Salary needed to be ‘rich’ in Australia: What you need to earn

An Australian full-time worker now needs to earn $91,000 a year to be considered an above-average income earner.

High inflation is diluting the buying power of workers as wages struggle to keep pace with price increases.

Before bonuses and overtime, the average, full-time salary stood at $90,917 in November 2021, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday showed.

An Australian full-time worker now needs to earn $91,000 a year to be considered above average. High inflation is diluting the buying power of workers as wages struggle to keep pace with price increases (pictured are women at Sydney Opera Bar)

Australians putting in longer hours saw their wages grow at an annual pace of just 2.1 per cent.

This was well below the inflation rate of 3.5 per cent, which meant full-time workers saw price rises gobble up their pay rises.

Full-time workers fortunate enough to get bonuses and overtime saw their pay levels go up by 3.8 per cent to $94,260.

Their salaries were at least outpacing inflation, which last year rose to the highest level since 2008 during the height of the Global Financial Crisis. 

The mining industry offered the highest, average, full-time salary of $138,128, followed by media and information technology on $113,276, an industry where salaries rose by 7.1 per cent.

Professional and technical services – a broad field covering lawyers, accountants, architects and engineers – typically had salaries of $106,673. 

Finance and insurance specialists did even better, with salaries of $110,042. 

Public servants and police officers – known as public administration and safety – had average pay of $98,326. 

Australians putting in longer hours saw their wages grow at an annual pace of just 2.1 per cent. This was well below the inflation rate of 3.5 per cent, which meant full-time workers saw price rises gobble up their pay rises (pictured is a construction worker at Barangaroo in Sydney)

Australians putting in longer hours saw their wages grow at an annual pace of just 2.1 per cent. This was well below the inflation rate of 3.5 per cent, which meant full-time workers saw price rises gobble up their pay rises (pictured is a construction worker at Barangaroo in Sydney)

Australia’s average wages by industry

MINING: $138,128

MEDIA, TELECOMMUNICATIONS:  $113,276 

FINANCE, INSURANCE: $110,042 

PROFESSIONAL, TECHNICAL SERVICES: $106,673

HEALTH, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE:  $87,953

RETAIL: $68,349

ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICES:  $63,377

At the other end of the pay scale, retail workers earned $68,349 a year, well below the average $87,953 of the health and social assistance sector but above accommodation and food services on $63,377.

The Australian Capital Territory, the home of Canberra public servants, had the biggest increase of 4.8 per cent, taking average salaries to $102,882. 

Tasmanian workers saw their pay rise by 3.6 per cent to $80,168 as Queenslanders enjoyed a 3.5 per cent increase to $86,637. 

South Australian salaries were up 3.2 per cent to $82,685 as West Australians received a 3 per cent raise taking average salaries to $98,582 in the mining-rich state.

In New South Wales, pay levels have increased by just 0.5 per cent to an above-average $91,577, as Victorian pay levels  rose 2.4 per cent to $91,494.

Northern Territory saw their pay levels fall by 0.3 per cent to $88,327.

Men working full-time made $96,018 on average compared with $82,742 for women.

CommSec  senior economist Ryan Felsman said while the gender pay gap was shrinking, women were more likely to have lost working hours as a result of last year’s Delta outbreak lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne. 

‘Pandemic government restrictions have typically impacted female workers most due to increased caring duties for families and a loss of part-time jobs,’ he said.

‘Encouragingly, however, in the six months to November, average weekly ordinary time earnings for women working full-time rose.’

The mining industry offered the highest, average, full-time salary of $138,128

The mining industry offered the highest, average, full-time salary of $138,128

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