Australia's Top 10 Highest Paying Careers

profchoongtoong on 24/04/2019 - 20:29
Last edited 24/04/2019 - 20:34 by 1 other user

2018 ATO statistics show the following to be the top 10 highest paying careers in the nation:

  1. Surgeons $393,467
  2. Anaesthetists $359,056
  3. Internal Medicine Specialists $291,140
  4. Financial Dealers $263,309
  5. Psychiatrists $211,024
  6. Other Medical Practitioners $199,590
  7. Judicial and Other Legal Professionals $198,219
  8. Mining Engineers $166,557
  9. Chief Executives and Managing Directors $158,249
  10. Engineering Managers $148,852

Reference: Australia's top 10 highest-earning occupations

Does anyone here work in any of these professions? What are your thoughts?

Education & Work

Comments

  • ranap on 24/04/2019 - 20:38
    +30

    Chief Executives and Managing Directors $158,249
    Is that per month? Else these are very poorly paid Chief Executives.

    • bloom on 24/04/2019 - 20:47
      +23

      Most small businesses or even some sole traders reckon they have a CEO or MD
      Typically earning peanuts or losing money, offsets the minority in big business

      • ranap on 24/04/2019 - 20:56

        Never realised that the sole traders/small businesses owners called themselves CEO/Managing Directors. I assumed they referred to themselves as Owners Or Chairman. I always thought of CEO/Managing Directors as salaried employees.

        • bloom on 24/04/2019 - 21:24
          +9

          Even the article says 940,000 businesses filed a tax return, 166,000 individuals referred to themselves as CEO.
          Average CEO only has 5 people under them haha

        • Ti-au on 26/04/2019 - 11:38
          +12

          Go look up instagram - all the insta models are "CEO of my own business". Employee count: 1.

        • thriftybunny on 27/04/2019 - 16:49
          +1

          Even Instagram influencers call themselves CEO, it's such a saturated title these days.

        • IVI on 21/07/2020 - 09:09

          Salary + Stock Options + Perks + Bonuses

          (What have I forgotten?)

      • Jalif on 25/04/2019 - 14:40
        +4

        Many CEOs have earn $1 in salary, and benefit other ways.

        • greatlamp on 26/04/2019 - 11:15
          +4

          CEO would know a thing about dodging tax

        • Ti-au on 26/04/2019 - 11:39
          -1

          No. "Many" is incorrect.

          1) this is not america (where there is a reason to do this).
          2) there is no reason to do this in Australia.

        • Toons on 26/04/2019 - 17:39
          +3

          We have a shareholder meeting where one of the items is to increase the non ex directors overall pay by half a mil a year. just a touch above CPI

          I know a whole bunch of people that would give the company a better return on investment namely the entire workforce if they used that for the grunts over people who attend a few meetings and nod when the CEO wants them to.

          The other problem is they can sit on quite a few boards so they aren't actually invested in the company's day to day so it's a joke really that they can sit for so many, which can easily take annual income for part time work to 11 mil.

          Well I say problem not for them

          @Bloom 5 direct I wouldn't disagree I'd say fairly spot on out of those 5 people there will be one accountable to the CEO only The secretary, the other four will head up divisions so 5 yes but can be ultimately responsible for 1000's

        • noshopping on 28/04/2019 - 20:18
          +2

          They do this in America because all their "real" wages comes from offloading shares.

          https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FB/insider-transactions
          Check Zukerberg share sales. This month alone he's paid himself $32,450,940 USD.
          He'll pay 15% tax or less (depending on how long he held).

          Don't have a public company? Well, you'll be paying personal income tax which is 37% if you earn over $500K USD

  • Hybroid on 24/04/2019 - 20:50
    +9

    Engineering Managers $148,852

    What? Senior Engineers make more than that.

    • psyren89 on 25/04/2019 - 00:22
      +2

      That's about right, isn't it? The manager is supposed to manage, they don't necessarily have to have the skills of the people they're managing.

      • Hybroid on 25/04/2019 - 00:28
        +5

        Not quite. Engineering Managers are usually Principal+ level engineers and have considerable responsibilities for design and construction activities. It's not a soft skills management job.

