Understanding salary packaging in Victoria
Salary packaging (also known as salary sacrifice) lets you swap part of your pre-tax salary for benefits like a car, extra superannuation, or work-related items. In Victoria, the arrangement is common in the public sector, where employers often offer packaged benefits under specific caps set by the ATO. A salary packaging calculator helps you see how this changes your take-home pay, making it easier to compare your position against the full-time average.
The national and Victorian full-time averages
The ABS Average Weekly Earnings for May 2026 puts the national full-time adult ordinary-time average at $2,083.70 a week, or about $108,352 a year (multiplied by 52). Victoria’s full-time average is slightly lower at $106,137 a year. That means a typical full-time worker in Victoria earns about $2,200 less than the national figure. For context, the full-time median across Australia is about $90,532, and the all-employees median is about $74,100 (ABS Employee Earnings, August 2025). Men’s full-time average is about $113,412, while women’s is about $100,594.
Take-home pay after tax and Medicare
To see where you stand, it helps to sketch what a worker on the national average takes home after tax and the Medicare levy. Using the 2026–27 resident tax rates (nil up to $18,200, 15% to $45,000, 30% to $135,000, 37% to $190,000, and 45% above that, plus a 2% Medicare levy), a worker on $108,352 would pay about $25,200 in tax and Medicare, leaving around $83,200. For Victoria’s average of $106,137, the take-home is about $81,700. These figures are before any salary packaging adjustments.
How salary packaging affects take-home pay
A salary packaging calculator for Victoria lets you input your salary and the benefit you want to package. Because the packaged amount is deducted from your pre-tax income, your taxable income falls, reducing the tax and Medicare you owe. For example, if you package a car worth $9,010 (the typical FBT-exempt cap for cars), your taxable income drops from $106,137 to $97,127. Using the same tax rates, your take-home pay would rise by roughly $2,700 compared to not packaging. The calculator also accounts for any fringe benefits tax (FBT) that your employer may pay, which can affect the net benefit.
Comparing to medians and minimum wage
While the full-time average is a useful benchmark, many workers earn less. The full-time median of $90,532 is about 16% below the national average. The minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 an hour, or $52,255 a year on a 38-hour week. Award minimums rose by 4.75% from that date. A salary packaging calculator can show how even a modest packaging arrangement lifts your take-home pay relative to these lower benchmarks.
Using the calculator to see where you stand
To get the most out of a salary packaging calculator, start with your current annual salary before tax. The tool will show your weekly and hourly pay on a 38-hour week, plus how far you are from the full-time average. For Victoria, that average is $106,137. If your packaged salary is above that line, you are earning more than the typical Victorian full-time worker. If it is below, you might consider whether packaging additional benefits could narrow the gap. Remember that the calculator is an estimate; actual outcomes depend on your employer’s policies and your individual tax situation.
For more on how Victoria compares to other states, see our Victoria page. To understand how the figures are set, visit How the figures are set. You can also Place a salary on the line to see your own position against the national average.