Melbourne construction workers among highest paid in the world: Check out average, hourly wage

A new report shows just how highly Melbourne construction workers are paid compared to others around the world, with our tradies on this eye-watering, average wage.

Construction sector workers earn an average of $124 per hour in Victoria, new data shows. Picture: Sarah Matray

The average hourly wage across the construction sector in Melbourne is $124 – the seventh highest of anywhere in the world.

The whopping labour rates, which are beaten only by four US cities and two Swiss cities, are higher than other capitals in Australia and work out to be $243,000 over a year for those working 38-hour weeks.

The figures are contained in an international construction sector survey by consultants Turner & Townsend that assesses labour market conditions in 88 markets across the world.

Senior construction sources said the figures are part of the picture of why major infrastructure is now so expensive to build in Victoria.

But the Australian Workers’ Union said the fact Victoria’s wages were higher than other parts of the country and most of the world was a badge of honour.

Construction industry insiders say people holding signs on mega projects could earn up to $110,000 per year. Picture: David Crosling

While Melbourne’s wage rates far outstrip Sydney and Perth, the overall cost of building here is less, according to the report.

Covid-19 has wreaked havoc across the construction sector, with skills shortages contributing to an explosion in labour costs.

Across Australia and New Zealand there has been a 6.5 per cent increase over 12 months, but a whopping 28 per cent increase in labour costs since 2019.

“The loss of skilled migration during 2020-21 had a considerable impact on the availability of construction labour in these markets, which has subsequently pushed up labour costs, making it the second most expensive region for construction labour,” the report says.

Some high-skilled jobs are now commanding eye-watering pay packets in Australia, with the poaching of specialist engineers and project managers common along the eastern seaboard.

But one senior source at a top tier building firm in Australia said even people holding stop signs on mega projects could earn $110,000 a year.

They said electricians were commanding rates equivalent of $240,000 a year, and carpenters $220,000, which was leading to “astronomical” costs across mega builds.

“The reason those wages are exponentially higher here and in those US cities is because they are highly unionised – the (International Brotherhood of) Teamsters,” they said.

The Turner & Townsend report says Group 1 trades – such as plumbers and electricians – earn an average $130AUD in Victoria compared to $110 in Sydney.

Victoria’s construction industry is one of Australia’s most unionised states. Picture: David Caird

State secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, Ben Davis, said the industrial landscape in Victorian meant interstate counterparts earned less.

“Wage rates are always higher in Victoria, it’s a unionised state,” he said.

“Unions are strong and there’s a history of assertive action.”