Australian Salary Guide 2027 by Job Title: What Employers Should Check Before Setting Pay

Planning salaries for 2027 raises a familiar problem: employers need to decide what to budget before all of next year's market and minimum-wage information is available.

A useful salary guide should not simply publish an impressive-looking list of job titles with invented figures. It should show which market evidence is available, how roles are matched and what to update as new data is released.

This guide is written in October 2026. The FY2026/27 Hays Salary Guide is already published, while Australia's minimum wages for July 2027 have not yet been set. The 2027 figures in your own remuneration budget should therefore distinguish confirmed current data from assumptions about next year's changes.

What do Australian salary trends suggest for 2027 planning?

The Hays Salary Guide FY26/27 reported average salary increases of around 4% among surveyed professionals, while employers anticipated average pay changes of approximately 3.8% over the next 12 months. These are survey observations and expectations, not a mandatory salary increase or a forecast of the precise outcome for every role.

Hays also reported that half of surveyed workers felt underpaid, and that hiring pressure continued in parts of the labour market. This matters because employers may need targeted increases for specialist or difficult-to-fill jobs rather than an identical increase for every employee.

Sources: Hays Salary Guide FY26/27 and Hays FY26/27 survey findings, 28 May 2026.

What is the Australian minimum wage for 2027?

The latest confirmed adult National Minimum Wage, effective from 1 July 2026 for eligible award- and agreement-free employees, is $26.44 an hour or $1,004.90 a week for a 38-hour working week. Many employees are covered by modern awards or enterprise agreements with different minimum rates, penalties and allowances.

The national wage review for July 2027 has not yet determined new rates as at October 2026. Do not treat an assumed increase as the legal minimum for next year.

Use the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool to check the applicable classification and rates when preparing an employment offer or budget.

Which job titles should be included in your 2027 salary review?

Rather than combining unrelated roles in one national average, review by job family and seniority.

A Finance Manager at a 30-person company and one at a publicly listed organisation are not necessarily market matches. Always compare job responsibilities and organisational context before treating two salaries as equivalents.

How to find salary data for each job title

Start with a recognised salary guide or survey covering the appropriate occupation and location. The Hays Salary Checker provides salary information across more than 1,000 roles and multiple Australian regions. Hays states that its Australian figures generally exclude superannuation.

Next, check another relevant source where possible. Structured remuneration survey data can be particularly useful for graded professional, managerial and specialist roles, while recruitment advertisements may provide additional context about employers' advertised salary expectations.

Keep a record of the source, date, location, job description and pay definition. A Sydney salary range for an experienced HR Business Partner should not be reused for a junior regional HR generalist without adjustment.

A practical 2027 salary planning table

The numbers below demonstrate how an employer might build a planning scenario, not claimed Australian market salary data for these titles.

These salaries and scenario increases are hypothetical. They are not Hays published salary estimates or a Remunera market survey. A role-specific market check must be completed before any of these values is used as a real salary recommendation.

The arithmetic is straightforward: 2027 planning salary = current salary × (1 + proposed increase rate). The harder part is deciding whether the starting salary is competitive and whether the role requires a targeted market adjustment.

Why a 4% increase is not necessarily enough

Imagine a business paying a specialist $90,000 against a verified current market midpoint of $105,000. A 4% increase brings the employee to $93,600, which is still only 89.1% of that midpoint.

By contrast, another employee already at 110% of the appropriate market midpoint may not need an additional market correction. Applying the same increase to both employees can preserve rather than resolve existing differences.

This is why it can help to separate your annual budget into general increases, promotions and market adjustments. It also allows the organisation to explain the decisions more clearly.

How to build a job-title salary guide for your own business

Use one row per distinct role rather than one row per employee at first, then add employee-pay positioning once the market matches have been checked.

When available, calculate the salary's position against the market median: base salary divided by the verified P50. Keep salary packages including superannuation separate from base salary-only figures.

What does a good 2027 salary review look like?

A practical review does not require salary increases for everyone. It requires consistent decisions.

For each role, assess whether the job has changed, what the relevant market is paying, whether an employee's current remuneration is appropriate, and how much the company can afford. Review internal pay equity and legally required minimum entitlements before approving discretionary changes.

Prioritise the roles where a genuine market gap or recruitment challenge exists, rather than increasing pay simply because another industry has announced a headline percentage.

Questions employers commonly ask

Can I use a 2026 salary guide to set 2027 salaries?

Yes, as a starting point, provided you record the data date, check subsequent market changes and do not claim the numbers are confirmed 2027 rates. Review new salary survey releases and relevant minimum wage changes when they become available.

Is the average Australian pay rise likely to be 4% in 2027?

Hays reported salary increases of approximately 4% in its FY26/27 research and employer expectations around 3.8% over the coming 12 months. These are not guarantees or suitable targets for every employer.

Does an advertised salary include superannuation?

Not always. Check the stated basis. Hays indicates that salaries in its Australian guide are generally exclusive of superannuation, but individual advertisements and surveys may use different definitions.

What is the best source for a specialised role?

A suitable structured remuneration survey with relevant job matching often provides a stronger comparison than advertised titles alone. Where the relevant sample is small, record the limitation and use judgement rather than inventing precision.

2027 salary planning checklist

• Job titles have been matched to actual responsibilities and seniority.
• Each benchmark records the source, year, location and remuneration definition.
• 2026 confirmed pay rates are not labelled as 2027 minimums.
• Base salary and total fixed remuneration are clearly distinguished.
• General increases are separated from promotions and market corrections.
• Market median comparisons use appropriate roles and sufficient data.
• Internal pay equity and cost to the business have been considered.
• Budget decisions will be refreshed when new salary and award data becomes available.

What should employers do now?

Start preparing the 2027 review using current reliable salary data, but resist the temptation to label hypothetical salary numbers as market benchmarks. A defensible approach records the role, source, pay definition and assumptions so that the model can be updated when new information becomes available.

For a tailored salary comparison covering your actual Australian positions, contact Remunera about salary benchmarking, market pay ranges and annual remuneration review support.

Publication note: Prepared using information available as at October 2026. Published research is cited above. The example salaries and increases are illustrative planning scenarios, not a verified 2027 Australian salary dataset.