Choose from a wide range of NEWCV resume templates and customize your NEWCV design with a single click.
Use ATS-optimised Resume and resume templates that pass applicant tracking systems. Our Resume builder helps recruiters read, scan, and shortlist your Resume faster.
Use professional field-tested resume templates that follow the exact Resume rules employers look for.
Create Resume
Use professional field-tested resume templates that follow the exact Resume rules employers look for.
Create ResumeThe highest paying jobs in Australia are concentrated in healthcare, mining, technology, executive leadership, engineering, legal, and specialist trades. However, salary alone does not determine whether a role is truly “high paying” in practice. Recruiters and hiring managers assess earning potential based on industry demand, skill scarcity, career progression, overtime opportunities, location premiums, and how difficult the role is to replace.
In Australia, many candidates search for high paying jobs but overlook a critical reality: employers pay premium salaries for commercial impact, technical expertise, risk responsibility, or talent scarcity. Roles that directly influence revenue, compliance, operations, or specialised systems consistently command the strongest salaries.
For most professionals, the fastest path to a higher salary is not simply changing jobs. It is repositioning yourself into industries and skill areas where employers are already struggling to hire experienced talent.
This guide breaks down:
The highest paying jobs in Australia right now
Realistic salary expectations
Industries with strong long-term demand
Which careers are hardest to break into
In the current Australian market, a high paying job generally starts around:
$120,000+ for individual contributors
$180,000+ for senior specialists or management
$250,000+ for executive, medical, legal, or highly specialised roles
However, salary expectations vary heavily depending on:
Industry
State
Metro vs regional location
Shift work or FIFO arrangements
What recruiters actually look for in high-income candidates
How Australians can move into better-paying careers strategically
Bonus structures
Contract vs permanent employment
Technical scarcity
For example:
A software engineer in Sydney may earn $180,000
A FIFO mining electrician in WA may exceed $220,000 with allowances
A surgeon can earn well beyond $500,000
A construction project director may earn $300,000+ on infrastructure projects
The biggest mistake candidates make is comparing salaries across industries without considering workload, hours, risk, or long-term progression.
Medical specialists remain among the highest earners in Australia.
Typical salary range:
Highest paying specialisations often include:
Neurosurgery
Anaesthetics
Orthopaedics
Cardiology
Plastic surgery
Why salaries are so high:
Extreme skill scarcity
Long qualification pathway
High legal and clinical responsibility
Public and private billing opportunities
Recruiter insight:
Hospitals and specialist clinics are far more focused on experience, accreditation, and specialisation than resume presentation. Credentials dominate hiring decisions in this sector.
Mining continues to generate some of the highest non-medical salaries in Australia.
Typical salary range:
High-paying mining roles include:
Mining engineers
Geotechnical engineers
Drill and blast engineers
FIFO electricians
Site managers
Heavy diesel mechanics
Why mining salaries remain strong:
Regional skill shortages
Harsh working conditions
Project-based demand
Infrastructure expansion
Remote workforce challenges
What candidates often misunderstand:
FIFO salaries can look extremely attractive initially, but employers expect:
Long rosters
Isolation tolerance
Strong safety compliance
High resilience
Proven site experience
Many candidates apply without understanding the lifestyle realities, which recruiters identify quickly.
Technology salaries in Australia have climbed sharply due to ongoing digital transformation and cyber risk.
Typical salary range:
Highest paying tech roles:
Enterprise architects
Cyber security architects
Cloud engineers
AI specialists
DevOps engineers
Data engineering leaders
Technology directors
Why employers pay premium salaries:
Severe talent shortages
Rapid cloud migration
Cybersecurity threats
AI implementation demand
Business dependency on digital systems
Recruiter insight:
Australian employers increasingly reject generic IT resumes. Senior candidates who clearly demonstrate:
Commercial outcomes
System scale
Revenue impact
Security improvements
Infrastructure ownership
consistently outperform technically strong but poorly positioned applicants.
Australia’s infrastructure sector continues to produce high-income opportunities.
Typical salary range:
Top-paying roles include:
Construction directors
Project directors
Commercial managers
Infrastructure program managers
Major project engineers
Why salaries are rising:
Government infrastructure spending
Talent shortages
Delayed projects
Large-scale transport investments
Hiring manager expectations:
At senior level, employers care less about task execution and more about:
Budget ownership
Stakeholder management
Risk mitigation
Contractor leadership
Delivery outcomes
Candidates who still position themselves as “doers” rather than commercial leaders often stall below executive salary levels.
Pilots remain among Australia’s higher-paid professions, particularly in international and commercial aviation.
Typical salary range:
Factors affecting salary:
Aircraft type
Airline size
Seniority
International routes
Captain vs First Officer status
Key challenge:
Entry costs and training pathways are expensive, making this one of the harder professions to access financially.
Top-tier legal professionals continue to command premium salaries.
Typical salary range:
Highest paying legal areas:
Corporate law
Mergers and acquisitions
Banking and finance
Commercial litigation
Energy and resources law
What law firms value:
Commercial judgement
Client management
Billable performance
Technical drafting
Industry specialisation
In Australia, many lawyers plateau financially because they remain technically strong but fail to build commercial relationships or client development capability.
Senior executives across major industries remain among Australia’s highest earners.
Typical salary range:
Examples:
CEOs
CFOs
CIOs
COOs
Managing directors
Executive hiring is fundamentally different from standard recruitment.
