Discover 15 Highest Paying Jobs in Australia

Who does not like to be able to earn their own money? We all do. Whether full-time or part-time, a job is a basic necessity for every human being.

After the pandemic, many have faced problems in their work life. Some have even lost their jobs. In this crucial situation, it is essential to choose a field that you have complete interest in and will be able to do with total dedication.

Choosing the right career option will give you the confidence to work every day without feeling drained or exhausted. It will also give you the motivation and energy to keep improving your work regularly. 

If you are a student or a working person who would like to shift your career role, this will be your best friend. Below are some of the highest-paying jobs in Australia that you can check out.

Highest Paying Jobs In Australia

Australia offers some of the best job roles for teenagers, freshers, and experienced individuals. All these options that this country provides also offer a decent average salary. After the write-up, you will have a proper insight into the job role that suits you the best.

The jobs mentioned here are listed based on the average taxable income Australians pay on tax returns. The Australian tax office and the additional data collected from Seek and Business Insider Australia are calculated and brought forward.

You will see that the medical practitioners and specialists have a great hold on the list of the big earners. It is because their field of study has a lot of hard work and long hours of practice. They must endure immense pressure to secure a position in this field.

Curated below are some fantastic job options you can pursue if you are a student or even an adult who wants to switch your career choice.

1. Surgeon

We are all familiar with the term surgeon. They are exceptional doctors or medical professionals who examine, operate, and consult patients suffering from various diseases, deformities, or infections.

Per record, the Surgeon’s average salary in Australia per year is $194,289, though it can sometimes be misleading. It is because there are different types of surgeons, and their average income entirely depends on their field of expertise.

The average salary of a neurosurgeon is $600,387, whereas that of a reconstructive surgeon is $500,269.

To get trained in a surgical specialty, the candidates must apply for the Surgical Education and Training program (SET) at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in their third year. The college offers specializations in various sectors of the human body like the brain, orthopedic, plastic and cardiovascular.

The training lasts for five-six years. After completion, the candidates will be eligible for practicing as a surgeon.

Qualifications

The qualifications that are required to get a job as a surgeon in Australia are mentioned below.

1. The interested people must have completed their medical degree from a recognized university.

2. The candidates must have experience working in a medical field or a clinical setting for two or three years.

2. Anesthetist

Anaesthetists are the people who are involved in preparing patients who are about to undergo surgery. The process includes preparing the patients, helping them by providing relief to their pain, and helping create a numbness sensation in the area to be operated on. 

Their duty does not end here. Anesthetists must also create a patient care plan before, after, and during the process.

The anesthetist’s average salary in Australia is $195,137.

Qualifications

There are specific qualifications that these people must possess. The demanded qualifications are listed below.

1. The candidate must have qualified in their medical degree from a recognized university.

2. The candidates must have acquired an internship in a clinical setting for at least more than a year.

3. The candidates must have completed a residency or one or more years.

4. After completing their residency, candidates are advised to start applying for the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists Fellowship program, also known as ANZCA. It is a vocational training program that takes almost five years to complete.

5. After completing the training, you will be declared qualified to become a full-time anesthetist.

3. Internal Medical Specialists

The role of internal medicine specialists is similar to that of doctors. Experienced teachers and professionals train them to treat, diagnose, and manage complicated and complex health issues.

Some internal medical specialists look after the problems related to cardiology, rheumatology or even geriatric medicine. They often consult with other medical practitioners about the complex and challenging health issues they are expected to address. They help in treating many infections that further turn into infectious diseases.

The internal medicine specialist’s average salary is around $231,340.

Qualifications

The qualifications that are expected from these people are listed below.

1. The candidates must have completed their medical degree from a recognized university or organization.

2. The candidates must have completed an intensive internal medicine residency for three years.

3. The candidates are expected to have completed their training in adult internal medicine. The duration of the training should be of at least 3 years.

4. Post completion of the training, you will be for taking admission to the Fellowship by the committee.

5. After you have been selected, you will receive a letter or an invitation from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

6. After receiving the invitation, you will have to apply for the Fellowship in your desired sector.

4. Financial Dealer

The job of financial dealers is to analyze the current social trend and market conditions. They also have to take part in analyzing government regulations.

Apart from that, financial dealers also have to analyse and interpret the problem of the financial circumstance of their clients. It is essential to do so because, in this way, they will have a proper understanding of the financial condition of their client, which will help them buy and sell commodities to gain maximum profit.

The financial dealer’s average salary in Australia is $275,984.

Qualifications

The following qualifications are expected from financial dealers in Australia.