        Project Managers don't necessarily need to have the skills of the people they are managing, but those that do are usually more efficient/desirable and tend to earn even more than Engineering Managers based on their track records of delivering successfully.

    • sacah on 25/04/2019 - 19:39
      +1

      I'd guess the rest of Australia will be bringing the number down, I worked for a few companies in Toowoomba and Gold Coast before moving to Sydney, got an immediate 3x pay rise when I moved to Sydney.

      • IVI on 21/07/2020 - 09:12

        You gotta consider differences in housing + other costs in Sydney & its peers, across the planet

        • sacah on 21/07/2020 - 10:53

          Not as part of this discussion, it was just on the average number, not reasons behind the number variance.
          That said, talking about differences in living costs between Gold Coast and Sydney, we paid about $10k extra in rent, though we sold both cars and use public transport, so likely saved money there over 2 cars and driving everywhere in GC. I was getting an extra $80k, all other living costs were pretty much the same.

    • gezza90 on 26/04/2019 - 12:53
      +2

      Where i work (13,000 employees), engineering managers start at $174,000 package. Senior engineers earn between $115k-$165k depending on duration with organisation and their experience. The average pay in the organisation that I work for is probably around $140k. Graduates start at $71k + super.

      • Hybroid on 26/04/2019 - 20:00
        +1

        That sounds about right, although we tend to pay slightly higher across the board. It could be because majority are expats and market in high demand & short supply currently.

      • Shiny Mew on 26/04/2019 - 22:16
        +2

        Graduates with no experience as actual engineers earn over $70k pa out of university? Wow, I'd imagine their working hours would be pretty crazy given the high starting salary?

        • redfox1200 on 26/04/2019 - 23:13

          yep probably 38-42 hours a week

          • Belts on 27/04/2019 - 08:45
            +8

            @redfox1200: How…how is that crazy hours?

            • redfox1200 on 27/04/2019 - 11:57

              @Belts: its generally not crazy hours unless you work in a consultancy or for a small business

        • gezza90 on 26/04/2019 - 23:23
          +2

          Not going to disclose too much information but it's 35 hour weeks for grads. Anything above 35 hours, they can accrue hours and take a day off but there are conditions and limits on how much you can accrue.

          As a senior engineer, my min. is 38 hours/week but I usually end up doing 40-45 so that does cut my hourly rate a bit.

          • BadHorse on 26/04/2019 - 23:48

            @gezza90: Thats an amazing deal - I know a civil eng who started in 2017 on $57k + super, with about 40-45 hours straight off the bat!

          • Caped Baldy on 27/04/2019 - 00:39

            @gezza90: Sounds like Arup or one of the top tier eng companies.

          • Shiny Mew on 27/04/2019 - 11:31
            +1

            @gezza90: What the. They've got a way better deal than law grads. Once you go out after your 5-7 years of uni (it's pretty damn hard to stand out without doing a double degree or postgrad) and do your additional training to practice (PLT for circa 10k), if you then are lucky enough to find a job you're usually on 50k pa working 55-65 hours a week. Yet high school students still choose law, crazy.

      • snynx on 27/04/2019 - 23:04

        Which engineering field is this?

        • gezza90 on 27/04/2019 - 23:57

          All fields but they're more discipline based for example, control systems engineer, electrical engineer, rolling stock engineer, safety assurance engineer, systems engineer, bridge engineer, telecommunications engineer etc.

          See I studied civil engineering and I'm in systems engineering. I mainly specialise in system architecture, requirements, verification/validation and concept design. There's a fair portion of engineers that don't do exactly what they studies. I guess it depends on the industry they end up in? Be it oil and gas, defence, transport, built infrastructure

      • IVI on 21/07/2020 - 09:14

        Super % varies (upward), with "package" value.

    • kaleidoscope on 27/04/2019 - 06:30

      depends on company… my employment agency pays managers more than senior devs. client sites i work do otherwise.

  • Masterpupil on 24/04/2019 - 21:01
    +16

    I work in one of these, but I'm quite junior in relative terms so make nothing like what is suggested. Nor do many people I know.
    I have friends that are medical specialists and they are cashed but they have done study basically up to the age of 35 and they're the smartest people I know. They deserve it.

