarantee contributions are paid by the employer at 12% of wages from July 2025. The same '$80k' can mean a difference of nearly 12% in your pocket depending on whether it's 'plus super' (80k with super on top) or 'including super' (super carved out of the 80k), so always confirm which one the job ad and contract mean. Listings on SEEK and elsewhere are inconsistent in how they write it — asking directly at the interview is the surest way.
Leave Clauses — Annual Leave & Personal Leave
Under the NES, full-timers get a legal minimum of 4 weeks' paid annual leave a year (5 weeks for some shift workers) and 10 days' paid personal/carer's leave, with part-timers accruing pro-rata by hours. Casuals get no paid annual or sick leave — that's what the 25% loading compensates for — so check this alongside your employment type.
Common Misconceptions About Probation
Award minimum wages and the NES apply in full during probation (usually 3–6 months), so an offer of 'below minimum because you're on probation' is likely unlawful. What probation mainly relates to is that unfair dismissal protection only kicks in after a minimum period of service (usually 6 months, or 12 months in a small business) — it is not a basis for cutting your pay.
The Limits of Unpaid Trials
Only a brief pre-hiring skill demonstration can lawfully be unpaid — being put to actual work unpaid for days at a time would generally be found unlawful. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes guidance on what counts as a legitimate unpaid trial, so keep a record of the date, hours and tasks of any trial you do.
Your Pay Slip Checking Routine
Employers must issue a pay slip within one working day of payday, showing your gross pay, tax withheld and super contributions. A common mistake is assuming super has been paid because it appears on the payslip — the actual deposit needs to be verified separately in your own super fund account (via its app or myGov), which is how you catch unpaid super early.
Pay Rules by Visa Type — 'We Pay Less Because of Your Visa' Is a Lie
Same Work, Same Pay — Regardless of Visa
Under Australian workplace law, the same Award minimum applies to the same work regardless of visa type — 'because you're on a temporary visa' or 'because your English isn't good enough' is never a lawful basis for a lower rate. The Fair Work Ombudsman advises it can help workers recover unpaid wages even if they worked in breach of their visa conditions, so don't give up on reporting because of your visa status.
Student Visas — It's Your Hours That Are Capped, Not Your Rate
Student visas generally carry a 48-hour-per-fortnight work limit during term (in place since July 2023), with no limit during scheduled course breaks. In other words, what's restricted is how many hours you can work — not your hourly rate — so there's no reason to accept a lower rate because of the hour cap. Check your exact conditions through the Department of Home Affairs' VEVO (visa condition checker).
Working Holiday Maker — The Special Rules
Working holiday visas (417/462) generally carry a 6-month limit with any one employer (condition 8547), with exceptions by industry and timing that need to be confirmed with Home Affairs. Tax works differently from ordinary residents — the WHM rate applies (15% on the first $45,000) — and specified work such as farm work is only a visa-extension requirement, not a basis for being paid below the Award rate.
The Risks of Cash-in-Hand Jobs
Even if you're paid in cash, minimum wage, super and tax withholding obligations can still apply — and without records, proving an underpayment claim becomes much harder. Track your own start and finish times with tools like the Fair Work Ombudsman's 'Record My Hours' app, and keep evidence such as bank transfer records and messages.
Where to Report Wage Exploitation
Underpayment and non-payment of wages can be reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au, phone 13 13 94), with interpreter services and anonymous reporting available. Free legal help is available from your local Community Legal Centre. If you're worried about visa consequences, protections for temporary visa holders who report exploitation are in operation as at July 2026 (the Strengthening Reporting Protections Pilot and the Workplace Justice visa, subclass 408), so ask whether they apply to you when you seek advice.
Pay Structures by Employment Type — It's Not All Full-Time
Full-Time vs Part-Time
Full-time is typically based on 38 hours a week, while part-time means working regular contracted hours (say, 20 a week) — at exactly the same hourly rate as full-time. Part-time annual and sick leave accrues pro-rata to hours worked, so 'part-timers don't get leave' is a confusion with casual employment.
Casuals and the Right to Casual Conversion
Casuals trade guaranteed regular hours for the 25% loading, receive no paid leave, and the process for ending the engagement is simpler than for permanent staff. However, if you've worked a regular pattern for a qualifying period (usually 6 months, or 12 months in a small business), there's a pathway to request conversion to permanent (full-time or part-time) — so if you're a long-serving casual, look up the Fair Work Ombudsman's casual conversion guidance.
