Accountant salary Australia: where it sits against the national line
If you are an accountant in Australia, your pay is likely close to the national full-time average – but slightly below it. The most current official figure for full-time accountants is a median of $2,003 per week, according to Jobs and Skills Australia (drawn from the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025). That works out to about $104,156 a year before tax.
For context, the national full-time adult ordinary-time average (the line on this site) is $2,083.70 per week, or about $108,352 a year (ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026). The accountant median is about 3.9% below that average. But compared with the national full-time median of roughly $1,741 per week ($90,532 a year), accountants are well ahead. And they earn comfortably more than the all-employees median of about $1,436 per week ($74,100 a year).
A take-home pay sketch for the median accountant
To see what the median accountant might actually keep, we can apply the 2026–27 resident tax rates and the 2% Medicare levy. For a full-time salary of $104,156:
- Tax on first $18,200: nil
- Tax on $18,201 to $45,000 (15%): $4,020
- Tax on $45,001 to $104,156 (30%): $17,746.80
- Total tax: $21,766.80
- Medicare levy (2%): $2,083.12
- Total tax + Medicare: $23,849.92
- Estimated take-home: $80,306.08 per year, or $1,544 per week
This is a rough estimate. Your actual take-home will vary with deductions (such as work-related expenses or self-education), the tax-free threshold, and any offsets. But it gives a sense of how the national average line relates to real pay.
How accountant pay varies by state and sector
The national full-time average differs by state. For example, the average in New South Wales is about $109,658 a year, in Victoria $106,137, and in Western Australia $115,825 (ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026, original). Accountant pay may follow similar patterns, though state-level data for the occupation is not published. The public sector tends to pay higher average weekly earnings ($2,263.10) than the private sector ($2,034.10) – a gap that may also appear in accounting roles.
Place a salary on the line to see how your own pay compares, or browse States and territories for more detail.
Where the figures come from
The accountant median comes from Jobs and Skills Australia, which uses the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (May 2025). It covers full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate – a consistent group for comparing occupations. The national averages are from the ABS Average Weekly Earnings release for May 2026. The tax rates are from the Australian Taxation Office for 2026–27.
For more on how we calculate the line, see How the figures are set.
What about the minimum wage?
The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 per hour, $1,004.90 per week on a 38-hour week, or about $52,255 a year. Award minimums rose by 4.75%. Accountants are typically covered by the Professional Employees Award 2020, which sets higher minimum rates. The median accountant earns roughly double the minimum wage.
Key takeaways
- The median full-time accountant earns $2,003 per week – slightly below the national full-time average of $2,083.70.
- Accountant pay is above the national full-time median and well above the all-employees median.
- Estimated take-home for a median accountant is about $1,544 per week after tax and Medicare.
- State and sector differences can affect actual pay.
Job medians lets you compare other professions, and Industry medians shows how accounting stacks up by sector.