      • schwinn on 26/04/2019 - 17:21
        +13

        Looks like PeopleHateU

        • Ti-au on 26/04/2019 - 17:45
          -5

          I tried to change it to IHateU but only allowed one change every 12 months….

          as for people hating me… thats fine as I hate people.

          Most people don't know what they are talking about anyway and just sprout their opinion (may or may not inc. me).

      • [Deactivated] on 26/04/2019 - 17:52
        -1

        Ahh, another socialist ladies and gentleman. Pity.

        • Ti-au on 26/04/2019 - 18:19
          -1

          Actually we have had this debate already in another forum post, where I detailed training, education costs and wage 'uplift' (for want of a better work) compared to average wages

          First up lets get something straight - they (Surgeons) are operating via an organisation that is a monopoly (RCS), restricting supply via accreditation and training.

          So its certainly NOT the free market or capitalism. In fact when there is a near monopoly many Governments attempt to break them up (standard oil, AT&T, etc). Because of their monopoly they can charge higher wage, etc. I don't begrudge Doctors for doing this. In fact in many a monopoly can be useful, but these days RCS and others are just a basic attempt to restrict supply and fight for Drs interests (even against patients interest).

          So what we have is basic corporatism. Big Biz, Big Unions & Big Organisations using their power to get what they want.

          I have no idea how that is socialism and so my last point in the previous post is proven.

          • MessyG on 26/04/2019 - 20:55
            +29

            @Ti-au: You know it's not about the training and education costs, which are huge. It's not even about the years spent to achieve that wage (which really is more like the wage for senior surgeons in their 50s), it's about what you go through to get there. I'm not a surgeon but I've done my time and let me explain a little.

            It's the times when you're on-call for a week at a time. Meaning that you do your day job (or stay back late if you get stuck operating), you go home (if you're lucky), and then the phone rings. And rings. And rings. If you're lucky, you can manage the problems over the phone, but most of the time you can't. Most of the time you get called in - to see patients or operate on patients. And when you finish, at 2am or 5am or 6am - back you go at 8am to keep working. At 2am you're not just 'working'. You're cutting someone open, you've got your hands in them, trying to put them back together, stop them from dying, stop them from being catastrophically disabled. Sometimes, you manage that. But so many times you don't. All that time spent 'training', is time spent watching a young person die in front of you because you couldn't stop the tide of their injuries. And after extricating yourself from your blood-soaked clothes, you're sitting down, hungry and tired and not having peed in about 12 hours, with a Mum or a Dad or sister or brother or friend and delivering the worst news of their life. And you do this, over and over and over and over for. years. You change job every few months. Different type of medicine or surgery, same shit. Weeks on-call. Max 3 hours sleep a night. Bosses who don't care because 'back in their day'. Workforce who care less. And bed management constantly trying to push your patients out even when they're sick.
            You help people. You console people. You watch people in their absolute worst times. You get assaulted, vomited on, peed on, god-knows what on. And yes emergency services do too but their job is very very defined. They are not required to do the hours we do. They are not required to learn the thousands of drugs we are. They are not required to return daily to the same patients, to face the consequences of our actions. We can't have a bad day because we might kill someone. The sleep deprivation can't get us because we might kill someone. And the rising tide of patients, more and more year after year, while the hospitals try to spend less and less, squeeze more hours out of us, demand us to perform, know everything, be everyone from technically excellent, to be warm and sensitive to strangers even when we've barely got anything left in the tank for our families, to make decisions for the nurses and allied health, to teach residents, do research projects, do endless presentations on all the diseases, do training requirements…and all of what I've just written doesn't even begin to describe it.

            Yes, RACS have a monopoly in some areas but to say surgeons on the whole don't deserve what they earn is so disingenuous. If you survive the training to get to that point, you bloody earned it. I WANT my surgeon to get paid. They didn't get to that kind of money without serious resilience, excellence, and technical proficiency. I mentioned above people will fork out $400 for a couple of hours at the hairdresser but not even want to pay their GP $20 over the Medicare rebate, let alone a surgical out of pocket fee. Unbelievable.

