The job that pays more than $200,000, no qualifications required

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Train and air traffic controllers, and electrical linesworkers are earning up to three times the typical Australian wage, surprising new data reveals.

The blue collar roles fall just outside the top-20 highest paid professions, dominated by legal and medical specialists – and politicians.

The Australian Taxation Office data showed the number one occupation was judge with a median salary of $408,151, including both full-time and part-time workers.

It was followed by magistrate at $318,954, emergency medicine specialist at $248,142, cardiothoracic surgeon at $232,808 and paediatric surgeon at $228,263.

A typical member of parliament earned $207,650 in the 2019-20 financial year, making it the only job in the top 19 that did not require at least seven years of post-school study.

Nightclub DJs are among the lowest earners in Australia, unlike members of parliament. Picture: Supplied

In fact, some MPs have no formal qualifications at all, including National Party leader David Littleproud.

And many earn well-above the average MP, including the Prime Minister whose salary is more than half a million dollars.

MPs recorded the 12th highest median salary of the 1153 occupational categories listed by the ATO.

By comparison, the typical Australian earned $53,627.

Recruitment, Consulting & Staffing Association (RCSA) head of advocacy Brooke Lord said professions with specialty skills tended to attract higher wages and the tight labour market of the past 12 months meant most now earned even more than the ATO figures showed.

“Since Covid hit, specialist IT services have been in extraordinary demand, for example,” Ms Lord said.

“One member (hiring for a specialist IT role) told us they have seen five years’ wages growth in a six-month period.”

The Australian Bureau of Statistics showed wages had increased on average 2.4 per cent in the year to the March quarter, but Ms Lord said the rate was higher among people who had changed job.

“There are more jobs than people at the minute,” she said.

“There are recruiters that have never seen a market tighter than this one and they have been in the industry 35 years.”

Medical specialists dominate the top-paid occupations. Picture: iStock.

Tradies also featured among the six-figure salaries in the ATO data.

These included electrical linesworkers with a median pay packet of $121,482, railway signal operators with $114,359 and lift mechanics with $112,859.

Australia’s highest-paid apprentices, meanwhile, were training to become power generation plant operators ($68,435), miners ($61,937) and security and correctional services personnel ($61,003).

WorldSkills Australia chief executive Trevor Schwenke said there were still misconceptions around the value of choosing a trade qualification.

WorldSkills Australia’s Trevor Schwenke said there were lots of benefits to doing a trade. Picture: Supplied

“Completing a trade provides you multiple career path opportunities, including building a significant business, and you are providing a service that can have such a big impact on people’s lives,” Mr Schwenke said.
People interested in finding out more about vocational careers can visit The WorldSkills Australia National Championships and Skills Show, running in Melbourne, August 17-19, 2023.

At the other end of the wage spectrum, some of Australia’s lowest median salaries were recorded for nightclub DJs ($1911), leaflet deliverers ($5089) and referees ($7362) – although these occupations often had fewer opportunities for full-time employment.

View the full list online to see how your occupation compares.