Specialist doctors still earn the most in Australia. Property Update, working from ATO taxable income, put surgeons at an average of AUD 472,475 a year. Anaesthetists sat near AUD 447,193. Financial dealers were around AUD 355,233. Most workers never touch those figures.
Demand is a separate problem. A Jobs and Skills Australia shortage report from September 2025, as summarised by Cloud Colleague, had the national vacancy fill rate at 70.2%. Skill Level 3 trades sat at 54.3%. Healthcare, engineering, education, ICT, and trades keep showing up in those tight bands.
Is there one best job for a migrant, a graduate, and someone switching careers? No. High pay, short training, and a visa you can actually get rarely sit in the same occupation.
Highest-paying jobs, read the figures cold
Tax averages mix private billings, overtime, and people at the peak of a career. Job ads come in lower. ABS-style occupation groups flatten things even more. One compilation of those earnings put managers around AUD 145,600 a year, professionals near AUD 106,600, and technicians and trades workers around AUD 91,400.
A surgeon and a graduate teacher can both count as professionals. Treat the group number as a midpoint, not your offer.
| Role | Figures often quoted | What that usually needs |
|---|---|---|
| Surgeon | About AUD 472k average taxable income | Medical degree, specialist training, often private work |
| Anaesthetist | About AUD 447k | Same specialist pathway |
| Financial dealer | About AUD 355k | Markets experience, rarely a classic skilled-visa job |
| Specialist physician (broader write-ups) | Roughly AUD 394k to AUD 850k | Fellowship; metro private practice lifts the top end |
| CEO or managing director | About AUD 195k in the same ATO set | Senior leadership, not an entry seat |
| Cloud architect or cybersecurity lead | About AUD 150k to AUD 210k in Sydney and Melbourne | Years of ICT work, not a bootcamp certificate |
The wide specialist range comes from a third-party jobs roundup, not the ATO table. Treat it as a spread. The same ATO-based analysis noted that only about 5.3% of Australians earn over AUD 180,000. Surgeon money is rare.
Some roundups say Sydney and Melbourne specialists out-earn Perth peers by about 10% to 15%. Regional loadings and FIFO allowances can still beat a city base once overtime lands. Read the roster. Read the super. Read whether the figure is total package or cash.
In-demand occupations employers still cannot fill
Trades are the ugly gap. Fill rates for Skill Level 3 jobs sit well below the national figure. Licensed electricians, plumbers, and other trade roles stay hard to staff because the pipeline is slow. The work is physical. Construction commentary has pointed to a shortfall of 41,100 workers in Queensland construction alone by 2026. Construction project manager ads often sit around AUD 120,000 to AUD 150,000. Civil engineer ranges around AUD 95,000 to AUD 125,000 show up in the same material. Experienced regional tradespeople can pass AUD 100,000 once allowances hit.
Healthcare is not one market. Specialists still command premiums. Nursing, aged care, and allied health stay busy in the regions even when some metro hiring cools. Education keeps appearing on shortage lists. ICT is uneven. Cyber and cloud leads still get expensive corporate offers. Graduate software ads can feel crowded.
Turns out the job that is easiest to enter is almost never the one that pays like a surgeon.
If you are chasing FIFO mining because the screenshots look like AUD 150,000-plus and someone said the mines are desperate, the roster might be two weeks on and one off or a harsher swing, and camp life is isolating in a way city remote-IT never is, and some crews like the compressed work then the long break, and some people last one swing and walk, so treat the ad as a lifestyle call before you treat it as a salary.
Shortage lists are not job offers. An occupation can be in shortage nationally and still be oversupplied in one city, or closed to you until a board registers you.
How healthcare, trades, IT, and mining compare
| Sector | Pay pattern | Demand pattern | Daily life | Who it actually fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare specialists | Highest | Chronic, worse regionally | Long training, intense hours | Already qualified clinicians |
| Trades | Mid; overtime and allowances lift it | Weakest fill rates in the JSA snapshot | Physical, licensed | People who can finish an apprenticeship |
| ICT | High for seniors; uneven for grads | Stronger in cyber, cloud, data | Often hybrid | Applicants with real years, not just a title |
| Mining / FIFO | High with site allowances | Cyclical and site-based | Weeks away from home | People who can live the roster |
| Education | Mid | Ongoing gaps in several teaching fields | Term structure, registration | Teachers who can get assessed |
The axes do not agree. Pick the column you cannot compromise on, then ignore the rest of the marketing copy.
Visa pathways that map to shortage work
Thing is, a salary screenshot does not move a visa. Occupation lists do.
