How Much Do Doctors Earn in Australia? Every Specialty Ranked (ATO Data)

This is the one table that answers it with real data: every medical practitioner occupation the ATO publishes, ranked by what the 103,489 taxpayers across these 34 published occupation rows actually declared in the 2023–24 year. Not recruiter estimates, not job-ad ranges.

Every specialty, ranked by average taxable income (2023–24)

Dollar figures are the ATO's published values rounded to the nearest dollar (the source file carries cents; exact values are in the workbook linked under Sources). Most specialty names link to our training-pathway guides; "calculator" links open our billings and take-home models for that role. The ATO's exact occupation title for each row is shown on hover, or in the list below the table.

How to read these numbers (before you quote them)

• Taxable income is not salary. It's assessable income minus deductions. For private-practice specialists it reflects practice income net of rooms, staff, indemnity and other costs, which is a different thing from a staff specialist's award salary.
• Everyone reporting the occupation is included: part-timers, first-year consultants and semi-retired doctors alongside busy full-timers. The ATO also notes these averages and medians include individuals who reported a zero value at the label. Both drag the figures below what a full-time private specialist typically earns.
• Average vs median: where the average sits far above the median (cardiothoracic surgery: $607,511 vs $425,275; dermatology: $330,967 vs $234,005), a smaller group of very high earners is pulling the average up. The median is closer to the "typical" doctor.
• Occupation is self-reported on tax returns against the ATO's occupation code list (exact title and code shown for every row above). The ATO notes some items may be combined with other groups or excluded for privacy. Pooled rows like "specialist physician — other" span multiple subspecialties, and the unusually low pathologist median ($81,090 across 2,749 taxpayers) suggests that code captures many people who are not working as full-time specialist pathologists.
• The statistics are not necessarily complete. The ATO sourced the 2023–24 figures from returns processed by 31 October 2025; late lodgements are not in these numbers.
• The year is 2023–24, the ATO's newest edition, released in June 2026. Fees and awards have moved since the income year ended.

The top of the table is procedural private practice

The highest averages belong to surgical, imaging and scope-based specialties billing privately, where operating lists and scan volume can scale beyond what consulting hours allow. To see how that billing actually works, lever by lever, open the models we've already built:

• Anaesthetist billings calculator — how RVG units and no-gap vs known-gap billing shape anaesthetic private income.
• Psychiatrist billings calculator — a consult-based specialty where fees above the rebate and medico-legal work drive the spread.
• GP billings calculator — why gross GP billings sit well above the taxable-income figures in this table.

Public hospital salaries for consultants are a different (and much narrower) distribution. See our per-state consultant pay guides, e.g. NSW, VIC and QLD.

Earning it takes a decade: pick your pathway

Most named specialties in the table link to their training pathway guide, covering entry competitiveness, program length and college requirements for all 48 specialties. If you're still a junior doctor, your near-term pay is set by state awards, not this table: compare intern salaries by state or model your own roster in the take-home pay calculator.

FAQ

What is the highest-paid medical specialty in Australia?

By average taxable income on ATO 2023–24 data, neurosurgery: the 176 taxpayers reporting the occupation averaged $678,611 (median $537,049). Plastic and reconstructive surgeons ($660,492 average) and ophthalmologists ($655,245 average) were next. By median, ENT surgeons ranked highest at $539,017.

How much do surgeons earn in Australia?

It depends on the surgical specialty. In 2023–24, general surgeons averaged $438,505 in taxable income (median $335,144), orthopaedic surgeons $554,839, urologists $586,462, cardiothoracic surgeons $607,511 and neurosurgeons $678,611. These are taxable incomes after deductions, not base salaries.

How much do GPs earn in Australia?

The 27,776 taxpayers who reported their occupation as general practice averaged $196,060 in taxable income in 2023–24, with a median of $156,733. The gap between GP billings and taxable income is explained by practice fees and deductions, which our GP billings calculator models.

Is taxable income the same as salary?

No. Taxable income is what's left after work-related deductions, and for private specialists it reflects practice income net of costs rather than a salary. It also includes every taxpayer reporting that occupation, whether full-time, part-time, newly qualified or semi-retired, so it usually sits below what a busy full-time specialist bills.

How much do junior doctors earn in Australia?

The 21,380 taxpayers reporting the occupation resident medical officer averaged $140,129 in taxable income in 2023–24 (median $123,992). Junior doctor award salaries and penalty rates vary by state, so see our state pay guides and take-home pay calculator.

Sources & methodology

• All figures: ATO Taxation statistics 2023–24 (released June 2026), Individuals Table 15A ("Average and median taxable income, salary or wages, and total income, by occupation and sex"), "Total" (all-sex) rows for occupation codes 253111–253999. The workbook is on data.gov.au.
• The ATO publishes these values to the cent; the table shows them rounded to the nearest dollar, and the exact published values appear in the expandable list under the table. Nothing else is adjusted or estimated. The taxpayer total in the lead is the sum of the 34 published occupation rows; the ATO notes some items may be combined or excluded for privacy.
• Occupation names are standardised to the common clinical title for each ATO occupation code (for example, code 253913 is published as "Gynaecologist" and shown here as Obstetrician & gynaecologist, matching the ANZSCO title for that code). The ATO's exact title and code appear for every row on hover and in the expandable list.
• Per the ATO's notes: occupation is as reported by the taxpayer; statistics are from returns processed by 31 October 2025 and are not necessarily complete; averages and medians include individuals reporting zero at the label.