            • qvinto on 19/07/2020 - 13:57
              +1

              @MessyG: Why not allow more people to be trained as surgsoens then? Wouldn't the higher supply put the pressure off the ridiculous working hours? There are limits imposed on how many surgeons can be in the system which creates long working hours and huge salaries

  • Diji1 on 24/04/2019 - 21:03
    +17

    They've chosen to provide average rather than median figures.

    The problem with averages is they get dragged around by small numbers of uncommon values.

    So for example median national income 44K, average national income 65K.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 24/04/2019 - 21:32

      Read my comment it was meant for you clicked on the wrong reply

    • blitz on 24/04/2019 - 21:37
      +12

      American hospitals are like Star Trek.

      Nah.

      They are fricking amazing.

      Nah.

      The standard of care over there is decades ahead.

      Oh dear me, no.

      All the critics have never even been in an American hospital.

      Nah.

      American hospitals are, wow. They are like SciFi. Seriously.

      Nah. Nah. And nah.

      • Baysew on 24/04/2019 - 22:04
        +9

        American hospitals are like Star Trek.

        Well the US hospitals charge like the Ferengi.

      • Ti-au on 26/04/2019 - 11:44
        -4

        So john hopkins & Mayo hospitals aren't decades ahead?

        • MessyG on 26/04/2019 - 20:26
          +6

          No they are not decades ahead. They're excellent centres and have their own specialty areas, but they're not the only ones in the world.

    • captainandg on 24/04/2019 - 21:49
      +31

      As an Australian doctor who has been involved in the US healthcare system, I can confidently say you have absolutely no idea what you're on about. I don't know if you're deliberately trolling or cognitively impaired, but practically every sentence you wrote is patently false. Doctors earning high incomes are universally in private practice, as full-time public sector doctors are paid a salary by the Department of Health. Award rates (salaries) are in the public domain and are negotiated between the Department of Health and the Australian Medical Association.
      As for your bullshit remark about "mis-prescribing medicines" being the "third highest cause of death in the country", you are totally wrong. ABS cause of death 2017:

      • EightImmortals on 25/04/2019 - 08:25
        -2

        I think he was referring to U.S data.

        https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading…

        I also read a report recently where about 120 thousand people a year (again i the U.S.) die from being given the right medication in the right doses too. Well worth looking into for anyone who cares. Otherwise I don't have the figures for Australia but I suspect it would proportionate to the population?

        Edit, these guys claim 18000 deaths per year for Australia but admit that proper data isn't being collected by the ABS. "If you think we are being alarmist, consider this: Medical error is totally ignored as a cause of death by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It should be at least second from the top."

        https://www.medicalerroraustralia.com/observations/18000-plu…

        edit#2 also found this https://besthealth.com.au/drugs-and-medical-errors-killing-o…

        In a recent emailed response to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Ron Law, Executive Director of the NNFA, in New Zealand and member of the New Zealand Ministry of Health Working Group advising on medical error, offered some enlightening information on deaths caused by drugs and medical errors.

        He notes the prevalence of deaths from medical errors and also from properly researched and prescribed medications in Australia and New Zealand, which serves as a reminder to us that the US is not alone in having this problem.

        He cites the following statistics and facts:

        Official Australian government reports reveal that preventable medical error in hospitals is responsible for 11% of all deaths in Australia.(1, 2), which is about 1 of every 9 deaths. If deaths from properly researched, properly registered, properly prescribed and properly used drugs were added along with preventable deaths due to private practice it comes to a staggering 19%, which is almost 1 of every 5 deaths.

        New Zealand figures are very similar.

        According to Mr. Law: “Put another way, the equivalent of New Zealand’s second largest city (Christchurch) has been killed by preventable medical error and deaths from properly researched, properly registered, properly prescribed and properly used drugs in Australasia in the past decade and its biggest city Auckland either killed or permanently maimed.

        Put another way, more than 5 million people have been killed by Western medical practice in the past decade (Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, and NZ) and 20 million killed or permanently maimed.

        More at the link.

        edit #3 Here's a pubmed article that seem to say the problem is worse here than it is in the U.S. in some respects. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11079217

        Try not to shoot the messenger. :)

        • MessyG on 26/04/2019 - 20:42
          +10

          I think the messenger needs to learn to be a bit more discerning when they cherrypick the Internet.

