Jobs with fastest-growing salaries in Australia revealed
The average salary for analysts is now $130,117 after a 26.8 per cent rise in their advertised pay rates since 2024, according to new data from Seek.
The next highest pay bumps were 24.5 per cent for taxation consultants, 21.1 per cent for banking operations analysts, and 19.0 per cent for maintenance managers in the manufacturing, transport and logistics sector.
Many of the roles with the highest salary growth were in skilled jobs in key industries, including infrastructure.
Seek senior economist Blair Chapman said the salary growth in electrical engineering roles in the mining sector had been 'relatively rapid' over the past year.
'The mining sector pays some of the highest wages of any sector and they are increasingly competing with renewable energy providers for roles like electrical engineers, which is likely driving them to offer high wages to keep and attract workers into the sector,' Mr Chapman said.
There was also growth in the building sector, with the average advertised salary for project administrators on construction projects up 16.8 per cent in the past year.
'An increase in building approvals and commencements, which were sitting around decade lows at the beginning of 2024, alongside ongoing infrastructure projects, has likely driven an increase in the competition for project administrators,' Mr Chapman said.
'This has contributed to the strong salary growth.'
But all is not lost for those working entry-level roles.
Customer service representatives working in retail saw a 16.2 per cent bump, up to an advertised salary of $68,435.
Assistants in hospitality and tourism received a 15.6 per cent pay rise, bringing them to an average advertised salary of $70,762.
This new data comes just days after the Fair Work Commission announced a 3.5 per cent increase in the minimum wage from July 1.
Workers on the national minimum will earn at least $49,296 per year or $24.95 per hour.
At the time, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth welcomed the increase as a win for workers.
'Our government believes that workers should get ahead with an economically sustainable real wage increase,' Ms Rishworth said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
29 minutes ago
- ABC News
Oberon truffiere first in Australia certified free from banned chemical
As Australia's truffle industry continues to grow, a truffiere on the New South Wales Central Tablelands has become the first in the country to be certified free of a banned residual chemical. Japan rejected several shipments of truffles from Australia in 2023 due to detections of organochlorine (OC) over the country's maximum residue limits. OC is a chemical that has been banned in Australia since the 1990s and is typically found in various pesticides. Japan, Australia's second-largest export market for truffles, has a three-strikes rule whereby if there are three detections of OC, the entire Australian industry would be banned from exporting truffles to their country. In response to the first detection, the Australian Truffle Industry Association (ATIA) introduced the 2025 National Soils Testing Protocol, certifying truffieres were free from OC. The testing is part of a recently introduced broader program of best practice called TruffleCare. Redground Australia, an Oberon-based truffiere — otherwise simply known as a truffle grower — has been issued the first certificate of compliance under ATIA's National Soils Testing Protocol for Residues of Persistent Chemicals. "It means our customers, our clientele, can be assured that the product that they are receiving, whether it's in Australia or overseas, is clean and free of residues," said the owner and managing director of Redground Australia, Jill O'Grady. While Ms O'Grady said it was a lengthy process to secure the certificate — including getting accredited soil tests and looking at where their trees had come from — it was a vital step for industry. ATIA vice-president Noel Fitzpatrick said the certification gave exporters confidence in their truffles. "This is going to become more and more important over time as we build up export markets, but also the farms within Australia," he said. Truffles are a subterranean fruit of fungi growing on the roots of host trees and are often used as a flavour enhancer on top of savoury dishes. Despite only beginning to market truffles 25 years ago, Australia is the fourth-largest producer in the world, growing an estimated 20 tonnes of truffles per year. This has grown significantly over the past few decades, with production projected to double or triple within the next 10 years. Mr Fitzpatrick said creating the TruffleCare program was vital to ensuring each Australian truffle business produced a high-level product. "We're always looking at quality assurance in the industry so we can maintain our standing on the global market and make sure that we are leaving no stone unturned to produce the best quality that we can to maintain those markets," he said. The Australian truffle industry is estimated to have a gross value of $40 million per year and is made up of about 400 growers. Seventy per cent of growers are in the southern forests region of south-west Western Australia, according to Agrifutures. Truffles in general prefer warm summers and cold winters, with some incidence of frost and deep, well-draining and high pH soils. Because of this, most Australian truffieres generally need to modify soils. Decades ago, farmers would use insecticides such as Dieldrin and DDT to kill and deter pests in the soil from eating their crops. These were all part of the OC (organochlorine) family, which Australia banned in the 1990s. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said OCs generally resisted degradation by chemical, physical or biological means, meaning they were toxic to humans and other animals. OCs are said to have serious short and long-term impacts at low concentrations, as well as non-lethal effects such as damage to the immune and reproductive systems. Despite being banned for decades, the chemical has a residual effect, potentially taking hundreds of years to deplete from the soil.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Qantas points: Worth less or worthless?
