Page 1 of 2: FAQ: What are salary scales for doctors in Australia?

plabotomy · Credits: 17321 My Scrapbook

SALARY SCALES

The salary scales are complex and the following is a simplified (and unofficial) version.

The basic pay rates (as at Aug 05) are:

Level Description Basic rate ($ AUD)....... Hourly....Fortnightly

JHO ( Junior House Officer) .................. $24.50....$1960
1 year out from MBBS

SHO (Senior House Officer) .................. $26.00.... $2080
2 years out

PHO (Principal House Officer)/............... $32.70.... $2616
reg Year 1 3 years out

PHO/reg Year 2 4 years out.................. $33.60.... $2686

PHO/reg Year 3 5 years out.................. $34.90.... $2795

PHO/reg Year 4+ 6 years out................ $36.00.... $2880

SMO (Senior Medical Officer).................. $48.10.... $3850
Year 1 Non-specialist senior

The basic pay is augmented by the following extras:

Circumstances Extra Pay (on top of usual pay)
Overtime +50% to +150%
Saturdays +50%
Sundays +100%
Holidays +50% to +150%
Nights +15%
Call-ins +50% to +150%
Annual leave (yep holidays are paid too!) +17.5 to +27.5%

By the time extras are taken into account
JHOs receive a salary of around $70K per annum,
SHOs around $75K per annum, and
PHOs around $105K per annum.

The precise amount varies with the nature of the work (shift versus on-call) and the amount of overtime worked. Most doctors work between 40 and 44 hours/week on average. On the rare occasions that a doctor does not get a continuous 8 hour break in any one 24 hour period, he/she is entitled to full overtime pay followed by a rest period of 8 hours on full pay.

Leave Entitlements

Queensland’s junior doctors get 5-6 weeks of fully paid annual leave, plus “leave loading” which is essentially a holiday bonus of 17.5%-27.5%. They are also entitled to exam leave, but not study leave per se, and as far as junior doctors are concerned there are no routine allowances for courses or conferences (although these expenses are usually fully tax-deductible).

Salary Packaging

Salary packaging or salary sacrificing is a method of reducing your tax burden. In salary sacrificing, you elect to receive a portion of your salary as “fringe benefits” i.e. reimbursement for expenses, rather than just cash.

Fringe benefits are exempt from income tax, but subject to fringe benefits tax (FBT). FBT is set at 47% (equal to the top income tax rate). However as an employee of Queensland health, some fringe benefits (rent, bills, car leasing) can be exempted from FBT. By intelligently salary packaging your income to pay for these items, you can save yourself thousands of dollars each year.

Superannuation

The Health Service District (HSD) that employs you will automatically pay pension contributions for your benefit into a statewide superannuation fund called QSuper. The amount that goes in equals 9% of your base salary. You can top up this amount with your own contributions. You can’t opt out of the superannuation scheme. But if you work in Australia as a temporary resident, then decide to depart permanently, you may apply to have your superannuation contributions reimbursed to you when you leave.

Indemnity

In general, Queensland Health indemnifies its medical practitioners for 1) damages awarded in respect of a claim and 2) costs of defending or settling the claim. Medical practitioners will not be indemnified if their conduct is found to have been criminally negligent, or to have constituted wilful neglect. Essentially, if you are conscientious you will be covered. Your employer should provide you with an Industrial Relations Policy Manual (IRM) explaining this issue

Reimbursement of Travel Expenses

Most hospitals will reimburse relocation expenses. The “traditional” package involves:

• reimbursement of expenses incurred in obtaining visas and/or medical board registration (not the registration fee itself)
• reimbursement of outward economy class airfares, or of half the cost of return economy class airfares, to the nearest international airport for appointees and their immediate family (spouses, “de facto” partners and dependent children)
• reimbursement of costs of regional travel (plane, train, road, rickshaw) to the centre in which you will be working.
• reimbursement of excess baggage expenses

Exact policy varies from one health service district to another. Ask for a written copy of the policy before you take up an appointment. As general rules, most districts

• cap the total reimbursement at $2500 for individuals
• cap the amount reimbursed for visas, registration and/or baggage expenses at $500 for individuals and $750 for families
• will only reimburse relocation costs in full at completion of a 12-month appointment
• reduce reimbursements on a pro rata basis for appointments shorter than 12 months.

