Wages in Australia

Wage Facts

Full-time earnings in Australia were A$53,200 per annum in 2005. (According to the Bureau of Statistics.)

If overtime and bonuses are included, earnings were A$55,700 per annum.

The average male wage in Australia is $55,800 per annum

The average female wage in Australia is A$47,600 per annum.

Workers in the Capital Territory (Canberra) are Australia's highest paid workers with an average of A$61,000 per annum, followed by New South Wales on A$55,000.

Tasmania has the lowest average full-time wage of A$47,000 per annum.

Australia's best-paid workers are miners, whose ordinary earnings average A$82,000 a year.

Next come finance and insurance workers who average A$65,000 per annum.

Retail workers average A$43,508.

The poorest wages are found in the accommodation and restaurant sector where full-time workers earn A$36,556 on average.

The high prices fetched by Australia's commodity exports in recent years are expected to continue into the foreseeable future. Projections are than Australian wages have a good chance of continuing to grow at a faster rate than in most other western economies.