Engineers Employment Report Australia 2020 PDF

The Association of
PROFESSIONAL
ENGINEERS
EMPLOYMENT AND
REMUNERATION
REPORT 2020/21
The Association of
Published by Professionals Australia
Copyright © 2020 by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and

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ISSN 2203-1162 (previously ISSN 1444-7495)
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2 | Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21

CONTENTS
FOREWORD 6
JOB MARKET 7
KEY FINDINGS 8
ENGINEER REMUNERATION 10
Discipline 14
State 16
Sector 17
Responsibility level 19
Job function 22
Union/Professional association membership 24
Post-graduate qualifications 26
Accreditation 27
Recent graduates 30
Gender 32
Satisfaction with current remuneration 36
WORKPLACE ISSUES 39
Professional development 39
Hours of work 41
Professional intentions 44
Worker fatigue staff morale and productivity 47
Work priorities 48
Factors impacting engineering capability 49
Factors impacting mental health 51
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS 52
ABOUT THE SURVEY 58
EMPLOYMENT FRAMEWORK 63
HOW TO ORDER THE EXTENDED ENGINEERS EMPLOYMENT 68
AND REMUNERATION REPORT
Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21 | 3

A NOTE ABOUT THIS
SURVEY
The aim of this annual survey is to allow us to
report on pay and work trends in the professional
engineering workforce. As part of a longitudinal
data series of over 30 years, it will provide a strong
evidence-base for understanding the position of
the engineering workforce and the changes to
the engineering workforce over the previous and
upcoming 12 months.
The data referred to in this report was captured as the economic
downturn following the COVID-19 began and, as such, provides a
benchmark of pay levels we want to return to or exceed as we rebuild
the economy.
The data reflects only the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
wages and while engineers appear to be faring reasonably to the point
at which this snapshot was taken, engineering salaries in the coming 12
month period are unlikely to be immune from the effects of the health
crisis itself and the economic penalties that arise from the lockdown.
In response to the developing crisis, the 2020 survey included a

question looking specifically at the work impact of COVID-19 on
professional engineers. For a comprehensive report on the initial
employment impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on professional
engineers, visit the APEA website at www.professionalengineers.org.au/
impacts-covid-19-pandemic-engineers-report/

ABOUT THE
A S S O C I AT I O N O F
PROFESSIONAL
ENGINEERS,
AUSTRALIA
The Association of Professional Engineers Australia is a division of Professionals Australia (formerly
the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia). This organisation is
registered under the Fair Work Act 2009 representing over 23,000 professionals including professional
engineers, scientists, veterinarians, surveyors, architects, pharmacists, information technology
professionals, managers, transport industry professionals and translators and interpreters throughout
Australia.
Professionals Australia began as the Association of Professional Engineers, Australia (APEA) which
formed in 1946 and was registered as an industrial association in 1948. APEA was the first organisation
to ensure that professional engineers were recognised and rewarded for the high-value work they
do. The Professional Engineers Case, finalised in 1961, saw engineers across Australia receive salary
increases averaging more than 40 per cent. Even more importantly it set the precedent for work value
and benchmark salaries for professionals.
Professionals Australia's engineering members are employed across all sectors of the Australian
economy. Engineering-based industries are worth $479 billion or 32 per cent of national gross
value added and exports from engineering-based industries excluding mining totalled $92 billion1
or 29 per cent of total exports. This figure swells to $249 billion or 78 per cent of exports if mining
is included. Engineers perform design, scoping and project management roles in a diverse range of
industries throughout the private and public sectors including roads, rail, water, electricity, information
technology, telecommunications, construction, mining, oil and gas exploration, defence, shipbuilding
and manufacturing. Engineers are largely responsible for designing, building and maintaining Australia's
infrastructure. The contribution of our engineers and their ability to derive new ideas and develop
solutions to our challenges as a nation will be fundamental to a successful transition to a competitive
high-skill, knowledge-based economy.
Professionals Australia has Government approval as an assessment entity for the only mandatory
engineering registration scheme in Australia – the Registered Professional Engineers of Queensland
(RPEQ). Professionals Australia offers assessment in the areas of Civil, Electrical, Information Technology
and Telecommunications, Management, Mechanical and Structural Engineering.
Professionals Australia is a not-for profit organisation and is owned by its members.