Invariably original tax receipts are required for all items to be reimbursed – including receipts for air tickets. NB the ticket itself won’t suffice. When you submit receipts keep photocopies of the originals in case they get mislaid.

DISCLAIMER:Since I am planning on going to Queensland, the salary scales mentioned here pertain to Queensland. Salaries at other states may vary
originally written by JO

plabotomy · Credits: 17321 My Scrapbook

Tax

As a full-time employee of Queensland Health you will be deemed an Australian resident for tax purposes. This will involve applying for a Tax File Number (a bit like a National Insurance number in the UK) – allows the tax office to keep track of you) when you start work; your employer will provide the relevant application form.

Australian marginal tax rates for the 2005/2006 tax year are as follows:

Gross Income Tax
0 - $6000 Nil
$6001 - $21600 Nil plus 15c for each $ over $6000
$21601 - $63000 $2340 plus 30c for each $ over $21600
$63001 - $95000 $14760 plus 42c for each $ over $63000
$95001 and over $28200 plus 47c for each $ over $95000

The tax thresholds will be shifted upwards on July 1 2006: from then, most junior doctors won’t be paying the top rate (until bracket creep sets in again).

On top of income tax, taxpayers subscribe to an obligatory National Health Insurance scheme called Medicare by paying a Medicare Levy of 1.5%. Additionally if they don’t have private health insurance they are stung for a Medicare Levy Surcharge of 1% above a $50K threshold (higher thresholds for families). If you are from an overseas country that doesn’t have a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia (ie anywhere apart from UK, Eire, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Malta, Italy and NZ) you will not be entitled to health care under Medicare and you may apply for an exemption from paying the Medicare Levy; the flipside is that you will need to obtain private health insurance.

The tax year runs from July 1. You should lodge a tax return by for the preceding year by October 31 or else penalties may apply. You can either lodge a tax return yourself (see

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) or via a tax agent (accountant); a list of tax agents can be found at the Tax Agents’ Board’s website at

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A sensible approach is to keep every receipt for work-related expenses in a big envelope, and then present these to a friendly accountant soon after July 1 asking him/her to do a tax return on your behalf. Tax Agents’ fees are generally very reasonable (and tax-deductible in their own right) and these professionals will usually save you a lot of time and money.

ghost_dog · Credits: 479 My Scrapbook

hey bro, for 21601 - 63000 its 30c over each buck plus 2340. it makes it just above 30% , am I getting it rite.

ghost_dog · Credits: 479 My Scrapbook

1 more thing, i saw on an agent's site they were offering 46k for JHO and 58k for SHO, thats current

ghost_dog · Credits: 479 My Scrapbook

can give some info about pay on odd jobs in aus.. like working at a super store

iatrologist · Credits: 253 My Scrapbook

Higher than that in Ireland .~~~

docpravin126 · Credits: 568 My Scrapbook

hi
whats salary structure in rest of Australia as of now 2006?

HARISH_SR · Credits: 487 My Scrapbook

hi iam harish from india.... i need some information regarding the medical system in Australia .... what subjects are made available for indians or any fmg for post graduation in Australia ?? is surgery within the reach of indians or secured only for australians??? plz reply me as soon as possible....

samiulla · Credits: 290 My Scrapbook

i wana know what r d chances of doing specialisation in aus,how much it costs,how 2 apply initially to get d job. and very imp. is how much it costs to settle n 2 take exams before getting d paid job n any loans r sponsorship avilable. please rep me. thanks.

NIC · Credits: 25534 My Scrapbook My Reading List 8 Books

I think you can only avail of the loans if you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident. As far as I know there are no sponsorship or loans available for the exam, unless by your relatives. You may want to try to apply for a job in an AON if you have experience.

Regards.

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