KEY FINDINGS
In 2017, employees earned a median weekly pay of $1019 per week, earning an extra $19 per week (+2%) compared to 2016. Around 25% employees earned less than $660 per week, and around 50% of employees earned between $660 and $1512 per week. The top 10% of employees earned more than $2109 per week.
The median hourly earnings for employees in 2017 was $30 per hour. Around 25% of employees earned less than $24 per hour, and 50% of employees earned between $24 and $43 per hour. The top 10% of employees earned more than $60 per hour.
Full-time and Part-time
The median earnings for employees who worked full-time was $1261 per week, with the median weekly earnings for men at $1342, compared to $1187 for women. Median full-time earnings for both men and women went up $42-43 per week over the previous year, although this followed two years of essentially no growth for men, while women increased $20-25 each year over the same period.
For part-time workers, the median employee earnings was $500 per week, with women higher at $540 per week compared to $435 for males. The median part-time weekly earnings increased $40 for women in 2017 after two years of essentially no growth, whereas median weekly earnings for men working part-time increased $10-$20 each year over the same period.
Casual employees
The median earnings for casual employees was $504 per week. Men in casual jobs skewed higher at $688 per week, earning an extra $88 per week after two years of essentially no growth. Casual earnings for women skewed lower at $430, with an increase of $30 over the previous year.
Men and Women
Hourly earnings for men and women working full-time were similar, with the middle range (interquartile range) for men between $25 and $48 per hour, and for women $25 to $44 per hour. For part-time workers, women earned between $22 and $36 per hour, compared to men who earned between $20 and $32 per hour.
Women living alone had median weekly earnings of $1080 per week, compared with women living in families with dependants who earned $900 per week (the same for both women in couples and as lone parents). In contrast, men living alone earned $1200 per week, but men living in couple families with dependants earned $1500 per week, and $1437 as lone parents.
States and Territories
In 2017, the Australian Capital Territory was the region with the highest median earnings at $1281 per week, followed by the Northern Territory at $1200. Western Australia and New South Wales had median earnings higher than the national level, while Victoria and Queensland were slightly below. South Australia and Tasmania had the lowest median earnings, at $990 and $950 respectively. Compared to 2016, median earnings for most states and territories increased between $30 to $60 per week, except for Western Australia (+$20), Victoria (+$9) and Queensland (essentially no growth for two years).
Of the state capital cities, Perth and Sydney held the highest median weekly earnings at around $1100 per week. Male median earnings were highest in Perth ($1349), and female median earnings were highest in Sydney ($979 per week).
Industry of main job
The top three industries with highest median weekly earnings were Mining ($1913), Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services ($1527), and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services ($1380). The industries with the lowest median weekly earnings were Arts and Recreation Services ($800), Retail Trade ($700), and Accommodation and Food Services ($500).
The industries with the biggest gap between the median hourly earnings of men and women were Professional, Scientific and Technical Services ($46 per hour for men, $33 for women), Financial and Insurance Services ($46 for men, $34 for women) and Information Media and Telecommunications ($42 for men, $31 for women). Industries with similar median hourly earnings for men and women (a gap of less than $1) were Public Administration and Safety, Administrative and Support Services, Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services, Arts and Recreation Services, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing.
Occupation of main job
Employees in high skilled jobs (skill level 1) had a middle range (interquartile range) of earnings between $1020 and $2000 per week and between $33 and $58 per hour. In contrast, workers in low skilled jobs (skill level 5) had middle range earnings between $280 and $900 per week, and between $20 and $28 per hour.
Managers had the largest gap between the median hourly earnings of men and women ($45 per hour for men, $37 for women), followed by Professionals ($47 for men, $41 for women). Sales Workers and Labourers had the smallest gap in median hourly earnings ($25-24 for men, $23 for women).
Highest non-school qualification
Employees with a bachelor degree had a middle range (interquartile range) of weekly earnings between $880 and $1800 per week ($28 to $53 per hour), whereas employees without a non-school qualification had a range between $423 and $1155 per week ($20 to $32 per hour).
Employees with a Postgraduate degree had the highest median earnings of $1500 per week, compared with $1280 for those with a Bachelor degree, and $1035 for those with a Certficate III/IV qualification. When comparing median hourly earnings, employees with any kind of non-school qualification earned an extra $8 per hour than those without a non-school qualification ($33 and $25 per hour respectively).
For further information about income and earnings see the ‘Fact Sheet: Income and Earnings, published in the Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001).
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