          First Australian article quoted re: 18,000 deaths:
          1. The number was quoted in 1995.
          2. The number was 'extrapolated' from a 'statistically valid sample of 14,179 hospital admissions'. You can't extrapolate deaths that haven't happened, these numbers fluctuate wildly.

          Second (Mercola article ffs) that you've quoted verbatim:
          1. The majority of the information in that article is referenced to an article that doesn't actually exist. So you can say whatever you like on the Internet and clearly non-discerning people like yourself will just eat it up.

          Finally, the pubmed article.
          1. Mate you might want to look up the difference between adverse event (AE) and iatrogenic fatality ;)

          Full disclosure - I'm a public hospital doctor. And yes fatalities related to iatrogenic injury do occur. They are rare, and they are awful and when they do happen, they are investigated to the nth degree. We do long root cause analyses for these, and if there is a death involved, the coroner investigates. This involves taking every single note, every single test result, and at times, interviewing everyone involved too. Not all coroners cases are reported to the general public, not because we're evil and secretive but because usually the families don't want it in the media. The sheer number of people involved in a single inpatients care, not just doctor, but nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, occupational therapists and so on and so on mean you can't really demonise the system this way. There's a LOT of people caring for a person, and the vast majority of them do it because they want to help people. So you can sit there, dissociated from people and humanity and the systems in which we function, or, instead of posting silly stuff like this, you can think about getting a job in a hospital and coming and seeing for yourself.

    • Amaris on 24/04/2019 - 21:55
      +1

      Dick the troll!

    • spackbace on 24/04/2019 - 21:59
      +7

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/7180611/redir

      dickmojo on 18/04/2019 - 19:56

      I've changed industries every ~6 years. I started off as a landscaper and nursery worker (plants, not kids) from age 18~24, then I was an acupuncturist and massage therapist from 25~31, and then I was in the navy for 6 years, and now at 37 I've just left the navy and started doing tech support for a cybersecurity company. So not every 4 years, but not that far off it.

      Not that you've worked in the medical field to be able to judge…

      • p1 ama on 25/04/2019 - 00:05
        +7

        I was an acupuncturist and massage therapist from 25~31

        That disqualifies you from saying anything about the medical field in general.

          • chumlee on 25/04/2019 - 10:55
            +3

            @Gamer Dad Reviews: Haha

            You remind me of Alan off Two and a half men.

            Alan thought he was a medical professional too but everyone laughed at him.

            Acupuncture lol. Anyone can do acupuncture, just follow youtube videos

          • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 15:49
            +7

            @Gamer Dad Reviews: So… with your limited understanding of science and complete lack thereof of medicine, you're under the belief that behind the doors of medicine (which you didn't make the cut to get in, don't forget that. Kid yourself into thinking it is a choice you're not a doctor) is the same level of knowledge as yours.

            Dunning-Kruger effect.

            Categorically you.

          • p1 ama on 25/04/2019 - 22:09
            +3

            @Gamer Dad Reviews:

            It's only really weirdo atheist skeptic type losers who have a problem with it.

            What does being atheist have to do with anything?

    • Wystri Warrick on 25/04/2019 - 07:01
      +3

      What the hell have you been smoking?

    • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 15:45
      +5

      So…

      Doctors are stupid.

      Doctors get paid too much.

      You can do a better job.

      Why aren't you a doctor?

    • smartazz104 on 26/04/2019 - 15:49

      No where in your rambling bullshit post did you even start to make shred of sense. Let me guess, you have a low paying job due to being an individual of limited intelligence. Acupuncture, ha.

    • Dreamcast on 26/04/2019 - 18:57

      Definitely a contender for douche bag of the year.

    • MessyG on 26/04/2019 - 20:23
      +5

      Are you like a bot created from alt-right American Twitter bots? Like seriously every line you've written reads like a crazed nazi guy living in his Mums basement.