COMMENT As an avid Qantas frequent flyer and points hacker, I've upped my game of late. I've maximised my tactics, managing to fly my family to Japan and back in business class for just $800 this year. I even scored business class upgrades to and from London. However, recent changes to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program have left me feeling less optimistic about the future. On the bright side, Qantas increased the number of points and status credits earned on some paid flights earlier this year. And they released 20 million domestic reward seats for members in late 2024. Today's news is not as positive. From 5 August 2025, Qantas Points will be worth less, particularly for redeeming Classic Reward flights, traditionally the best way to get value from your points. The upcoming changes mean Classic Reward Economy flights will need 5-20 per cent more points across most routes. For instance, the popular Sydney to Melbourne Economy reward flight is rising from 8,000 points to 9,200 points. International routes see similar hikes; Sydney to London in Economy jumps from 55,200 points to 63,500 points. For Business class, short domestic flights like Sydney-Melbourne will only see a modest 5 per cent increase, but the more desirable long-haul international business flights to destinations such as Singapore, Seoul, or Los Angeles will require 20 per cent more points than previously. The ever-popular Sydney-London Business route rises from 144,600 points to 166,300. These updates mark the first major adjustment to Qantas' Frequent Flyer loyalty program in six years, and represents an overall devaluation of Qantas points. Currently, 1 Qantas Point used for Classic Rewards typically translates to around 2 cents for Economy flights and 8 cents for Business flights. This value is set to decline, with domestic routes seeing value drops of around 10-20 per cent and international flights, particularly premium seats, facing even steeper declines. The situation could worsen if the RBA moves ahead with its plan to ban credit card surcharges – as that change will likely increase their costs – though a surcharge ban would potentially be fairer for Australian consumers overall. These developments pose a significant challenge for frequent flyers who rely heavily on accumulating credit card points. However, frequent flyers still have time to mitigate some of these impacts by focusing on maximising their points earning potential. My strategy involves continuing to maximise my Qantas points through purchasing wine (win-win), strategic credit card use (look for an earn rate of at least 1 point per dollar), and taking advantage of the Woolworths points exchange program with Qantas. These methods remain effective ways to counterbalance the declining points value and ensure my points still stretch far. Additionally, those looking to further boost their points balances should explore current credit card bonus point promotions, where Australia still offers some of the best value in the world. Whether you prefer Qantas or Virgin points, or the benefits of Amex, Mastercard or Visa, there are many options to earn more than 100,000 Points once you sign up and meet the minimum spending criteria. Just remember that point-earning cards typically have very high interest rates, so best not to get involved unless you are sure you can pay off your balance in full each month. While these changes represent a clear setback for dedicated frequent flyers, strategic planning can still deliver valuable travel opportunities. Be flexible with travel plans where possible, be opportunistic with credit cards (and bonus points), and consider regional destinations or Jetstar flights where available. Most importantly, avoid common pitfalls like redeeming points for retail items. This can cost you as much as 75 per cent of their flight-purchasing value. By maximising points earnings and redeeming them strategically, Qantas frequent flyers can still extract considerable value from the program despite recent adjustments. Maybe I'll see you near the front.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Why Hyundai's boss says it is doing a ‘terrible job'
Hyundai's new Australian boss says the brand has 'ground to make up' after doing a 'terrible job' selling electric cars in Australia. Don Romano took over as Hyundai's Australian chief executive in March after a stint in Canada, where the brand has a strong share of electric vehicle sales. But in Australia, Hyundai's EV performance is less impressive. The critically acclaimed Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 duo attracted just over 500 combined sales in the first six months of the year, placing them well behind rivals such as the Tesla Model Y (10,431) and Model 3 (3715), BYD Sealion 7 (3756) and Seal (1609), Kia EV5 (2765), MG4 (2268), Geely EX5 (1845) and Polestar 4 (676). 'We have ground to make up,' Romano says. 'We do a terrible job with our EVs … we are not doing the job we should be. 'Our market share of electric vehicles is extremely low relative to our market share of total vehicles and the only explanation for that is that we haven't put enough focus on it because I can see other electric car companies that are … doing a much better job with their EVs than they do with their ICE [internal combustion engine vehicles]. 'We're the opposite.' Romano believes Hyundai's previous managers made mistakes, including a decision to bypass the brand's dealer network to sell cars such as the Ioniq 5 directly to customers. 'We went around our dealers,' Romano says. 'So, we have a job to do to get our dealers back in the game and to let them know that no, we are going through our dealer body and that you are an important part of the distribution process.' Romano's experience in North America differs from Australia. In the US and Canada, General Motors has the largest EV share behind Tesla. But here, Chinese brands such as BYD have an enormous role to play in the market, making competition tough for Hyundai. Hyundai's cheapest Inster EV starts from about $43,000 drive-away, roughly $10,000 more than the BYD Dolphin. The Ioniq 5 SUV is about $15,000 more than BYD's Sealion 7, and the Ioniq 6 sedan starts $27,000 upstream from the equivalent BYD Seal. 'The real issue when you talk about competitiveness is probably when you look at Chinese EVs, and the question I'd have is 'how long can they sustain that low price' when we're all using the same materials and the same equipment?',' he says. 'Eventually, when you look at the same systems that are used to build these cars and the same equipment and the same material, eventually, it comes to an equilibrium where we're all having on the same cost factor that we're going to have to all live with. 'And then the pricing really just comes down to what it takes to distribute the cars and market the cars. So I don't think any change in our competitive pricing is something that is a long-term issue. I think we're going to ultimately all be in the same bandwidth on a car-by-car basis. 'I don't know how they do it other than, you know, I read the same things you do about government intervention and support … 'It's one big world that we all live in and we're all going to be living in the same economic environment, so whatever advantage one country has over another, and I've seen this happen in my 40 years, where it used to be cheaper to build in one country than another, and then suddenly it's just as expensive, I think that's ultimately going to happen. 'Whether that's in my lifetime or not, that I can't answer. But for right now it appears they have it.'
