Average annual earnings for working Australians revealed as $92,000

Australia’s new average full time wage has been revealed - so where do you fit on the scale?

Despite the large figure, Australians who make under $92,000 a year are now considered below-average earners.

This comes as the latest earnings report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the average full-time worker makes $1769.80 a week, or $92,029.60 a year (pre-tax).

Once you factor in overtime, penalty rates, bonuses and commission, the average full-time weekly total earnings increases to $1835.20 a week. This raises the average before-tax annual wage to more than $95,000.

However, the average weekly earnings for all employers, including casual and part-time workers was $1344.70, or an annual wage of $69,924.40 a year before tax.

Although the average wage of $92,000 seems large, the year-on-year increases reflect an alarming issue with Australia’s wage growth. While Aussie full-time workers may be earning 2.9 per cent more than they were last year, the rate is just over a third of Australia’s inflation rate (Consumer Price Index) of 6.1 per cent.

On Wednesday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced that while annually, wages have grown 2.6 per cent on average, when compared against inflation, Australia’s real wage growth was “still going backwards, substantially”.

“This is the strongest wages growth since September 2014, but at the same time it’s the biggest fall in real wages since 1998,” he said.

Thursday’s ABS data also revealed that full-time workers in the private sector appeared to be earning less than those in the public sector. Mining also appeared to be the most well-paid sector (with an annual average salary of $140,478), followed by information media ($116,287.60) and telecommunications, financial and insurance services ($111,722), and professional, scientific and technical services ($108,258.80).

The highest average wages were also found in the ACT, with the average weekly earnings for full-time employees being $1983.70, or $103,152.40 on average. Conversely, workers in the Queensland had the lowest, earning a weekly wage of $1705.10.

Although the Albanese government has priorities increasing wages, inflation is expected to peak at 7.75 per cent by Christmas, which will increase cost-of-living pressures on already struggling households.

Previously speaking to news.com.au, University of Sydney business analytics expert Andrey Vasnev blamed stagnating wages as one of the key pressures affecting households struggling with increasing costs.

“Wages have stagnated for some time in Australia and it takes quite a while for them to catch up,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that consumers are already feeling the pinch and they will be the ones to suffer first.”

Stagnating wages in Australia have exacerbated the cost of living pinch. Picture: iStock.

Recent research from Transurban – one of Australia’s largest toll road providers – revealed that the biggest cost of living concern for most Aussies was around petrol costs. While this was something that resonated with all age groups, people from 18 to 59 years old ranked groceries as the second biggest concern, while those over 60s said they were more worried about electricity expenses.

Other big financial bugbears also included insurance premiums, rents and mortgage repayments.

Originally published as Average annual earnings for working Australians revealed as $92,000