      1. We are not a socialist country. Like, at all. We're a democracy. Our governing party is not socialist. Labor is not even socialist, they're centre left! The Aus socialist party is socialist and they have buckleys hope of getting in here.
      2. The success rate of self-diagnosis on Google is around 30-40%, your statement is just wrong.
      3. The third highest cause of death in Australia is cerebrovascular disease or stroke (https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/life-expectancy-death/deaths…). Again, plain wrong.
      4. People pay their hairdresser who did a short training course $400 for a couple of hours to get their hair cut and dyed. Doctors go to medical school for 4-6 years, train for a further 8-10 years, experience some of the worst kind of warzone-level vicarious trauma at times and you reckon they're paid too much? No. Wrong.
      5. Socialism doesn't raise costs. Inflation does.
      6. American hospitals are amazing because their healthcare model is different. User pays. Government doesn't negotiate drug prices on peoples behalf, insurer and pharma companies negotiate, and basically set their own prices. So yay, pretty hospital, enjoy the mortgage-level of debt.
      7. Everyone who has a job is covered. So what happens when parents are in a car accident, through no fault of their own and the insurance only covers them for certain things? Some insurers don't cover you for heart transplants. What happens to their kids? What happens to the frail elderly who can't work?

      Honestly mate you should be careful what you wish for, because what you're wishing for is an incredibly dystopian system that for dollars spent, has some of the worst outcomes in the developed world. Guess which ones have some of the best? The NHS (UK), and Australia. You get cancer in the US, your insurer might cover traditional therapy (based off how cheap your employer is), but not the newer antibody based drugs - so you might get 6 months of life instead of 10 years.

      I can see you're incredibly suspicious of a society that supports the health of it's people and I find that so interesting. How did you come to feel so disconnected from the world and your fellow man?

  • [Deactivated] on 24/04/2019 - 21:11
    +2

    I'm surprised mining engineers make so little. I have friends who don't have a degree and make more than that in mining.

    • klendestined on 25/04/2019 - 06:39
      +9

      Howdy Seano, mining engineer here. I suspect that the 'low salary' is due to the fact that our position title changes as we get some way into our careers so the statistics don't show the earnings for the mid-later stages of your career which will be skewing salaries down. Our titles become fairly specific statutory positions we hold later in the career (Registered Manager / Underground Mine Manager / Quarry Manager etc.) With limited people holding these positions they likely don't make the cut for statistical significance in lists like these.

      • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 08:36
        +2

        thanks for the reply.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 24/04/2019 - 21:17
    +4

    About a 100,000 ppl in the USA die because they don't have adequate access to health care every year so iI don't what you are smoking….

    I generally agree the US does things better then us but health for average and poor people is shit

    If you have top insurance (i.e. Are rich) it is obviously better the Australias system… but the Doctors/Surgeons that work at the top level in the states make 20-100x more then doctors and surgeons here in Australia so your point is mute.

    Also Medical school can run it a bill of around 120k+ on top of that the insurance for some doctors can be over 20k a year an obstruction working in private practice can be paying over 100k just for idementy insurance.

    You have no idea what you are on about our doctors and health professionals including nurses are criminaly underpaid.

    If you have a problem with your go it is probably because he is bulk billing in which they get $32.50 per comsult in which about a 3rd of that goes to the clinic owner so if you expect them to spend more then 5mins with you then go to a gp that charges a gap….

    Get your facts straight

    • [Deactivated] on 24/04/2019 - 21:21
      +8

      I think your replying to the wrong thread

      • Trying2SaveABuck on 24/04/2019 - 21:26
        +1

        My bad clicked on the wrong comment - was meant for dickmojo

      • neb2101 on 25/04/2019 - 00:13
        -2

        *you're

    • Wystri Warrick on 25/04/2019 - 07:05

      Well said.

  • Cheap Steve on 24/04/2019 - 21:56
    +32

    Only 2 professions above the Ozbargain average $300k a year wage.

    Lot a surgeons on this forum!!!

    • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 08:38
      +2

      I need my shoulder (rotator cuff) done - can anyone do me a deal?

      • MessyG on 26/04/2019 - 21:08
        +1

        Shop around!!! The newly fellowed (ie younger) ones are just as good and lots cheaper!

        • [Deactivated] on 26/04/2019 - 21:45

          I was joking, I don't need any work done at the moment. I have had my shoulder done twice but an older experienced surgeon (he is professor and lectures as well), first in 2004, I was kinda surprised to see he had not retired when I needed some more work done in 2016. Both times were fully covered by HBF.

