Australian Doctor's Salary: A Transparent Breakdown
Almost 10,000 overseas-trained doctors registered to work in Australia last financial year. Many international doctors choose Australia for its lifestyle, work opportunities, and competitive pay. This article provides a transparent breakdown of a resident doctor's salary in Australia.
Introduction
Freya, a doctor working on Boon Wurrung land in Melbourne, Australia, with seven years of experience, shares a detailed look at her pay slip. She aims to provide an honest overview of her earnings, without flexing or complaining.
Pay Slip Breakdown
Freya walks through her recent pay slip, explaining the different components that make up her gross income.
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Ordinary Hours: Her base pay for working 76 hours per fortnight (38 hours per week) equates to approximately $66.50 per hour, totaling just over $5,000 per fortnight.
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Afternoon Shift Loading: An additional $62 for a 5-hour afternoon shift means about $10 more an hour.
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On-Call Allowance: Being on standby on-call three times earned her just over $200 (approximately $71.50 per on-call shift). She expresses her dislike for being on standby on-call due to its stressful nature.
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Training Time: As a registrar, she receives 10 hours of paid training time per fortnight.
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Continuing Medical Education (CME) Allowance: An extra $237 per fortnight is allocated for conferences, textbooks, and other professional development expenses.
Annual Base Pay Calculation
Freya calculates her annual base pay by considering her ordinary hours (76) and training time (10), totaling 86 hours per fortnight. Multiplying the total fortnightly earnings by 26 (number of fortnights in a year) results in approximately $148,756 annually, just under $150,000 AUD.
Deductions and Net Pay
Several deductions impact Freya's take-home pay:
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Salary Packaging: Utilizes salary packaging for healthcare, allowing her to claim approximately $10,000 tax-free for living expenses (mortgage) and $2,000 for meals and entertainment, totaling $582 a fortnight.
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Salary Packaging Admin Fees: These fees are $16 per fortnight.
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Tax: Almost $1,500 is deducted in tax per fortnight.
After deductions and adding back the salary packaging amount, her net pay is $4,735.83 per fortnight. This equates to an annual take-home income of $107,982 AUD, or approximately $70,000 USD or £50,000 GBP.
Factors Affecting Pay
Freya notes that her current pay slip reflects her minimum fortnightly earnings. Working weekends, overtime, or being called in for night shifts would significantly increase her income. Unaccredited surgical registrars can earn up to $10,000 pre-tax per fortnight due to demanding rosters and on-call duties. In Australia, junior doctors in the public hospital system generally receive the same base pay regardless of their specialty within a given state. Pay differences primarily arise from variations in rosters and working hours.
Pay Progression
Freya's base pay as a PGY7 (7 years post-graduation) is $66 per hour. As an intern (PGY1), she earned $27 per hour, even less than what she made at a bottle shop during university. Since then, her income has steadily increased, with larger jumps in income as she moved from Tasmania to Victoria. She anticipates further increases until she reaches the maximum pay for a trainee, followed by a significant increase upon becoming a consultant.
Cost of Medical Education
Freya estimates the total cost of her medical education to be approximately $150,000 AUD. This includes $80,000 for medical school (Commonwealth supported place) and $70,000 for training and exams. At her current hourly rate, she would need to work 2,272 hours (a full year of full-time work pre-tax) to recoup those costs. Many Australian doctors have much larger HELP debts, some in excess of $250,000.
Salary Comparison with Other Countries
Based on online research, Freya compares her salary with those of doctors in other countries.
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United Kingdom: A postgraduate year 7 trainee doctor could expect to earn around £60,000.
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United States: The average salary appears to be approximately $80,000 USD.
Freya's base pay of $150,000 AUD pre-tax translates to approximately $97,000 USD or £71,000 GBP, suggesting a higher base salary in Australia. She acknowledges that residency training in the US may be more intense but shorter.
Consultant Pay in Australia
In Australia, consultant pay in public hospitals starts at $110-$130 per hour and can increase to $200-$220 per hour based on experience and private practice involvement. Full-time consultants can potentially earn between $200,000 and $400,000 per year or more, with the opportunity to set their own rates in private practice.