Pharmacy Technician Salary: What the Official Figures Show
If you are looking for a precise pharmacy technician salary figure from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, you will not find one. The ABS does not publish median or average weekly earnings for this occupation (ANZSCO 311215) because the number of survey respondents is too small to produce a reliable estimate. That does not mean the role is unimportant – it means we need to use other data to understand where pay sits.
What the ABS Does Tell Us
The Jobs and Skills Australia profile for Pharmacy Technicians, based on the 2021 Census, reports 6,900 people employed in the role. The median weekly earnings field is marked ‘N/A’. The profile does give useful context: 52% of pharmacy technicians work full-time hours (compared to 64% for all occupations), and full-time workers average 40 hours per week (against 44 hours across all jobs). The median age is 37, and 88% of the workforce is female.
For a national benchmark, the ABS Average Weekly Earnings survey for May 2026 puts full-time adult ordinary-time earnings at $2,083.70 per week. Multiplied by 52, that is about $108,352 per year. This is the line that Place a salary on the line uses as the reference point. The all-employees median (including part-time) is $1,436 per week, or about $74,100 per year, from the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey for August 2025.
How Pharmacy Technicians Compare to Broader Groups
Although a dedicated pharmacy technician figure is unavailable, we can look at the broader occupation group ‘Technicians and Trades Workers’. In the May 2025 Employee Earnings and Hours release, full-time non-managerial adult employees in this group earned an average of $2,121.30 per week. That is slightly above the national full-time average. However, this group includes many higher-paid trades such as electricians and plumbers, so it is not a direct substitute.
Another reference point is the national minimum wage. From 1 July 2026, Fair Work sets the minimum at $26.44 per hour, or $1,004.90 per week on a 38-hour week. Award-covered pharmacy technicians would typically receive more than this under the Pharmacy Industry Award, which rose by 4.75% in the latest adjustment.
Reading Pay as a Year, Week, and Hour
The site’s tool converts any salary into a weekly and hourly figure based on a 38-hour week. For the national full-time average of $108,352 per year, that works out to $2,083.70 per week and $54.83 per hour. If a pharmacy technician earned that amount, they would be exactly on the line. In reality, many pharmacy technicians work 40 hours per week, so their hourly rate would be slightly lower for the same weekly pay.
Without a published median, the best approach is to compare against the national average and adjust for hours worked. The ABS Census data shows that pharmacy technicians who work full-time average 40 hours, not 38. That means a weekly salary of $2,083.70 would equate to $52.09 per hour over 40 hours – still above the national minimum but below the average hourly rate for technicians and trades workers ($46.50 per hour for non-managerial employees).
State and Territory Differences
Pay also varies by location. The on-site notes list state full-time averages from the ABS, ranging from $96,008 in Tasmania to $119,090 in the Australian Capital Territory. A pharmacy technician in the ACT might earn more than one in Tasmania, but without occupation-specific data, these are only general guides. For more detail, see States and territories.
Where to Find More Information
If you are a pharmacy technician wanting to see how your pay compares, you can Place a salary on the line and check it against the national full-time average. For medians across other occupations, visit Job medians. The ABS releases Average Weekly Earnings twice a year (May and November), and Employee Earnings and Hours annually. Fair Work publishes award rates and the national minimum wage.
Key Takeaways
- The ABS does not publish a specific pharmacy technician salary due to small sample sizes.
- The national full-time adult ordinary-time average is $2,083.70 per week ($108,352 per year).
- Pharmacy technicians average 40 hours per week full-time, slightly above the standard 38-hour week used by this site.
- Award minimums apply under the Pharmacy Industry Award, which rose by 4.75% from 1 July 2026.
- For the most accurate comparison, use the site’s tool with your own salary.