    • TheCutter on 28/04/2019 - 09:11

      The party is over in medicine for several reasons.

      1. Private health is eating itself by becoming more expensive than people can afford and a minority of doctors are killing the golden goose by asking big gaps. Outside of Sydney gaps are rare.
        Why is it getting more expensive? Well I got a note from an 85 yr old saying she had just got her 4th hip replacement.
        At about 80G a time putting 4 hips in the unproductive elderly is sucking us all dry.

      2. Medicare is becoming a vote winner with people. In the UK the party that spends the most on the health service wins and that is coming here. With medicare expanding private will go to about 20% uptake i suspect rather than the current 45%.

      3. Doctors themselves cant be bothered. I make a lot of money but its draining and too intense in the private sector where you are whole responsible for every little issue that happens with sometimes hard to please patients. One of my kids gets panic attacks when he hears my car start in the middle of the night to go in to the hospital. i'm sick of being an absentee father and am reducing my workload through choice.
        I'm old school with a hard work ethic - the new generation want a life and a salaried medicare job suits them more.

      I dont include the increased numbers of doctors being trained in this reduction in doctors pay prediction.
      this is because there are limited training numbers in surgery - even now they are barely trained when coming out so if you think there will be lots more surgeons in the future then ask what numbers will they have done?

  • toblerone21 on 24/04/2019 - 22:01

    doesn't the average AFL player earn 370 grand a year?

    • WreckTangle on 24/04/2019 - 23:12

      It gets expensive paying for fake tans and manicures

    • [Deactivated] on 24/04/2019 - 23:28

      Technically NBA player would be higher than those listed.

      • toblerone21 on 24/04/2019 - 23:48

        didn't know the NBA is played in Australia? The NBL is and the average wage is $136'000, which is pretty poor when even A-League players are on $182'000 a year.

        AFL will have the highest average wage as a sportsperson, followed by NRl players

        • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 00:09
          +2

          Where does it say within Australia? It's according to the ATO and says nothing about being a resident for taxation purposes, so your sarcasm is an airball. Plenty of Australian mine engineers work outside our territorial waters. None of Australia's top earning sportmen play within Australia yet many still lodge tax returns here. Aaron Baddeley has made more than US$22 mill! They only have to lodge a tax return with foreign earnings to make this list. The 3 point arcs are different for the NBL so it's a different game.

          Greg Norman/golf course designer is another occupation earning higher than this list. International TV decluttering specialist. Davis Cup Captain. Chase chaser. Antidiscrimination commissioner. Royal commission commissioner. FIA approved Formula 1 driver. Ombudsman. Wildlife wunderkind presenter.

          PS I do give you full points for using the apostrophe as a thousand separator. That's really novel.

          • toblerone21 on 25/04/2019 - 01:08

            @[Deactivated]: Don't know why you're getting on your high horse? Clearly says "ATO statistics show the following to be the top 10 highest paying careers in the nation" - "technically" the NBA isn't played in our nation, is it?

            • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 01:12
              -2

              @toblerone21: Do you think all Australian mines are in Australia? The NBA doesn't have to be in Australia for a player to lodge a tax return of the 16 million stated in the story. Andy Thomas was a space shuttle astronaut yet Australia had no space program and the thermosphere isn't in Australia. Andrew Bogut legally has to lodge an Australian tax return for 2018/19. Ben Simmons, we don't know but probably will. Rebel Wilson films most of her films outside Australia. She still has to lodge a local tax return for her earnings here.

              About your high horse statement, why did you change from being unsure about the NBA being in Australia to being sure that it wasn't? Was that just a rhetorical pantomime? (Funnily enough there were NBL vs NBA games in 2018.)

              • whooah1979 on 25/04/2019 - 06:47

                @[Deactivated]: Rebel Wilson resides in California which may mean that her accountant may tick the RNN or FRNN box.

                • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 08:48

                  @whooah1979: She still had the Bauer Media case, donation and appealed judgement here.

                • mousie on 26/04/2019 - 18:26

                  @whooah1979: Does she have her own postcode?

