Doctor Salary in Australia: Intern to Consultant (2026)
Doctor pay in Australia is a career arc, not a single number. This page sets out what doctors earn at every stage: the salaried hospital scales from intern to consultant, then what GPs and specialists actually earn in practice, per month and after tax.
A first-year doctor earns a base salary of $80,638 to $97,036 in an Australian public hospital, and pay rises every year from there. A first-year registrar earns $107,655–$138,978, a salaried consultant starts on $204,936–$333,305, and specialists in private practice average $196,060 (GPs) to $678,611 (Neurosurgeons) in taxable income.
- The career arc
- GPs & specialists in practice
- Per month
- After tax
- How pay builds
- Find your stage
- FAQ
- Sources
Doctor salary by career stage
Base annual salary for ordinary hours on each state's public-hospital scale. Each range names the lowest- and highest-paying state; overtime, penalties and allowances are earned on top.
| Career stage | Base salary range | Lowest / highest state | Full detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intern (PGY1) | $80,638–$97,036 | NSW / QLD | Junior doctor salary |
| Resident yr 1 (PGY2) | $90,919–$104,610 | VIC / QLD | Junior doctor salary |
| Registrar yr 1 | $107,655–$138,978 | SA / TAS | Registrar pay, incl. unaccredited |
| Registrar yr 4 | $140,378–$159,135 | NT / TAS | Compare states |
| Consultant yr 1 (staff specialist) | $204,936–$333,305 | ACT / WA | State consultant pay |
| Consultant, top of scale | $274,696–$432,658 | ACT / WA | Staff specialist vs VMO |
Junior figures are verbatim rates from each state's medical officer award or agreement. Consultant figures are the published year-1 and top-of-scale points on each state's salaried specialist scale, as presented on the state consultant pages (NSW shown as the effective base including its 17.4% special allowance).
What GPs and specialists earn in practice
Beyond the hospital scales, most GP and specialist income comes from billings, so the fairest published measure is ATO taxable income. These figures are averages and medians across everyone reporting the occupation, from the ATO 2023–24 taxation statistics.
| Occupation | Average taxable income | Median | Taxpayers | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resident medical officer (junior doctor) | $140,129 | $123,992 | 21,380 | Junior doctor salary |
| General practitioner (GP) | $196,060 | $156,733 | 27,776 | GP salary in Australia |
| Anaesthetist | $475,455 | $457,287 | 3,735 | Billings calculator |
| Psychiatrist | $305,282 | $276,453 | 3,335 | Billings calculator |
| Neurosurgeon (highest-earning specialty) | $678,611 | $537,049 | 176 | Training pathway |
The two middle rows are the two largest specialist occupations by taxpayer count. Specialist averages span $205,492 (Pathologist) to $678,611 (Neurosurgeon); the full ranking of every specialty has all 34 occupations with medians.
Doctor salary per month
An intern's base salary works out to roughly $6,720 to $8,086 a month before tax, a first-year registrar's $8,971 to $11,582, and a first-year salaried consultant's roughly $17,078 to $27,775. Hospitals pay fortnightly, and most hospital doctors earn overtime and penalty loadings on top of these base amounts.
Doctor salary after tax
On base hours alone, an intern takes home roughly $62,647 (New South Wales) to $71,338 (Queensland) a year after income tax, the Medicare levy and a HECS/HELP repayment; a first-year registrar keeps roughly $76,966 to $93,104. The junior doctor salary page has the full state-by-state after-tax table.
Consultant take-home depends on more than the scale: private practice elections, allowances and salary packaging all move it substantially. The take-home pay calculator models your state, grade and roster.
How doctor pay builds at each stage
As a hospital junior, your pay is the award base plus overtime and penalty rates of 1.125× to 2.5×, which typically add 10–30% to gross pay. Most rows are 38 ordinary hours a week; VIC registrars 43, WA rosters 40 and TAS registrars and senior registrars 43.
As a salaried consultant, the levers change: private practice arrangements, on-call and allowances sit on top of the scale, and the staff specialist vs VMO choice sets the whole structure. In private practice, income is billings less real costs; the billings calculators model what a week of private work actually pays.
Find your stage
Frequently asked questions
How much do doctors earn in Australia?
It depends on career stage. A first-year junior doctor (intern) earns a base salary of $80,638 to $97,036 depending on the state, a first-year registrar $107,655 to $138,978, and a salaried consultant (staff specialist) starts on roughly $204,936 to $333,305, rising to $432,658 at the top of the scale. Specialists in private practice earn more again: ATO data puts average taxable income at $196,060 for GPs and up to $678,611 for neurosurgeons.
