The lowest pay in Australia is the National Minimum Wage, set at $24.95 per hour or $948 per week (for a 38-hour week) as of July 1, 2025, though specific awards and junior rates can vary; some jobs like food trades assistants and checkout operators often fall into the lowest-paid categories, but everyone is entitled to at least the minimum wage, making it illegal to pay less.
What is the minimum wage in Australia? The National Minimum Wage is the minimum hourly rate you can be paid for the work you do, regardless of your job or industry. As of 1 July 2025, the minimum wage is $24.95 per hour ($948 per week).
The lowest paying jobs are typically those that require minimal formal education or specialized skills, such as fast food workers, dishwashers, cashiers, and farm laborers. These positions often pay at or near the minimum wage and may offer limited benefits.
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) for each “ordinary hour worked” has been increased from 1 March 2025 by 4.4% from R27,58 per hour to R28,79 per hour. Domestic workers: Assuming a work month of 22 days x 8 hours per day, R28,79 per hour equates to R230,32 per day or R5067,04 per month.
Australia's National Minimum Wage is $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week, as of July 1, 2025, for adults not covered by specific industry awards or agreements, with casuals receiving a 25% loading. Actual minimum pay varies by industry, age (juniors earn less), and specific awards/agreements, so checking the Fair Work Ombudsman website for your award is crucial.
The worst-paying job on the list is shampooers. They work in hair salons washing and rinsing customers' hair. Mean hourly wages are $14.07 and mean annual wages are $29,260. According to the BLS, there are more than 7,300 shampooers working in the country.
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The "easiest" high-paying jobs often involve leveraging existing skills (like sales or IT) or finding niches like insurance broking, high-level tech roles (remote/deliverable-focused), sales, truck driving, personal training, or specialized roles like medical coding or elevator mechanics, balancing ease with good income depends on your definition of easy (low stress, low formal education, or flexible) and industry demand. Roles like sales representative, IT support, or even transcription can offer good returns, especially when remote or freelance, but building up clients or expertise is key to high earnings.
The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour. Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.
Yes, $36 an hour (around $75k annually) is a solid wage in Australia, generally considered good as it's above the minimum wage and near or slightly above the median earnings for many full-time roles, providing a comfortable living, though it's below the average for higher-paid professionals, depending on location and lifestyle needs.
A living wage is simply the minimum hourly amount that a full-time worker must earn to afford basic necessities. In this case, a full-time worker is defined as someone who works at least 2,080 hours a year.
Hospitality and catering jobs offer the lowest wages
These dominate the bottom of the entire chart: bar staff (£20,837), waiters and waitresses (£21,588), kitchen and catering assistants (£21,716), leisure and theme park attendants (£22,386), cooks (£22,282), and bar and catering supervisors (£23,421).
The poverty line in Australia is generally defined as 50 per cent of median household income. If someone was earning less than the below amounts (including a government income) in 2022, they were classed as below the poverty line: $454 a week for a single person. $725 for a sole parent with two children.
Yes, 2-hour shifts can be legal in Australia, especially for casual employees, but it depends heavily on the specific industry's Modern Award or Enterprise Agreement (EBA), as many awards mandate a minimum shift length (often 2, 3, or 4 hours), meaning even if you work less, you get paid for the minimum. Full-time or permanent part-time employees generally have longer minimum shift obligations, but casuals often have specific minimums, like 2 hours in cleaning or 3 hours in retail, with exceptions.
Many jobs in Australia pay over $100,000 annually, including roles in IT, Healthcare (like Surgeons, Dentists, Psychologists), Engineering (Mining, Aerospace, Building), Construction Management, Finance (Accountants, Managers), Law, Sales (Business Development, Account Managers), and specialized trades (Pilots, Drillers, Electricians), often requiring degrees, certifications, or significant experience and skill, though some technical or trade roles can reach this income without a university degree through vocational training.
There's no single #1 happiest job universally, but Firefighters consistently rank high for job satisfaction due to their sense of purpose, while Care Workers, Counsellors, Content Creators, and IT roles (Java Devs, Systems Analysts) also appear frequently on "happiest" lists for fulfillment, autonomy, or good pay/balance. Overall, jobs with meaning, helping others, nature connection, strong coworker bonds, or good work-life balance tend to be cited as happiest.
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Wood patternmaker is the rarest job in the us, with only 330 people filling that role. Finding an untraditional or rare job can lead to career fulfillment as well as financial stability. There are rare jobs within most fields, including medicine, engineering, science, food, and IT.
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Even computer-based creative work, like that done by writers and graphic designers, is unlikely to be fully replaced by machines.
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All Australian workers are entitled to a minimum wage. This is the least you can be paid for doing a certain job. It's illegal for an employer to pay you less than the minimum wage. As of 1 July 2025, the national minimum wage is $24.95 per hour or $948 a week (if you work 38 hours).
Minimum Wage. The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Many states also have minimum wage laws.
The #1 highest-paid position generally falls within specialized medical fields, with Neurosurgeons, Surgeons, and Anesthesiologists frequently topping lists globally and in countries like Australia, due to extensive training, high pressure, and critical patient care, often earning salaries well over $400,000-$600,000 annually, though CEOs, Judges, and top Financial Traders/Lawyers also command very high incomes.