1. The candidates must have a degree in commerce, economics, accounting, or finance.

2. The candidates must have a proper license from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

3. Post verification of your license, you will be declared eligible to start trading as a financial dealer.

5. Psychiatrist

Psychiatrists are doctors who hold a remarkable degree in treating mental illness. They treat patients through various processes like psychotherapy.

They are also in charge of creating treatment plans and ordering tests and laboratory experiments. Post validation of the reports, these doctors prescribe medicines to the patients and confirm whether they will need psychotherapy.

For severe cases, the doctors suggest the patients get admitted.

Psychiatrists’ average salary in Australia is $235,558.

Qualifications

The qualifications one should possess to become a psychiatrist in Australia are mentioned below.

1. The candidate should hold a valid degree in the medical field.

2. The candidate is expected to be a registered medical practitioner.

3. The candidate must register at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

4. After applying for the college, the interested candidates must take the training and prepare for the clinical and written examination.

5. After completing the examination, the candidates will have to take training for 6 years.

6. After completing the training, the candidates will be given admission to the Fellowship organized by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, also known as FRACP.

6. Other Medical Practitioners

The list of job roles in the medical industry is long. The medical industry has some of the highest-paying jobs in Australia.

People who are related to this field can be cardiologists, gastroenterologists, and orthopedic specialists. Other than this, some other designations are available in this industry. Some are orthodontists, pediatricians, periodontists, dentists, and obstetricians; the list is never-ending.

All these designations are offered to people who have completed their medical degree and have taken specializations in various sectors.

The average salary of these job vacancies is about $222,933.

Qualifications

1. The candidates must have a valid degree in medical science.

2. The candidates must have completed their internship for a year at least.

3. The candidate must be Medical Board of Australia recognized.

4. The candidate must have completed their prevocational training or one or more years.

5. The candidates must hold a fellowship through the specialty training program of their choice.

7. Judicial or Other Legal Professionals

Legal professions are one of Australia’s highest-paying jobs. Like the medical sector, the law firm is a vast field that covers a lot of job options and always stays in high demand.

Some designations in this sector are judges, lawyers, and administrative assistants. Lawyers can practice law in various sectors like bankruptcy, criminal, personal injury, contracts, immigration, and corporate cases.

Making a career in a law firm is interesting because you get to choose your specialization. Based on your specialization, you can use your skills and knowledge to make various changes at the local, state, and even federal levels.

You can also use your skills to make various changes in the royal commission, courts, and tribunals.

The legal professional’s average salary in Australia is $188,798.

Qualifications

To get a job in the law sector, the candidates must possess the following qualifications.

1. The interested candidates must have an undergraduate degree in LLB (Bachelor of Law) or Juris Doctor (JD).

2. The candidates will have to complete practical legal training. The duration of the training is for one year or less.

3. The candidates must then apply for admission to the Admission Authority of their relevant state or territory. The candidates will have to be admitted within 5 years of graduation.

4. After admission, the candidates will have to apply for a Practicing Certificate which is generally issued by the local Law Society.

5. After verification of the certificate, candidates must go through a supervised practice of 18 to 24 months from a recognized law center.

8. Mining Engineer

The job of mining engineer is one of the most high-paying jobs in the country. They are the people in charge of planning, evaluating and overseeing the construction of a mine. One of their significant works is to identify potential development sites. They do so with the help of geologists by conducting various surveys of the mineral deposits.

They are also in charge of looking after the employment of the staff and implementing various safety measures for their staff and co-workers. It is also the responsibility of the mining engineers to return the mines to their original state soon after the mining process is complete.

Mining engineers’ average salary in Australia is $184,507.

Qualifications

1. The candidates interested in taking up a career as a mining engineer must have qualified in their undergraduate degree in engineering.

2. They must have also completed their master’s degree in geotechnical or mining engineering.

3. After completing the degrees, the candidates must apply for a Graduate Mining Engineer job.

4. The candidates will become Professional Mining engineers after they have completed two or more years in a job as a fresh graduate engineer.

9. Project Manager

The role of project managers is among the list of Australia’s highest-paying jobs. It is so because IT professionals are needed in every field, irrespective of the work.

IT project managers in Australia are expected to be quick thinkers and be able to organise the data and keep up with the latest trends and technologies.

The main expectation from this job is that the candidate must be able to manage the implementation of the computer systems and also look after their maintenance. They must also possess the quality of working with the team as they manage the team to get the desired outcome.

The project manager’s average salary in Australia is about $143,615.

