NT salaries revealed: What you should be earning

City workers usually earn more than those in the regions, but that is changing. Check your postcode and see the average salaries nearby.

Capital city workers typically out-earn their regional counterparts but Australia’s new-found acceptance of remote work is expected to begin closing the gap.

Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the median full-time salary in the Northern Territory was $1500 a week or about $78,000 a year.

Demographer and social researcher Mark McCrindle said the general trend of Australians moving away from capital cities as remote work became more feasible could have an interesting affect on salaries.

Demographer and social researcher Mark McCrindle said a trend of Australians moving away from capital cities could have an interesting affect on salaries. Picture: AAP

“One of the great upsides of COVID has been this ability to decouple work from location and open up lifestyle possibilities we never had,” Mr McCrindle said.

“People are finding they can head a bit further out and they can get breathing space on the mortgage and get more for less.

“What we now have, and it’s really now the first time we have had it, is people moving to the regions but on capital city salaries.

“They are taking the job with them to the new location and that is giving them an extra financial springboard – lower costs but maintained earnings.

“It will also raise up the earnings of others in their regional areas.

“They can spend more so it’s a boom for the regional economies.”

Latest Australian Taxation Office data, from 2017-18, revealed the highest earners were in the north Darwin suburb of Casuarina where the average yearly wage across full time and part-time workers was $99,360.

It was followed by Alyangula at $98,735, Darwin City at $92,605 and Parap at $92,536.

At the other end of the spectrum, the NT’s lowest earners were in Tennant Creek/Tablelands averaging $51,789, Daguragu/Beswick/Barunga averaging $52,535 and Pine Creek averaging $52,856.

Although at a national level, Australians are increasingly moving away from capital cities, particularly since the pandemic, the NT is bucking this trend.

ABS figures revealed Australia’s capital cities overall had a net loss of 11,200 people in the September 2020 quarter from internal migration – the largest quarterly net loss on record.

Darwin, however, had a net gain of 164 people who came from other parts of the NT.

A survey of more than 1000 Australian office workers last year by software company Citrix found perceptions of cities were changing.

Only a third of respondents (33 per cent) now saw big city living as beneficial to their career opportunities, down from almost half (49 per cent) before the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

More than two in five (44 per cent) said they had either abandoned their city dwelling or planned to do so because they could now work remotely.

Citrix field chief technology officer for Asia Pacific and Japan Safi Obeidullah said remote work was here to stay in one form or another.

“The genie is out of the bottle now,” he said.

“We are seeing most people are looking to retain remote working as part of their working practice.

“It could be full time or hybrid (so) in some cases, don’t go too far, you may need to come into the office on a semi-regular basis so that’s something to keep in mind.”

Citrix field chief technology office for Asia Pacific and Japan Safi Obeidullah. Picture: Supplied

Australia’s highest median full-time salaries were in the ACT ($1650 a week) and Greater Perth ($1643) while the lowest medians were in Tasmania excluding Hobart ($1250) and Greater Adelaide ($1284).

Originally published as NT salaries revealed: What you should be earning