The national full-time average line
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes the national full-time adult average weekly ordinary time earnings twice a year, for May and November. The latest release, for May 2026, puts the figure at $2,083.70 per week. Multiplied by 52 weeks, that is about $108,352 a year. This is the line that Average line uses as its central benchmark.
But not every worker earns that amount. The national average is a blended figure that hides wide variation by state, industry, award coverage, and gender. For example, the full-time median (the middle point of all full-time earners) is about $90,532 a year, while the all-employees median (including part-time and casual workers) is about $74,100. These medians come from the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey, August 2025.
How state averages shift the line
Where you work in Australia can move your pay well above or below the national line. The ABS Average Weekly Earnings release gives state-by-state figures for full-time adults. Using the on-site calculations:
- New South Wales full-time average: about $109,658
- Victoria full-time average: about $106,137
- Queensland full-time average: about $106,064
- South Australia full-time average: about $102,450
- Western Australia full-time average: about $115,825
- Tasmania full-time average: about $96,008
- Northern Territory full-time average: about $103,173
- Australian Capital Territory full-time average: about $119,090
These differences reflect the mix of industries, occupations, and public versus private sector employment in each state. For instance, the ACT's high average is driven by a large public sector workforce, where full-time ordinary-time earnings in the public sector nationally are $2,263.10 per week (about $117,681 a year) compared to $2,034.10 in the private sector. Western Australia's figure is boosted by mining and construction. Tasmania's lower average reflects a different industrial structure.
If you are comparing your own salary to the national line, it is worth checking your state's average first. The States and territories page on this site breaks down each jurisdiction.
How awards and minimum wages shift the line
Award coverage is another major factor. The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 per hour, or $1,004.90 per week on a 38-hour week, which works out to about $52,255 a year. That is less than half the full-time average. But many workers are covered by industry or occupation awards that set higher minimum rates. Fair Work's pay guides show that award minimums rose by 4.75% from 1 July 2026.
For example, the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (MA000100) has its own classification rates. A worker on that award might earn a different amount than someone on the General Retail Industry Award or the Building and Construction General On-site Award. These rates are legally enforceable minimums, but many employees earn above them through enterprise agreements or individual arrangements. The ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey found that individual arrangement was the most common method of setting pay (38.5%), followed by collective agreement (34.6%).
So the national average line is not a target that every job must hit. It is a statistical summary. Your actual pay depends on your award, your employer's agreement, and your negotiation. The How the figures are set page explains the methodology behind the averages and medians.
US president salary: a different benchmark
The keyword "us president salary" raises an interesting point: how does a fixed, publicly known salary from another country compare to Australia's dynamic earnings landscape? The US president's salary is set by US federal law and is not published in any Australian Bureau of Statistics or Fair Work source. Therefore, this site cannot provide a precise figure for it. What we can say is that the US president's salary is a single, unchanging amount (subject to congressional adjustment), whereas Australian full-time average earnings vary by state, industry, award, and gender.
For context, the Australian national full-time average of $108,352 is a moving target that changes with each ABS release. The US president's salary, by contrast, is a fixed benchmark that does not shift with labour market conditions. If you are trying to place the US president's salary on the Australian line, you would need to know the exact US figure and then compare it to the Australian average, median, or a specific state average. Without that figure from our sources, we cannot make the comparison directly.
Conclusion
The national full-time average line of $108,352 is a useful starting point, but it is not the whole story. State averages can differ by more than $20,000, award rates set a floor well below the average, and medians show that most full-time workers earn less than the mean. The US president salary, while not published in Australian data, serves as a reminder that fixed salaries exist in other contexts, but in Australia your pay is shaped by where you work, what you do, and how your pay is set.
For more detail on how your own salary compares, explore the Guides section or use the line tool to see where you sit.