Qualifications

1. The candidates must have completed their undergraduate degree in computer science, information technology or any other relevant courses.

2. The candidates must enroll themselves in the certificate training of Project Management Practice.

3. After completing the training, the candidates will be eligible to apply for this position.

10. Enterprise Architecture Manager

The role of enterprise architects and systems architect managers are almost the same. Their main work is to oversee and determine the ultimate direction, technical aspects and performance of the IT networks of the organization.

They are also responsible for improving and upgrading the services of the It networks. Apart from that, their role includes overseeing software and hardware implementation. They also have to be great at-risk management.

They are the prominent people behind the performance of the IT sectors, which also makes them in charge of the software architects, enterprise architects and other IT professionals.

The average salary for Enterprise Architecture Managerial positions is about $168,762.

Qualifications

1. The interested students must hold a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or diploma in information technology, computer science or any other field related to this position.

2. If you want to secure a good position, then experience in computer programs and software development will be of great help.

3. With experience in fields like business development, management, and leadership, you will have significant advantage during shortlisting of the candidates.

11. Managing Director Or CEO

The managing directors or the chief executive officer are the most senior executive and managerial positions. They are the people in charge of managing the organization, operations, people, and resources.

One of the significant roles of general managers is to oversee the development of business plans, strategies and budgets. They are also responsible for identifying the risks that can pose a significant threat to the company. The threat, in turn, can affect the company’s productivity, efficiency and profitability.

A managing director’s average salary in Australia is &164,896.

Qualifications

1. The candidates must acquire a bachelor’s degree in commerce or business management-related courses.

2. Having a master’s degree is optional.

3. The candidates must have job experience.

12. Engineering Manager

The role of engineering managers is to look after the engineers that work with or under the engineering managers. They are also in charge of civil engineering and construction projects, planning technical operations for the company where they are employed.

Engineering managers also look after the hiring process and coordination of the various activities. They are also provided with the duty of liaising with the department heads of other departments.

The engineering manager’s average salary in Australia is $159,940.

Qualifications

Interested candidates must possess the following qualifications to become an engineering manager.

1. The candidates must acquire a bachelor’s degree in engineering (Honours) from an Engineers Australia accredited organization.

2. The candidates are expected to secure an internship during their tenure of studies.

3. After graduation, the candidates must register for the National Engineering Register (NER) after attaining their engineers Australia membership.

13. Quantitative Analyst

Quantitative analysts are the people who analyze financial data by applying statistics and mathematics to the already existing query. They are also responsible for taking control of risk management.

The works done by the quantitative analysts are beneficial for the company as it helps in making sound business decisions regarding pricing, investments, and the overall functioning of the company.

The average salary of a quantitative analyst in Australia is about $153,539.

Qualifications

1. The candidates are expected to have a bachelor’s degree, diploma or certificate in any course that is related to the finance field.

14. Director of Information Security

The main work of the security directors of information is to keep the various data of the company safe and to check if there are any security threats. The demands and requirements of this job role vary from company to company. The job role also varies for different sectors.

An information security director’s major works includes resource allocation, budgeting, implementation of security, strategy, and handling data and technical procedures and policies.

Apart from these, the security directors also have to perform human resources (HR) related jobs like hiking, training and firing the employees.

The average income of an information director of security in Australia is $149,204.

Qualifications

1. The candidates should have a bachelor’s degree, diploma or certificate in courses like computer science, cyber security or any other relevant field.

2. The candidates are expected to have gained work experience.

3. In some cases, the company might also ask for a master’s degree in the specializations mentioned above.

15. Data Scientist

The job of a data scientist is one of the highest-paying occupations in Australia. It is the perfect job for you if you like to play with numbers and complex problems.

The main work of a data scientist is to use their analytical skills, problem-solving ability, statistics, computer science and modelling to analyze different aspects of a business.

The data that have been analyzed are then used for business purposes to increase revenue and better understand the customers. It also helps the company make various decisions about the operation and execution of a business.

The average earning of a data scientist in Australia is $92,450.

Qualifications

1. The candidates are expected to have a bachelor’s degree in information technology, Mathematics or any other related field.

2. The candidates must have a postgraduate degree or graduate diploma in data science.

Conclusion

By now, you might be able to decide the best career choice among the highest paying jobs in Australia .

All these jobs have advantages and are great for starting or re-starting a career. Apart from these, there are some other high-paying job options and job sectors that you can try. They are public works engineering, finance director, geotechnical engineering, engineering management, and managing directors.

Feel free to join any of the jobs according to your choices and preferences and enjoy the working environment in Australia.