              • toblerone21 on 25/04/2019 - 12:07
                +1

                @[Deactivated]: The article is clearly about Australian occupations, not overseas jobs. Again your last comment falls short of mark, how is a NBA team V a Aussie team considered a NBA game?

                That's like saying the English Premier League has been played here because Chelsea came over the other year there, no it's called a pre-season friendly.

                • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 12:16

                  @toblerone21: The article is about occupations listed in the 16 million tax returns submitted. It says nothing about the location of those occupations. Many pilots perform the majority of their jobs outside Australian airspace. Foreign diplomats might lodge a tax return even though they reside in a foreign embassy here. Given that goat farmer, not just farmer is listed as an example, NBA player is just as valid as a career definition.

                  Only you suggested that the NBA vs NBL games were NBA games. I didn't. You raise EPL. Yes, Australian EPL stars lodging Australian tax returns should probably be on this high earning list. All it takes is to lodge a tax return with a high income and EPL player in the job declaration and they don't have to be a resident for tax purposes.

                  You didn't answer the question about why you changed your stance from acting confused to quite sure. Why was that?

                  • toblerone21 on 25/04/2019 - 12:43

                    @[Deactivated]: quote me as I don't understand where I changed my mind? I'm confused at the suggestion of an NBA player being on a list called 'Australia's top 10 highest paying jobs'

                    It's not 'highest paid overseas jobs for Australians'. The highest average sports playing career IN AUSTRALIA has to be in the AFL. I only asked a question as to why it wasn't on that list which still hasn't been answered.

                    • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 12:45

                      @toblerone21: "didn't know the NBA is played in Australia?"

                      vs

                      "NBA isn't played in our nation"

                      • toblerone21 on 25/04/2019 - 12:58

                        @[Deactivated]: sarcasm sir, Have a good day!

                        • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 13:05

                          @toblerone21: Were you trying to be sarcastic when you measured salaries in feet?

                          I think your funniest moment was thinking all Australian mine engineers and engineering managers work on projects inside Australia. You might want to look at Qatar's stadium constructions, Dubai and even the BHP dam collapse in Brazil.

                          • toblerone21 on 25/04/2019 - 14:40
                            +1

                            @[Deactivated]: You really are a strange man, why do you keep re-editing and adding more comments on your post trying to make yourself look smart? Clearly the NBA isn't played in Australia, so why should it be included in this list?

                            Once again, have a good day! I'll let you get the last word in since that's all you wanted :)

        • bloom on 25/04/2019 - 14:58

          You muppets actually think people declare their occupation as "AFL player" or "NBA player"?
          It's called athlete / sportsman / etc and majority earn stuff all, do it for the enjoyment not money

          • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 15:06

            @bloom: Says goat farmer in the story, if you read it, Gonzo. That's down to genus.

          • toblerone21 on 25/04/2019 - 15:12

            @bloom: did you just arrive in a time machine from 30 years ago?

    • [Deactivated] on 26/04/2019 - 21:46
      +1

      A couple of years ago I read that the standard rookie deal is about $140k. Of course the average player makes more than that.

    • Zachary on 28/04/2019 - 23:29

      …shit maybe I should play some footy instead…..seems pretty easy, just get the ball, spear tackle your opponents if need be to get the ball off them and kick it in the goals!

  • Gandalf the Thrifty on 24/04/2019 - 22:38
    +3

    IT contractors, electricians & plumbers should all be on this list, unless they have income hidden away in company structures instead of earning salary.

    This list from 2016 seems to indicate much higher wages when break surgeons up into specialised areas.

    • salmon123 on 24/04/2019 - 23:25
      +1

      IT contractors, electricians & plumbers should all be on this list, unless they have income hidden away in company structures instead of earning salary.

      Lol - surgeons have have companies and trusts too hide away their "earnings". The average of 393k is just what they show on their tax return (my guess is just enough to put a few kids through private school).

      Just as a rough example, a private ObGyn charges like 5k (in Sydney) for a delivery - I'm guessing that's bucketed into #3 291k (?). To make that the doctor would only need to have 1 delivery per-week. Do you think the average ObGyn is only working 1 day a week? (Yeah, I know my example is a bit extreme, but you get the idea).

      • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 00:17
        +6

        Have you seen an ObGyn insurance renewal statement?

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