What is the average doctor salary in Australia?
There is no single average that means much, because pay spans a career arc. The ATO's 2023–24 taxation statistics report average taxable income of $140,129 for resident medical officers (junior doctors), $196,060 for GPs, and between $205,492 and $678,611 across the specialist occupations. Medians are lower in every group.
What is a doctor's salary in Australia per month?
An intern's base salary works out to roughly $6,720 to $8,086 a month before tax, a first-year registrar's $8,971 to $11,582, and a first-year salaried consultant's roughly $17,078 to $27,775. Hospitals pay fortnightly, and overtime and penalty rates are earned on top of these base amounts.
How much does a doctor earn after tax in Australia?
On base hours alone, an intern takes home roughly $62,647 to $71,338 a year after income tax, the Medicare levy and a HECS/HELP repayment, and a first-year registrar roughly $76,966 to $93,104. Consultant take-home depends heavily on private practice elections and salary packaging, so use the take-home pay calculator for your own numbers.
How much does a consultant (staff specialist) earn in Australia?
A first-year salaried consultant in a public hospital starts on roughly $204,936 (ACT) to $333,305 (Western Australia) on the published state scales, rising to between $274,696 and $432,658 at the top of the scale. Private practice arrangements, allowances and on-call add to these base figures, and they differ by state.
Do doctors in private practice earn more?
On average, yes. The salaried hospital scales top out around $432,658, while ATO taxable-income averages for the procedural specialties with large private caseloads run well beyond that, up to $678,611 for neurosurgeons. Private income is billings that carry real costs (rooms, staff, indemnity), so taxable income is the fairest published comparison.
Sources
Where every figure on this page comes from
- New South Wales — NSW Public Hospital Medical Officers (State) Award, Determination IB2026_007 (interim rates; NSW IRC arbitration decision reserved as at July 2026); rates effective first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025 (no 1 July 2026 increase: the interim deal has 2024 and 2025 legs only). View instrument.
- Victoria — Doctors in Training (Victorian Public Health Sector) (AMA/ASMOF) Single-Interest Enterprise Agreement 2022–2026, Appendix 2 Table 1.1; rates effective 1 March 2025 (final scheduled increase; agreement continues in force past its 28 Feb 2026 nominal expiry; successor EBA under negotiation with no pay offer as at July 2026). View instrument.
- Queensland — Medical Officers’ (Queensland Health) Certified Agreement (No. 7) 2025 (MOCA7), QIRC CB128 of 2025, Schedule 1 Table 1.1; rates effective 1 July 2026 (certified minimums; a capped +0.5% CPI Uplift Adjustment triggered by the March 2026 Brisbane CPI is pending publication by Queensland Health). View instrument.
- Western Australia — WA Health System – Medical Practitioners – AMA Industrial Agreement 2024 (Schedules 1 & 3, metro + north of 26°); rates effective 3 September 2025. View instrument.
- South Australia — SA Health Salaried Medical Officers Enterprise Agreement 2025 (Schedule 1); rates effective first full pay period on or after 14 April 2026. View instrument.
- Tasmania — Medical Practitioners (Tasmanian State Service) Agreement 2025 (TIC T15338 of 2026; 3% one-year AMA rollover of the 2022 Agreement); rates effective first full pay period on or after 1 January 2026 (next increase anticipated ffpp on/after 1 January 2027 under the successor agreement now in negotiation). View instrument.
- ACT — ACT Public Sector Medical Practitioners Determination 2023–2026 (FWC workplace determination AG531082, made 12 November 2025), Annex A; rates effective first full pay period on or after 1 December 2025 (final scheduled increase in the instrument; successor ACTPS agreement in bargaining as at July 2026). View instrument.
- Northern Territory — Medical Officers (NTPS) 2022–2025 Enterprise Agreement – OCPE published rates of pay; rates effective 1 January 2025 (verified current as at July 2026: the 2022–2025 EA remains in operation; a proposed 2026–2029 EA was voted down in February 2026 and an improved offer is under negotiation). View instrument.
- Consultant scales — the published year-1 and top-of-scale points from each state's salaried specialist instrument, as carried (fully sourced) on the state consultant pages: NSW · VIC · QLD · WA · SA · TAS · ACT · NT.
- ATO Taxation statistics 2023–24 — Individuals Table 15 (occupation), average and median taxable income; see doctor salary by specialty for the full extract and methodology.
Monthly figures are annual ÷ 12, marked approximate. After-tax estimates use the 2026–27 resident tax brackets, 2% Medicare levy and 2026–27 HECS/HELP repayment thresholds (ATO). Estimates only — not financial advice.
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