It’s a fact of life that the majority of us work because we need to. Without the money that we earn in our jobs, we can’t do the fun stuff like socialising, taking holidays, and pursuing hobbies. We can’t even do the dull stuff, like paying the bills. So, as the salary is the main driver, what careers are worth pursuing to maximise your income potential? In this article, we’re looking at the highest paying jobs in Australia. 

What is the highest-paying job in Australia? 

There are plenty of well-paid jobs out there, depending on which sector you want to work in. Below, we’ll explore the top four jobs in five popular fields and investigate which roles pay well. Make no mistake though, it will take time and hard work to make it to the top and land one of these lucrative positions!

Business

Is office life for you? If you aim for the top positions in business, you could find yourself in one of the best-paying jobs in Australia. 

CEO

Depending on the sector you work in, you could earn $300,000 to $1million as a CEO. It’s a position with a weight of responsibility and the buck truly stops with you. If you want a role where every day is different, this could be the one to aim for - CEOs are involved in every aspect of the business, from driving profitability, managing operations, and making decisions to developing strategies, engaging with stakeholders, and leading teams. 

Managing Director

The average salary for a Managing Director in Australia is $207,000. To achieve that, you’ll need to manage company resources, create business plans, collaborate with customers, partners, and colleagues at all levels, reduce costs, track budgets, build a positive work culture, prepare reports, and also recruit, develop, and lead your teams.  

Sales Director

For an average of  $216,000 per year, a Sales Director runs the organisation’s sales operation. That includes supporting the team in achieving their targets, building client relationships, monitoring performance, providing training, developing campaigns, reporting, and enabling the business to access new clients and new markets. 

Head of HR

If people make you tick, a role in HR could be what you’re looking for. As the Head of HR, you’ll oversee all operations within the HR team, including recruitment, development, culture building, employee relations, on- and off-boarding, and payroll, as well as developing benefit, compensation, and incentive policies, preparing resource budgets, and ensuring legal compliance. It’s a broad, full-on role, for which you can expect to receive between $150,000 to $225,000 per year. 

Healthcare

Caring types who want to make a difference to the lives of others often thrive in healthcare roles. These are the highest-paid jobs in Australian healthcare:

Neurosurgeon

The average salary for a Neurosurgeon in Australia is $661,000, making it one of the highest-paying jobs in Australia. If you have emotional resilience, a high tolerance for responsibility, excellent diagnostic skills, and exceptional medical knowledge, you could be on your way to a top salary here. 

Anaesthetist

As an anaesthetist, you’ll be providing care to patients before, during and after surgery. This is a highly specialised medical role, requiring years of study, and you can expect to earn an average of $386,000.

Psychiatrist 

If you have an interest in mental health, you could earn an average of $340,000 as a Psychiatrist. In this position, you’ll be tasked with diagnosing, treating, and preventing mental health conditions using techniques such as counselling, psychotherapy, and medication. Psychiatrists can work within hospitals, or alternatively within the community or at a clinic. There’s also the option of pursuing private practice. 

Medical Director

This role goes far beyond healthcare. You’ll need a good understanding of business leadership and strategy, as well as clinical and medical skills. Your primary responsibility is to ensure the provision of good patient care, but you’ll also be involved in developing policies and procedures, collaborating with other healthcare professionals, driving compliance with regulations and standards, and leading budgeting and financial management. You can expect to earn an average of $424,000.

Finance

Got a head for numbers? If you’re interested in high-paying roles, a job in finance could be for you.

Chief Financial Officer 

The Chief Financial Officer manages all aspects of the company’s finances, from planning and tracking to compliance and reporting. This is a high-level role with a high-level salary - you can expect to make around $334,000 per year. 

Head of Treasury

In Sydney, a Head of Treasury can earn $410,000 a year. Your responsibilities will include managing treasury operations, cash and investments, mitigating risk, and ensuring compliance with regulations, internal controls, and accounting standards. 

Head of Risk

A Head of Risk can earn between $180,000 and $261,000 in Sydney. You’ll implement financial risk frameworks and policies, and also identify, mitigate, monitor and report on significant risks. You may also have input into operational, emerging, reputational, and environmental risk. 

