Melbourne University salaries as a percentage of Sydney University salaries.
This brief paper looks at University of Melbourne salary trends in the context of salary trends in the higher education sector and more broadly. It will rely mainly on charts and tables, clarifying in text only when necessary. The evidence the paper presents is blunt: The University of Melbourne is slipping down the national higher education pay scales for both academic and professional staff (general staff), a trend the University seems intent on exacerbating.
The University of Sydney now clearly leads the sector.
Download the paper here (pdf)
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December 4th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Thank you for the report comparing salaries between Universities.
It looks like staff at Melbourne are pretty well paid. Looking at chart 1, I saw a curve that looked like exponential salary growth and the Melbourne line definitely stayed on track with other Universities since 2001. Sure, it’s slipping to the bottom end of the top 10… but this is the top 10.
On table 1, I see USA paying 54k to HEW level 6/1 on the bottom (this is more than my parents earn so even that looks pretty good to me). You’ve blotted out the number but it looks like Melbourne is paying around 60k for the same level. Not bad.
At academic level C1, Melbourne is paying roughly 90k and I can’t see how much higher the others in the top 10 are. In 2001, the top 10 were distributed between 62k and 63k – with a maximum of a couple of hundred dollars separating each step. If the distribution is still that tight, I’m not seeing a problem here.
Looking at chart 11, I see university pay increasing pretty steadily over the past 10 years while private sector pay fluctuates a lot. At the moment, it looks like Melbourne has actually caught up with the private sector of NSWs, gaining significant ground on the victorian private sector. Given that we’re talking about salaries of over $110k p.a. here, and the difference between Melbourne and the victorian private sector is approximately $10k, I’d say that it looks pretty good.
Your pay looks relatively good compared with other Universities, in absolute terms, you’re getting paid quite well. This is getting into the higher tax brackets – http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/12333.htm
The HEW 6 is in the middle bracket and the academic is in the 4th bracket or second highest bracket. If I were you, I would be pretty happy with that.
December 14th, 2009 at 9:45 am
The above comment really shows just how much this strike is motivated by greed. Staff salaries are already exceptionally high. In reponse to a comment on the original striking post (I notice the website has appeared to disable comments on other sections), I have emailed the VC (and encouraged a number of friends to do the same) to the effect that the majority of students are against the NTEU in this strike and encouraging University administration to hold out.
December 15th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Hi Bradley,
Thanks for your comments. The fact that salaries at the University of Melbourne have slipped to the bottom end of the top ten is the point of this paper.
It is making comparisons for some of the most highly educated people in Australia (academics and professional staff). University salaries reflect these realities.
Kind Regards
Webmaster
December 16th, 2009 at 11:24 am
So you saying that the academics who teach in discplines like engerining, IT, Medicine, Construction, Marketing, Science should get paid less then average for their field?
Also consider how many more admin roles there are in the banking and finance sector, they are also probably below average when you compare years of experince and qualifications.
http://content.mycareer.com.au/salary-centre/
Personally I would prefer that the people teaching me are some of the best in their field, and not the left overs from the private sector.