Boards and executive recruiters assess:
Commercial transformation
Revenue leadership
Strategic growth
Investor confidence
Crisis management
Industry influence
Most executive appointments are relationship-driven long before jobs are advertised publicly.
Trades remain one of the most overlooked pathways to strong income in Australia.
Top-paying trades include:
Electricians
Instrumentation technicians
Boilermakers
Heavy diesel mechanics
Crane operators
Industrial refrigeration mechanics
Typical salary range:
Why trades can outperform university careers financially:
Overtime opportunities
Union agreements
FIFO loading
Shift penalties
Low graduate debt
High demand
A major misconception is that white-collar roles automatically earn more. In many cases, experienced mining or industrial tradespeople out-earn mid-level corporate professionals.
Australia’s resource sector remains one of the strongest salary markets nationally.
Strong demand exists for:
Engineers
Safety professionals
Trades
Project managers
Operational leaders
WA and Queensland remain major hotspots.
Australia’s ageing population continues driving demand for:
Specialists
Mental health professionals
Allied health leaders
Senior nursing roles
Healthcare remains one of the safest long-term career sectors for salary stability.
AI, cloud computing, automation, cyber security, and enterprise systems continue reshaping salary expectations.
Candidates combining technical skill with commercial communication are currently in the strongest position.
Large government projects continue supporting:
Transport infrastructure
Renewable energy
Civil construction
Utilities
This sector remains heavily candidate-short in specialised areas.
Renewable energy projects are creating strong salaries across:
Engineering
Project delivery
Grid infrastructure
Sustainability leadership
This sector is expected to expand significantly over the next decade.
High salaries are rarely based on qualifications alone.
Australian recruiters and hiring managers consistently prioritise candidates who demonstrate:
Commercial value
Problem-solving ability
Leadership impact
Industry credibility
Risk management capability
Revenue influence
Stakeholder communication
The biggest salary jumps typically happen when candidates move from:
Task execution → business impact
Technical specialist → strategic leader
Individual contributor → decision-maker
Many professionals unintentionally cap their salary growth because they:
Stay too long in low-growth industries
Position themselves too generically
Fail to specialise
Avoid leadership responsibility
Underestimate networking
Rely solely on online applications
Fail to quantify achievements
One of the biggest recruiter frustrations is seeing highly experienced candidates describe duties instead of outcomes.
Weak Example
“Responsible for managing projects.”
Good Example
“Led delivery of a $12M infrastructure upgrade completed three months ahead of schedule, reducing operational downtime by 18%.”
The second example demonstrates commercial impact, which directly influences salary positioning.
The fastest salary growth usually happens where employers are struggling to hire.
Examples:
Cyber security
Mining operations
Renewable energy
Data engineering
Infrastructure delivery
Healthcare specialisations
High demand creates negotiating power.
Generalist experience becomes easier to replace over time.
High-income candidates usually possess:
Technical depth
Industry-specific expertise
Leadership capability
Compliance knowledge
Revenue influence
Specialisation increases bargaining power dramatically.
Many technically capable professionals lose promotions because they communicate like operators rather than business leaders.
Senior hiring managers expect candidates to explain:
Business outcomes
Financial impact
Strategic decisions
Stakeholder influence
Communication quality heavily affects salary progression.
In Australia, external job changes often increase salary faster than internal promotions.
However, recruiters watch for excessive movement carefully.
Frequent short tenures without progression signals:
Instability
Performance concerns
Poor cultural fit
Flight risk
Strategic movement matters more than constant movement.
Several Australian careers offer excellent earning potential without requiring a traditional degree.
Examples include:
Mining trades
Air traffic control
Real estate sales
Certain tech pathways
Construction supervision
Industrial operations
What matters most:
Experience
Licensing
Technical capability
Commercial performance
Industry demand
In some sectors, practical expertise outweighs formal education significantly.
Not necessarily.
Some high-income careers involve:
Extreme stress
Long hours
Travel demands
Shift work
Isolation
Burnout risk
High accountability
Candidates often chase salary without evaluating lifestyle fit.
For example:
FIFO work can impact relationships
Executive roles may require constant availability
Corporate law can involve very long hours
Medical specialists face enormous responsibility
The best career decision balances:
Income
Sustainability
Long-term growth
Lifestyle goals
Mental health
Family priorities
For senior or high-paying roles, employers assess risk first.
The higher the salary, the lower the tolerance for:
Poor communication
Generic resumes
Lack of results
Weak leadership
Unclear career direction
High-income hiring decisions focus heavily on:
Credibility
Stability
Decision-making
Commercial maturity
Stakeholder influence
At executive and specialist level, employers are effectively buying confidence and reduced risk.
Candidates often apply for high-paying roles without demonstrating:
Industry knowledge
Relevant systems
Regulatory understanding
Commercial familiarity
Transferable skills matter, but employers still prioritise contextual relevance.
Titles vary enormously between companies.
A “manager” in one organisation may earn less than a senior specialist elsewhere.
Salary progression depends more on:
Scope
Revenue responsibility
Complexity
Industry value
than titles alone.
Some of Australia’s highest salaries exist outside major CBDs.
Regional and remote roles often include:
Housing allowances
Relocation packages
Retention bonuses
Higher base pay
Candidates unwilling to relocate can limit earning potential substantially.
Upload Resume
Import from Linkedin