The Governor-General’s salary in context
The Governor-General of Australia receives a salary set by law, not by market forces or enterprise agreements. Under the Governor-General Act 1974, the annual sum payable is $709,017. This figure is fixed in legislation and is adjusted from time to time by amendment. It is paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and is not subject to the same negotiation processes that apply to most public sector or private sector roles.
To understand where this salary sits in the broader Australian earnings landscape, it helps to compare it with the national full-time average. According to the ABS Average Weekly Earnings survey for May 2026, full-time adult ordinary time earnings averaged $2,083.70 per week. Multiplied by 52 weeks, that comes to about $108,352 per year. The Governor-General’s salary is therefore roughly 6.5 times the national full-time average.
How it compares to the average worker
The gap between the Governor-General’s pay and what most Australians earn is substantial. The full-time median earnings – the midpoint where half of full-time workers earn more and half earn less – is about $90,532 per year, based on ABS Employee Earnings data from August 2025. The all-employees median, which includes part-time and casual workers, is around $74,100. The Governor-General’s salary is nearly eight times the all-employees median.
Even the highest state average – the Australian Capital Territory’s full-time average of about $119,090 – is less than a sixth of the Governor-General’s salary. Western Australia, with a full-time average of about $115,825, is similarly far behind. The lowest state average, Tasmania at about $96,008, is even further adrift.
A resident take-home sketch
For a resident earning the Governor-General’s salary, the tax bill is substantial. Using the 2026–27 individual tax rates – which apply to residents – the first $18,200 is tax-free, then 15% on the next $26,800, 30% on the next $90,000, 37% on the next $55,000, and 45% on everything above $190,000. Adding the 2% Medicare levy gives a total tax estimate of around $299,000. That leaves a net income of approximately $410,000 per year, or about $7,885 per week.
By contrast, a worker on the national full-time average of $108,352 would pay roughly $24,000 in tax and Medicare levy, taking home about $84,000 per year. The Governor-General’s take-home is nearly five times that of the average full-time worker, even after the higher marginal rates.
Other benchmarks
The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 per hour, or $1,004.90 per week on a 38-hour week, amounting to about $52,255 per year. The Governor-General’s salary is more than 13.5 times the minimum wage. Award minimums rose by 4.75% in the same period, but still remain far below the Governor-General’s fixed salary.
State-by-state, the full-time averages range from about $96,008 in Tasmania to $119,090 in the ACT. None come close to the Governor-General’s $709,017. Even the highest public sector average – the public sector full-time ordinary time earnings of $2,263.10 per week (about $117,681 per year) – is a fraction of the Governor-General’s pay.
Why this matters
The Governor-General’s salary is a matter of public record, set by legislation rather than by negotiation or market rates. It reflects the constitutional role and the expectations of the office, not the typical earnings of an employee. For anyone comparing their own salary against national benchmarks, the Governor-General’s figure is an extreme outlier – a useful anchor for understanding just how wide the earnings spectrum can be.
If you’d like to see where your own salary sits on the same line as the national average, you can Place a salary on the line. For more detail on how these figures are determined, see How the figures are set.