Doctor Salary and Take-Home Pay in Australia
Medicine has the widest gap between award floor and real pay of any occupation on this site. The intern award minimum is $66,432 a year while general practitioners median $127,192 and specialist physicians $188,240. See the full ladder and what each stage actually pays after tax for 2026-27.
Australian Take-Home Pay Calculator 2026-27
Tax bracket progress
Where your money goes
Income vs deductions
Your pay, every way
| Component | Daily | Weekly | Fortnightly | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $346 | $1,731 | $3,462 | $7,500 | $90,000 |
| Income tax | −$67 | −$337 | −$674 | −$1,460 | −$17,520 |
| Medicare levy | −$7 | −$35 | −$69 | −$150 | −$1,800 |
| Super (12%) | +$42 | +$208 | +$415 | +$900 | +$10,800 |
| Take-home pay | $272 | $1,359 | $2,718 | $5,890 | $70,680 |
Representative Medians by Stage, 2026-27
ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, via Jobs and Skills Australia. These are two separate occupation groups, not two points on one scale.
| Group | Annual | Income tax | Medicare levy | Take-home pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPs and resident medical officers ANZSCO 2531, $2,446 a week, median hourly about $60 | $127,192 | $28,678 | $2,544 | $95,971 |
| Specialist physicians ANZSCO 2533, $3,620 a week, median hourly about $95 | $188,240 | $50,719 | $3,765 | $133,756 |
Australian resident, super paid on top of salary, no HECS-HELP debt, private hospital cover assumed so no Medicare levy surcharge. The specialist median is $37,786 more in the hand than the GP median. Private specialist and procedural earnings vary widely and are frequently much higher than the specialist median shown here. Source: ABS SEEH May 2025 via Jobs and Skills Australia.
The Award Ladder, and Why It Is Only a Floor
The Medical Practitioners Award 2020 (MA000031) sets minimum rates across four broad classifications, from a first-year intern to a senior career medical practitioner. Every rate below is operative from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
| Award classification | Weekly | Annual | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intern, first year Award safety net for a first postgraduate year | $1,278 | $66,432 | $54,657 |
| Resident medical officer Award safety net, post-internship | $1,356 | $70,529 | $57,440 |
| Career medical practitioner Award safety net, experienced non-specialist | $2,038 | $105,951 | $81,527 |
| Senior career medical practitioner Top of the award scale | $2,305 | $119,852 | $90,979 |
Note what the ladder does not do. Even its top classification, senior career medical practitioner at $119,852, sits below the GP median of $127,192. The award cannot describe specialist pay at all.
That is by design. Public hospital medical staff are almost universally covered by state and territory health enterprise agreements which set the real scales, along with overtime, on-call, unrostered overtime and professional development provisions the award does not match.
Take-Home on $127,192
Tax Decisions That Matter at a Doctor Salary
At $127,192 and above, three things stop being theoretical.
The Medicare levy surcharge. Above the threshold without an appropriate level of private hospital cover, the surcharge is charged on your entire income, not just the portion above the line. At doctor income levels the annual surcharge typically exceeds what a basic hospital policy costs, which makes going uncovered an expensive choice rather than a saving. See the MLS explained or check your position with the MLS calculator.
Salary sacrifice and Division 293. Pre-tax super contributions are normally taxed at 15% in the fund rather than your marginal rate, and at a 30% marginal rate that is a wide gap. Division 293 imposes an additional tax on concessional contributions for high income earners, which narrows the benefit without removing it. Senior specialists are the group most likely to be affected. See salary sacrifice explained, the salary sacrifice calculator, and the 2026-27 contribution caps.
Marginal versus average. On the GP median the marginal rate is 30% but the average rate is 24.5%. On the specialist median the marginal rate is 37% against an average of 28.9%. The gap between those two numbers is the single most misunderstood thing about high incomes. See marginal vs average tax rate.
Common Mistakes With Doctor Pay
Where the published figures mislead for this profession.
Quoting the award as a doctor salary
The intern floor of $66,432 is a legal minimum almost nobody is paid. Every salaried hospital doctor is on a state agreement above it.
Treating GP and specialist as one scale
They are separate ABS occupation groups, not two rungs of a ladder. The $61,048 difference reflects different work, not seniority alone.
Assuming the specialist median is a ceiling
Private specialist and procedural earnings frequently exceed it by a wide margin and vary enormously by specialty and practice model.
Going without private hospital cover
The surcharge applies to your whole income above the threshold. At these levels it usually costs more than the policy would have.
Ignoring Division 293 when salary sacrificing
High earners face an extra tax on concessional contributions. The benefit narrows, so model it rather than assuming a flat 15%.
Confusing marginal with average rate
A 30% marginal rate does not mean 30% of your income goes in tax. The average on the GP median is 24.5%.
Doctor Pay FAQ
Common questions about medical practitioner salaries and take-home pay in Australia.
Sources
The documents behind every figure on this page.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Medical Practitioners Award 2020 (MA000031), operative from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026: intern first year $1,278 a week (about $66,432 a year); resident medical officer $1,356.33 a week; career medical practitioner $2,037.52 a week (about $105,951 a year); senior career medical practitioner $2,305 a week (about $119,852 a year). Award summary.
- ABS, Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025 (catalogue 6306.0), via Jobs and Skills Australia, ANZSCO 2531 General Practitioners and Resident Medical Officers: representative full-time median $2,446 a week, about $127,192 a year. JSA occupation profile.
- ABS, Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, via Jobs and Skills Australia, ANZSCO 2533 Specialist Physicians: representative full-time median $3,620 a week, about $188,240 a year. JSA occupation profile.
- Most salaried public hospital doctors are covered by state and territory health enterprise agreements rather than the award, per research/salaries-professions.md. Those agreements also set overtime, on-call and unrostered overtime provisions not reflected in award rates.
- Australian Taxation Office, Superannuation Guarantee, 12% from 1 July 2025; individual income tax rates, the 2% Medicare levy and Medicare levy surcharge thresholds for 2026-27; and Division 293 tax on concessional contributions for high income earners.
Take-home figures are calculated live on published ATO rates for 2026-27. Award figures are legal minimums for ordinary hours and exclude overtime, on-call and unrostered overtime. Private specialist and procedural income is outside the scope of the ABS employee earnings survey used here. Division 293 thresholds change and are not modelled in the calculator on this page. Last verified 31 July 2026.