MEDIA RELEASE
20 December 2012	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra Time)	217/2012

In 2009-10, nearly 9.8 million Australians derived income from wages and salaries, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This made up 81 per cent of all income reported by Australian taxpayers.

ABS Director of the Rural and Regional National Statistics Centre, Lisa Conolly, said the Wage and Salary Earner Statistics for Small Areas publication uses data from the Australian Taxation Office to develop a socio-economic and demographic picture of Australia's wage and salary earners.

"While average wage and salary income in Australia was $48,907, males recorded a higher average of $58,813 compared with $38,255 for females", Ms Conolly said.

"Younger people have a lower average wage and salary income. In Australia, persons aged 15-34 recorded an average of $37,956 compared with the overall level of $48,907.

"Younger people in the Australian Capital Territory ($43,218) and Western Australia ($41,586) recorded the highest average wage and salary incomes. Conversely, Tasmania and South Australia had the lowest averages for 15-34 year olds.

"In 2009-10, Managers recorded the highest average wage and salary income of $75,749, followed by Professionals with $66,196 and Technicians and Trades Workers with $51,835.

"Of all occupations, Sales workers had the lowest income with a national average of $29,710. This varied from $31,847 in the Northern Territory down to $26,573 in Tasmania", Ms Conolly said. (More details for occupations are shown in Table 1, below).

"Taking a regional view, Sydney provided nine out of Australia's top ten regions for the highest average wage and salary income.

"Mosman was ranked first, recording an average of $111,048, well above the national average of $48,907. Next ranked were Woollahra ($93,530), Hunters Hill - Woolwich ($91,879), Double Bay - Bellevue Hill ($91,841), Willoughby - Castle Cove - Northbridge ($91,605), Balmain ($90,548) and Lindfield - Roseville ($89,585). City Beach ($86,612) in Greater Perth was the only region outside of Sydney to feature in the top ten," Ms Conolly said.

Further information can be found in Wage and Salary Earner Statistics for Small Areas, 2009-10 (cat no. 5673.0.55.003) available for free download from the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au).

Media note:
When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.


Table 1. AVERAGE WAGE AND SALARY INCOME BY OCCUPATION, AUSTRALIA, 2009-10

Region	Managers	Profession- als	Technic- ians and Trades Workers	Community and Personal Services Workers	Clerical and Admin- istrative Workers	Sales Workers	Machinery Operators and Drivers	Labourers	Total
	$	$	$	$	$	$	$	$	$
New South Wales	82 116	68 968	49 587	34 414	41 215	30 758	50 579	31 032	50 943
Greater Sydney	88 918	72 320	49 032	34 878	43 284	33 174	46 179	31 106	54 354
Rest of NSW	61 876	60 145	50 519	33 713	36 468	26 507	56 883	31 021	43 992
Victoria	74 169	62 035	48 604	31 915	39 716	29 907	45 969	31 875	47 363
Greater Melbourne	78 436	64 196	48 732	32 071	41 057	31 108	45 092	32 015	49 342
Rest of Victoria	55 971	53 258	48 252	31 416	34 569	25 969	48 189	31 629	40 786
Queensland	68 023	66 373	53 382	32 556	38 754	28 913	54 422	31 868	47 054
Greater Brisbane	75 331	69 283	51 404	32 884	41 129	30 063	46 551	31 768	49 251
Rest of Queensland	59 769	62 407	54 998	32 245	36 024	27 870	60 544	31 953	44 835
South Australia	66 168	60 785	48 247	32 880	39 106	27 708	46 877	29 999	44 141
Greater Adelaide	68 939	62 100	47 899	33 388	40 077	28 333	44 742	29 743	45 357
Rest of South Australia	53 518	52 987	49 404	31 003	34 261	25 320	51 842	30 505	39 497
Western Australia	79 151	72 099	63 276	33 500	41 558	30 336	63 142	36 322	53 227
Greater Perth	82 677	73 558	61 422	33 636	42 238	30 723	59 555	35 993	53 864
Rest of WA	62 088	62 928	69 377	32 948	37 967	28 472	71 278	36 706	50 235
Tasmania	59 103	59 469	46 061	31 515	36 584	26 573	45 308	29 893	41 673
Greater Hobart	63 407	61 526	45 497	33 244	38 585	27 361	41 424	28 576	43 863
Rest of Tasmania	54 880	57 185	46 474	30 086	34 602	25 967	46 980	30 537	39 898
Northern Territory	70 201	64 906	59 367	42 335	43 894	31 847	56 670	31 521	50 746
Greater Darwin	74 528	68 111	59 102	46 315	45 041	32 695	55 017	33 519	53 055
Rest of NT	57 423	60 830	59 528	37 981	42 097	28 883	57 228	29 612	46 606
Australian Capital Territory	88 276	70 928	50 448	36 123	50 804	26 710	44 060	28 264	57 749
Australia (a)	75 749	66 196	51 835	33 272	40 403	29 710	51 623	31 819	48 907
(a) Includes Other territories, and regions and occupations 'unknown'.