Fixed-Term Contracts
Fixed-term means employment for a specific period or project, and since December 2023 there are rules limiting consecutive renewals and overall length (usually a maximum of 2 years, with exceptions). Fixed-term workers are still 'employees' covered by Awards and the NES — unlike the independent contractors below — and what happens at contract end should be checked against your contract and Fair Work Ombudsman guidance.
Independent Contractors (ABN) and Sham Contracting
Independent contractors working on an ABN usually sit outside the Award system and manage their own tax and super, so even a higher-looking hourly rate can leave you worse off than an employee once those costs come out. If you work like an employee in practice but the employer pushes an ABN arrangement to get around the Award, that may be unlawful sham contracting — when in doubt, check the Fair Work Ombudsman's employee/contractor tests.
Apprentices, Trainees and Junior Rates
If you're enrolled in a formal apprenticeship or traineeship, separate rates apply that start at a percentage of the adult base rate and step up year by year — and under many Awards, workers under 21 are paid age-based junior rates (a percentage of the adult rate). Apprentice rates only apply where there's a formally registered training contract, so be suspicious of 'you're an apprentice, so we pay less' if nothing has been registered.
How to Compare Annual Income Across Employment Types
A casual hourly rate may look high, but with hours that fluctuate week to week and no paid annual or sick leave, comparing it against full-time with a simple '38 hours × 52 weeks' multiplication is an easy way to get it wrong. Compare on an annual basis — expected weekly hours × the weeks you'll actually work, plus the dollar value of leave entitlements — and weigh up stability (guaranteed hours, notice of termination) as well.
Tax, Deductions and Take-Home Pay — Gross Is Not Net
Gross vs Net and PAYG Withholding
Salaries in job ads are gross (pre-tax) figures — your employer withholds income tax from every pay (PAYG withholding) before you receive it. Tax residents get a tax-free threshold up to $18,200 a year, but non-residents can face higher rates from the first dollar — and tax residency is decided by the ATO's residency tests, separately from your visa type, so it's worth confirming your own position with the ATO.
The 2% Medicare Levy and Exemptions
Tax residents generally pay an extra 2% of taxable income as the Medicare Levy. However, some temporary visa holders who aren't eligible for Medicare can obtain a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia and claim a levy exemption in their tax return — check whether this applies to you, because paying the 2% without realising is a common mistake.
Super Isn't Money Taken Out of Your Wage
The 12% Superannuation Guarantee is, as a rule, paid by the employer on top of your wage — it isn't deducted from your gross pay. The only exceptions are 'including super' packages (super wrapped inside the salary figure) and salary sacrifice you've chosen yourself (directing part of your pay into extra super), so check the structure on your payslip to make sure super isn't eating into your gross.
A Take-Home Example — What $80k Is Really Worth
On a rough calculation using 2025–26 resident rates, an $80,000 salary (plus super) attracts around $14,800 in income tax and roughly $1,600 in Medicare Levy, leaving annual take-home of around $63,600 (a simple estimate ignoring deductions and offsets — it will vary with your circumstances). For your own exact figures, use the ATO's official Simple Tax Calculator (ato.gov.au), and get into the habit of budgeting on after-tax pay rather than 'salary ÷ 12'.
HELP Debt Repayments Can Come Out of Your Pay
If you have a HELP (student loan) debt in Australia, your employer withholds extra on top of PAYG once your income passes that year's repayment threshold. The threshold and repayment rates change every year, so check the current year's figures with the ATO — and declare your HELP debt accurately on the TFN declaration you fill in when starting a job, or you could be hit with a large bill at the end of the financial year.
Tax Returns — You May Be Due a Refund
The Australian financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June; from July you can lodge through myTax linked to myGov, and the self-lodgement deadline is usually 31 October. If you only worked for part of the year, or more tax was withheld than you actually owed, you can get a refund — so cross-check the YTD (year-to-date) figures on your payslips against the income data pre-filled with the ATO when you lodge.
If you were paid below the minimum wage or Award rate, or your wages were withheld, see the 'Workplace Problems & Wage Theft Reporting Guide' for the Fair Work reporting process and free interpreting.
This data is user-submitted and accuracy is not guaranteed. Actual salaries may vary significantly based on employment conditions, company size, and qualifications. For official salary information, check Fair Work Australia (opens in a new window).