Lachie Neale salary: Where does it sit against the national full-time average?
Lachie Neale is one of the AFL's most decorated players, but his exact salary is not published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Fair Work or the Australian Taxation Office. Media reports often suggest figures, but those are not from official government sources. The most reliable public data on earnings comes from the ABS, which does not disclose individual player contracts.
That said, we can use the national averages to give context. The ABS Average Weekly Earnings survey for May 2026 shows that full-time adult ordinary-time earnings averaged $2,083.70 a week, or about $108,352 a year. This is the line on this site. Even a modest AFL player contract is well above that. The full-time median is about $90,532 a year, and the all-employees median is about $74,100 a year (ABS Employee earnings, August 2025). AFL players are among the highest-paid athletes in Australia, so their pay is far above these benchmarks.
How AFL salaries are set
AFL player salaries are governed by the AFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which is a registered enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act. The CBA sets minimum salaries for players based on games played and years of service. For example, a first-year player might earn around $100,000, while a star like Lachie Neale would earn many times that. However, the exact figures are not published by Fair Work or the ATO in a way that identifies individual players.
Where would Lachie Neale's pay sit on the line?
If we assume a typical star AFL player salary of, say, $800,000 to $1.2 million a year (based on media reports, not official data), that would be about 7 to 11 times the national full-time average. On this site's line, that would place his pay far above the average. The distance from the line would be substantial.
State comparisons
If Lachie Neale plays for the Brisbane Lions, his salary would be earned in Queensland. The full-time average for Queensland is about $106,064 a year (ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026). That's slightly below the national average. But his personal earnings would still dwarf the state average. For context, the highest state average is the ACT at about $119,090, and the lowest is Tasmania at about $96,008. States and territories have their own averages, but an elite AFL player's pay would exceed all of them.
How the figures are set
The ABS calculates Average Weekly Earnings from a survey of employers. It measures ordinary-time earnings for full-time adults, excluding overtime. The figure is published twice a year, for May and November. The latest release is May 2026. The median figures come from the Employee Earnings and Hours survey, which is published less frequently. The national minimum wage is set by Fair Work and from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 an hour, or $1,004.90 a week on a 38-hour week, about $52,255 a year. Award minimums rose by 4.75% from that date. How the figures are set explains the methodology.
What would move Lachie Neale's pay above or below the average?
For an AFL player, the main factors are contract negotiations, performance bonuses, and the CBA. If the CBA increases minimum salaries, that lifts the floor for all players. If a player signs a new contract, their pay can jump significantly. Conversely, if a player is delisted or retires, their pay drops to zero. For the average worker, factors include industry, occupation, experience, and location. Place a salary on the line to see how any figure compares.
Job medians and industry medians
The ABS also publishes median earnings by occupation and industry. For example, the highest hourly earnings are for Managers ($69.20) and Professionals ($64.50). AFL players would fall under the occupation "Sportspersons" which is not separately listed in the ABS data, but they would likely be in the top decile. Job medians and Industry medians provide more detail.
Tax considerations
If Lachie Neale earns a high salary, his tax would be significant. For 2026–27, the top marginal rate of 45% applies above $190,000, plus the 2% Medicare levy. That means a large portion of his income goes to tax. However, professional athletes may have deductions for agents, travel, and equipment. The ATO does not publish individual tax returns, so we cannot see his actual tax paid.
Conclusion
Lachie Neale's exact salary is not publicly available from official sources. But based on the national averages, his pay is almost certainly well above the full-time average of $108,352 a year. The site's line shows where any salary sits relative to that average. For more context, see About this site and Guides.