Australia's skilled program still runs on ANZSCO codes and a handful of subclasses. Comparisons of the main skilled visas usually split it like this. Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) leans on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. Subclass 190 needs a state nomination and can draw on a broader set of lists. Subclass 491 is regional, often the widest of the points-tested options, and it is temporary with a later permanent path. Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand / Core Skills) is employer sponsored. It is frequently the fastest way to start work. Many 482 holders later look at Subclass 186 after time with that sponsor.
Lists change. Occupation-list explainers note that 189 is narrower than 190 or 491, and that engineering and ICT codes land on different lists depending on the exact ANZSCO. Being on a list is one requirement. It is not an invitation. You still need a skills assessment from the right authority. Points visas need points. English still matters. A lot of 482 and 186 cases also need a real employer.
Tradespeople often use sponsored or regional routes. Doctors and nurses stack registration on top of the visa. Many ICT codes need an ACS assessment. A SEEK ad is not proof you can migrate.
Do not pay an agent until the ANZSCO code is written down. People waste months there. Check the Department of Home Affairs lists yourself. State nomination rules shift during the year. Regional 491 work is often the realistic door when 189 points are short.
Where these jobs are actually posted
SEEK still carries most Australian vacancy volume. Trades, nursing, and FIFO ads live there in bulk. Indeed repeats many of those posts and some extras. LinkedIn is the better hunt for tech leads, consulting, and corporate seats. One vendor-style roundup claimed up to 70% of white-collar vacancies never hit public boards. Use that as a reason to work LinkedIn and referrals. Do not treat it as a national census.
Hospital, miner, and public service roles often fill from the employer career page, not from a scraped duplicate.
- Confirm the occupation title and ANZSCO code against the current skilled lists before you apply anywhere.
- Save the same search on SEEK and Indeed, using the real job title plus city or region. Add "sponsorship" only if you must; it hides unsponsored roles you could still take.
- On LinkedIn, set an alert and follow hiring managers in that occupation. Do not spray connection requests.
- For public hospitals, use the state health careers page. For APS digital work, use the official APS jobs board.
- For FIFO, open the miner or contractor career page as well as SEEK. Rosters hide in PDFs.
- Apply in the first two days on shortage ads. Local licence-holders move fast.
You do not need a paid resume scanner for this. Put registration numbers, ticket names, and visa status in one line at the top. Hiring managers skim that line first.
Migrants, graduates, and people switching in
Skilled migrants should start with the list, not the pay table. If your code is not on a list that matches a visa you can actually use, the AUD 200k screenshot is noise. Get the skills assessment timeline in writing. Nursing and teaching registration can take longer than the visa. Regional 190 and 491 nominations are often more realistic than waiting on a 189 invite.
New graduates hit a different wall. Senior ICT ads want years. Specialist medicine is not an entry job. Trades pre-apprenticeships and certificate pathways are the honest high-demand door if you can do physical work. Care and early childhood certificates can get you hired sooner. Pay sits well below the specialist table. Do not budget for AUD 150k in year one.
Career changers: to be honest, a short course will not drop you into a AUD 210k cyber lead seat. Employers still want evidence. An apprenticeship, a supervised year, or tickets that map to the code beat a generic switcher resume. Check the assessing authority before you enrol. Some diplomas do not map to the ANZSCO you had in mind. People buy the wrong course, then find the code is different, then they are stuck explaining a mismatch in the skills assessment. Skip that loop.
FAQ
What are the highest paying jobs in Australia right now? Specialist medical roles, especially surgeons and anaesthetists, sit at the top of ATO-based occupation averages. Financial dealers and some executive and mining packages follow. Third-party hospital ranges for specialists run from the high AUD 300ks into the AUD 800ks. Those are not graduate salaries.
Which occupations are in shortage? Skill Level 3 trades had the weakest fill rates in that late-2025 JSA snapshot. Healthcare, engineering, education, and ICT also show persistent gaps. Regional roles usually fill slower than metro ones.
What should migrants target? Occupations that sit on the skilled lists and have an assessing authority you can satisfy. Healthcare, trades, and some engineering and ICT codes appear often. Confirm the current list. Do not rely on an old blog table.
Where should you apply? SEEK and Indeed for volume roles. LinkedIn for corporate and tech. Employer career sites for hospitals, miners, and government. Sponsorship keywords are a filter, not a strategy.
Pick one occupation tonight. Write the ANZSCO code, the assessing authority, and the visa subclass you would actually use. Then save that title on SEEK and LinkedIn. That is the next step, not another ranking of "best jobs."