Contract administrator salary: where does it sit?
The ABS does not publish median weekly earnings for contract administrators (ANZSCO 511111) in its Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours. The figure is marked as not available because the sample size is too small to produce a reliable estimate. That means we cannot give you a precise contract administrator salary from the official source. But we can show you how the role compares to the national benchmarks that are published.
The national full-time average as a reference
The site’s line is the national full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings: $2,083.70 per week, or $108,352 per year (ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026, multiplied by 52). This is the average for all full-time adult employees across Australia, not a median and not specific to any occupation. It is the figure used to draw the salary line on this page.
Contract administrators prepare, interpret, maintain, review and negotiate variations to contracts on behalf of organisations. The role sits within the broader group of Contract, Program and Project Administrators (ANZSCO 5111). According to the Jobs and Skills Australia profile, 87% of contract administrators work full-time, averaging 43 hours per week. The median age is 41, and the female share of employment is 49%.
How the role compares to other benchmarks
While we lack an occupation-specific median, we can compare the national full-time average to other published figures:
- Full-time median earnings across all occupations: about $90,532 per year (ABS Employee Earnings, August 2025). This is the midpoint of full-time employee earnings.
- All-employees median (including part-time): about $74,100 per year.
- National minimum wage from 1 July 2026: $26.44 per hour, $1,004.90 per week, $52,255 per year on a 38-hour week. Award minimums rose by 4.75% at the same time.
If a contract administrator earns around the national full-time average, they would be above the full-time median and well above the minimum wage. If they earn at the lower end of the professional scale, they might be closer to the all-employees median.
State-by-state full-time averages
Pay for contract administrators can vary by location. The ABS Average Weekly Earnings release provides full-time adult ordinary time earnings for each state and territory. Here are the annualised figures (weekly figure × 52):
- New South Wales: $2,108.80 per week, about $109,658 per year
- Victoria: $2,041.10 per week, about $106,137 per year
- Queensland: $2,039.70 per week, about $106,064 per year
- South Australia: $1,970.20 per week, about $102,450 per year
- Western Australia: $2,227.40 per week, about $115,825 per year
- Tasmania: $1,846.30 per week, about $96,008 per year
- Northern Territory: $1,984.10 per week, about $103,173 per year
- Australian Capital Territory: $2,290.20 per week, about $119,090 per year
These are averages for all full-time adults in each state, not occupation-specific. A contract administrator in Western Australia or the ACT may see higher pay than the national average, while those in Tasmania or South Australia may be below it. See the state and territory page for more detail.
A resident take-home sketch
To give you a sense of what the national average means in your pocket, here is a simple tax calculation for a resident earning $108,352 in 2026–27:
- Tax-free threshold: $0 – $18,200
- 15% on the next $26,800 ($18,201 – $45,000): $4,020
- 30% on the next $90,000 ($45,001 – $135,000): $19,005.60 (on $63,352 of that bracket)
- Total income tax: $23,025.60 (before offsets)
- Medicare levy (2%): $2,167.04
- Total tax and levy: $25,192.64
- After-tax income: about $83,159 per year, or $1,599 per week
This is a rough estimate. Actual tax may differ with deductions, offsets, or the Medicare levy reduction for lower incomes. If a contract administrator earns less than the average, the take-home will be lower, and the tax rate will be lower. If they earn more, they enter the 37% bracket above $135,000 and the 45% bracket above $190,000.
Where to find more information
If you want to place your own salary on the line, use the Place a salary on the line tool. It shows how your pay compares to the national full-time average, the full-time median, and the minimum wage. You can also explore job medians for other occupations where the ABS does publish figures, or industry medians for sector-specific comparisons.
The figures on this page come from the ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026, and the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours, August 2025. The minimum wage is from Fair Work, effective 1 July 2026. All earnings are before tax unless stated otherwise.
What about contract administrators specifically?
Because the ABS does not publish a median for contract administrators, we cannot give you a precise occupation-specific figure. The Jobs and Skills Australia profile notes that median weekly earnings are not available for this 6-digit ANZSCO code. However, the role is classified under Contract, Program and Project Administrators (5111), which may have broader data at the 4-digit level. Even there, the ABS may suppress the figure if the relative standard error is too high.
If you are a contract administrator, you can still use the national average as a benchmark. Compare your own weekly or annual salary to the line of $2,083.70 per week. If you are above it, you are earning more than the typical full-time Australian worker. If you are below, you may want to check award rates or industry agreements.
For more guidance on how the figures are set, see the How the figures are set page. The site uses the same methodology from the ABS and Fair Work. No login or account is needed to view the data.