Salaries of Qld’s top judges revealed after $18k pay increase

The annual salaries of Queensland’s top judges have surged an average of $18,000 a year amid the latest health pay rise, with the state’s Chief Justice now on a whopping $580k-plus a year.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Helen Bowskill’s total remuneration has increased to $585,980. (AAP Image/Darren England)

The annual salaries of Queensland’s top judges have surged an average of $18,000 a year amid the latest health pay rise.

And the pay bumps mean a District Court Judge now draws the same salary as the state’s Premier.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Helen Bowskill’s total remuneration – which includes learning and conference allowances — has increased to $585,980.

This is up nearly $20,000 from a year ago.

District Court Chief Judge Brian Devereaux SC, Land Court President Peta Stilgoe OAM, and about 28 other Supreme Court judges will now be paid $517,650 a year, up from $500,140.

A District Court Judge will draw a salary of $465,885 — a figure on par with Premier David Crisafulli’s annual salary of $462,450.

A Magistrate’s annual remuneration has been pegged at $407,391.

The new judicial salaries were announced on December 6, 2024 but are considered effective from July this year.

In 2007, Queensland passed laws which introduced a new system creating a statutory link between the remuneration of a Federal Court judge and a Queensland Supreme Court judge.

Wages for other judicial officers are benchmarked against the amount received by Supreme Court judges.

The wage increases of the state’s judicial officer ranged between 3.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent — slightly lower than the 4 per cent across-the-board increase for 2023.