Understanding the Median Australian Salary
When you hear "median Australian salary, the first step is to know which measure you are looking at. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes two key figures: the median for all employees and the median for full-time employees. For August 2025, the median weekly earnings for all employees in their main job was $1,425 per week. That works out to about $74,100 a year. For full-time employees, the median was $1,741 per week, or about $90,532 a year. These figures come from the ABS Employee Earnings survey, which is the most reliable source for median pay in Australia.
Median vs Average: Why They Differ
The average full-time salary, as measured by the ABS Average Weekly Earnings report for May 2026, is $2,083.70 per week for ordinary time earnings, or about $108,352 a year. That is higher than the full-time median because the average includes very high salaries that pull the mean up. The median, by contrast, is the middle point: half of full-time workers earn more than $90,532, half earn less. For all employees (including part-time and casual), the median is lower at $74,100, reflecting the many workers who work fewer hours.
How Your Pay Compares to the National Line
On this site, the site's line is the full-time average of $108,352 a year. If you earn the median Australian salary of $74,100, you are below that line. If you earn the full-time median of $90,532, you are still below the average. To see where your pay sits as a year, a week, and an hour, you can [Place a salary on the line. The tool uses a 38-hour week and shows distance from the average.
State and Territory Medians
Median earnings also vary by state. According to the ABS Employee Earnings August 2025, the highest median weekly earnings were in the Australian Capital Territory at $1,600 per week ($77,480 a year), followed by the Northern Territory at $1,510 ($78,520), Western Australia $1,500 ($78,000), New South Wales $1,464 ($76,128), Queensland $1,439 ($74,828), Victoria $1,380 ($71,760), South Australia $1,300 ($67,600), and Tasmania $1,300 ($67,600). These are medians for all employees, not full-time. For more detail, see States and territories.
Hourly Median Earnings
The ABS also reports median hourly earnings. In August 2025, the median hourly wage for all employees was $42.90 per hour. For men it was $44.60, for women $41.70. This is a useful benchmark if you are paid by the hour or want to compare your rate to the national minimum wage. The Fair Work minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 per hour, so the median hourly rate is well above the minimum.
Minimum Wage and Award Rates
It is important to keep the median distinct from the minimum wage. The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 per hour, $1,004.9 per week, about $52,255 a year on 38 hours. Award minimums rose 4.75% from 1 July 2026. The median is much higher than the median, so most workers earn above the minimum.
How the Figures Are Set
The ABS sets the median using the Employee Earnings and Hours survey, collected every two years. The latest data is from August 2025. The average is from Average Weekly Earnings, published twice a year for May and November. The site uses the May 2026 data. For more on methodology, see How the figures are set.
Using the Median Australian Salary
If you want to see how your salary compares to the median, you can use the line tool on this site. Enter your yearly salary before tax, and it will show your weekly and hourly equivalent on a 38-hour week, plus how far you are from the full-time average. Remember that the median is a different benchmark: if you earn $74,100, you are exactly at the all-employees median. If you earn $90,532, you are at the full-time median. The average is higher, so you may be below the average even if you are at the median.