Portfolio Manager 

Confident enough in your financial acumen that you could make investment decisions for clients? Maybe portfolio management is the career for you. You could earn $155,000 by using your research and decision-making skills to develop investment strategies, allocate assets, monitor performance, and manage risk. 

Technology

Digital and technology skills are a fast-track route to the top paying jobs in Australia - see if any of these tick your boxes. 

IT Manager 

With IT Managers earning between $135,000 and $220,000, you could find yourself in one of the highest paying jobs in Australia if technology is your thing. Depending on the size of the company, you could be managing upgrade and implementation projects, controlling the IT budget, ensuring systems security, developing IT policy and best practice, and leading the IT team, among other tasks. 

IT Enterprise Architect

With responsibility for IT services and networks, you could earn up to $234,000 per year in this role. You’ll stay on top of evolving technologies, shape the technical direction of the business and align IT strategy with the overall direction of the business. 

Cybersecurity Specialist 

With a top annual salary of $202,000, this is a lucrative role if you have cybersecurity expertise. Your focus will be on protecting company systems, networks, and data from threats, vulnerabilities, and unauthorised access. That will include establishing security policies, disaster planning, and monitoring trends. 

Chief Information Officer

Average pay in Sydney for a Chief Information Officer is $220,000. To earn that, you’ll need to maintain computer systems, databases, and networks, lead strategic planning for IT functions, and manage both budgets and staff. Software, hardware and infrastructure will all fall within your remit. 

Engineering

For those skilled in design, science, and problem solving, these Engineering roles are some of the highest paying jobs in Australia.

Mining Engineer

Mining Engineers plan and direct the safe development of mines. Combining environmental knowledge with technical skills and strong leadership, you’ll be involved at every stage of a project. For that, you can expect to earn $121,000 a year. 

Engineering Manager 

For an average income of $215,000, you’ll be tasked with managing the Engineering team, coordinating them to design, develop, and test components, products and systems. You’ll also manage engineering projects and budgets and carry out research and development work. 

Civil Engineer

A top-rate Civil Engineer can earn up to $160,000 per year. To achieve that level, you’ll need extensive experience in planning, designing and supervising construction of civil infrastructure projects. The projects could include roads, bridges, facilities, buildings, tunnels, and more. 

Aerospace Engineer

Interested in designing, testing and maintaining aircraft and spacecraft? You could earn up to $110,000 as an Aerospace Engineer. You may be involved in building prototypes, analysing test results, carrying out research, and planning maintenance programmes.

Who is the richest person in Australia?

As of February 2024, Forbes estimated the richest person in Australia to be Gina Rinehart, Executive Chairman of a mining company. Sadly, not all of us own mines or are in a position to make multi-million-dollar investments, so we’ll have to stick to the more conventional careers. By choosing one of the roles listed above, you at least have a chance of ending up in one of the highest paying jobs in Australia. 

Top tips on writing a CV to land the highest paying jobs

If you’re aiming for one of the highest-paying jobs in Australia, you’ll need a pretty impressive CV. Luckily, we know a bit about writing CVs that get noticed. These are our expert tips: 

• Focus on high-level skills such as transformation, change management, and strategy development, rather than generic skills such as communication, teamwork, and flexibility

• Highlight achievements and contributions in each role, rather than simply listing responsibilities

• Develop your unique selling point (or USP) to set yourself apart from other applicants and make your CV memorable

• Clearly state your expertise and areas of specialism

• Don’t forget to include leadership skills, as well as industry-specific skills

• Include only your highest-level qualifications, usually degree-level or above

• It sounds basic, but you won’t get anywhere if you don’t add your contact details! 

Position yourself to land those high-paying jobs

Of course, to land a top-notch role, you need a top-notch CV. Does yours show off your skills, experience, and contributions well enough to impress a new employer? 

If you’re not sure, why not send it for a free CV review by the experts at TopResume? They’ll advise on improvements to make sure you’re ready to aim high and land those top-level jobs.