Mining, generic
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The average full-time Australian worker is now bringing in over $2000 a week for the first time in history.

Fresh figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found the average ordinary full-time weekly earnings for adults reached $2011.40 before tax in May.

Seasonally adjusted, this average weekly cash earning jumped by 4.5 per cent from the same period last year.

Mining, generic
Full-time workers in the mining industry earned the highest weekly salary before tax. (iStock)

It is the first time this figure has surpassed $2000 per week.

The ABS figure calculates how much an employee earns per week in regular work hours, not including overtime and is before tax.

There was a noticeable variation in earning power between the genders.

Men in Australia earned a full-time average of $2106.40 per week while women brought in an average of $1864.10 per week.

The gender pay gap, however, narrowed slightly from 11.9 per cent to 11.5.

‘This is the first time that average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults have been greater than $2000,” ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.

“Annual growth in May 2025 remained high at 4.5 per cent, a rise of $86.60 a week from May 2024.

“This was just below the annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent in the year to November 2024.”

In a state and territory breakdown, the ABS said ACT workers had the highest average weekly ordinary earnings with $2236, followed by Western Australia at $2154.

Wage growth May 2025
A graph showing average weekly ordinary cash earnings for full-time workers in Australia. (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Tasmanian workers recorded the lowest at $1793.

The highest-paid full-time workers are employed in the mining industry and earn an average $3174 per week.

Meanwhile, the lowest average full-time salary is earned by workers in accommodation and food services, sitting at $1459.

Workers in the public sector earned the most per week at ($2167), compared to those in the private sector ($1966).

The unemployment rate also fell to 4.2 per cent for the month of July.

This followed a small spike in the jobless figure last month.

The number of newly employed Australians jumped by 25,000 people this month, buoyed by a record-high level of women joining the workforce.

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