Nutritionist salary and the national line
When you place a salary on the line, the benchmark is the national full-time adult ordinary-time average of $2,084 per week (about $108,352 a year), as measured by the ABS Average Weekly Earnings survey for May 2026. For nutritionists, the typical full-time pay sits well below that mark.
According to Jobs and Skills Australia, the median full-time earnings for nutrition professionals were $1,667 per week in May 2025. That is about $86,684 a year before tax. The median hourly rate was $45. These figures come from the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours and exclude managers, part-timers and junior employees to give a clearer comparison between occupations.
Why the gap?
The national average is an arithmetic mean that includes every full-time adult worker, from chief executives to retail managers. Nutritionists are classified as professionals, but the occupation is 97% female and only 53% work full-time. Part-time roles, which are common in community health and private practice, pull down the all-employees average even further. The median all-employees earnings for nutritionists are not published, but the national all-employees median of $1,436 per week gives a sense of the broader distribution.
Award coverage also plays a role. Most nutritionists in public hospitals and community health are paid under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award or a state-based public sector award. The minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 per hour ($1,004.90 per week on 38 hours), but award rates for health professionals start a little higher. Even so, a Level 1 health professional with a year of experience earns around $1,400–$1,500 per week, well short of the national full-time average.
State and territory differences
The national full-time average masks large differences between states. The ACT has the highest average at about $119,090 a year, while Tasmania is lowest at about $96,008. Nutritionists in the ACT are more likely to work for the federal government or the territory’s public health system, which tend to pay above award. In Tasmania, the smaller private sector and lower cost of living keep wages closer to the award floor. See the state-by-state breakdown for more detail.
How the figures are set
The national average comes from the ABS Average Weekly Earnings survey, which is published twice a year (May and November). It measures the mean weekly earnings of full-time adult employees in their ordinary time, before tax. The median figures for occupations come from the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey, released annually. The national minimum wage is set by Fair Work and updated each July. Learn more about how the data is collected.
What this means for your pay
If you are a nutritionist earning $1,667 a week full-time, you are earning about 80% of the national full-time average. If you work part-time, your weekly pay will be lower, but your hourly rate may still be around $45. To see where your own salary sits on the line, use the tool on this site. You can compare your weekly or yearly pay against the national average, the median for all employees, and the minimum wage.
The gender dimension
Because 97% of nutrition professionals are women, the occupation reflects the broader gender pay gap. The national full-time average for women is $1,934.50 per week (about $100,594 a year), compared with $2,181.50 for men. The median full-time earnings for female nutritionists are not separately published, but the occupation’s heavy concentration of women and its reliance on award-based public sector roles help explain why the median is below the national average for all full-time workers.
Summary
The nutritionist salary is a clear example of how occupation, industry, gender and award coverage can push pay away from the national line. The median full-time nutritionist earns $1,667 per week, about $417 less than the national full-time average. Part-time work is common, award rates are modest, and the workforce is predominantly female. State differences also matter, with nutritionists in the ACT and Western Australia likely to earn more than those in Tasmania or South Australia. For a personalised comparison, explore the job medians page.