FOREWORD
Australia is experiencing a significant downturn in economic activity The ongoing design and delivery of critical infrastructure and major
with high levels of unemployment, underemployment and low GDP nation-building projects will help drive economic recovery as we
growth expectations as the waves following the COVID-19 pandemic emerge from the Coronavirus health emergency as well as the
unfold. Australian GDP growth slowed to 2.3 per cent in the 2019 drought and bushfire emergencies. Keeping engineering skills up-to-
financial year and is likely to fall well short of the 2.75 per cent date will help ensure a well-trained and agile engineering workforce
predicted for the 2020 financial year.2 It is clear that the pandemic as the crisis subsides and governments invest in fiscal stimulus
will have a major impact on the engineering and construction labour measures and both new and suspended or delayed infrastructure
market in the coming 12 months but the magnitude of the changes, and construction projects, manufacturing, mining, construction and
the long-term impact on employment levels and the speed of the agriculture projects ramp back up.
recovery are obviously difficult to forecast.
Now more than ever, engineers are looking to their work for the
While the Grattan Institute estimates comparatively low levels opportunity it gives them to participate in wealth-generating
of unemployment in the Professional, Scientific and Technical activities for their organisation and contribute to the nation’s
Services industry (10 per cent) as the COVID-19 pandemic plays economic recovery. They develop solutions to complex problems
out, stand-downs, staffing cuts and reduced hours have still had a and positively impact people and processes. For Australian industry
significant impact. We’ve seen people taking or being asked to take to lead the way to economic recovery, we need to recognise the
unpaid leave or furloughs and leave on full or half pay, professionals role of the professional engineering workforce in value creation,
reallocated to different roles in areas of demand, alternative continue to provide proper incentive for the next generation to
arrangements for fly-in-fly-out workers, vastly expanded remote aspire to professional engineering careers and, most critically, give
work/work from home arrangements and the use of other flexibility engineers the opportunities and recognition they need to make a
provisions. We've also seen some employers trying to shut down real difference in their day-to-day work – our strength as a nation as
proper consultation with their employees on the changes to work well as a competitive Australian economy depend on it.
practices they want to implement to deal with the crisis.
Engineers have expressed concern about performance measures

with shifting deadlines as projects are delayed for a range of reasons
including site shutdowns, domestic and international supply chain
interruptions and bottlenecks, shortages of equipment and materials
and travel restrictions.
While the COVID-19 crisis presented massive challenges, there are Gordon Brock
also a range of opportunities in engineering as Australia moves into CEO, Association of Professional Engineers, Australia
post-health crisis phase – and the remuneration and employment
snapshot revealed in this survey show that we were reasonably well
placed to withstand the impacts of the pandemic.

JOB MARKET
When this snapshot was taken, the size of the professional The Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business
engineering workforce continued to hold at historically high reported that overall, the number of employed engineering
levels (bachelor and post-graduate degree qualified). According professionals had increased by 5.1 per cent to February 2019
to Australia’s most recent census data3, there were 140,391 compared with 2.3 per cent across all occupations. Demand was
professional engineers employed across Australia in 2016 remaining strongest for civil engineers across most states but the market
fairly constant with the 2011 level of 140,425 up from around eased with shortages limited to Queensland, Tasmania and the two
108,000 in 2006. The number of qualified engineers throughout territories. A national shortage of electrical engineers also emerged
Australia totalled 393,000 to 20194 and, based on historical growth, for the first time since 2012 with shortages identified in New South
would normally have increased to around 412,000 to 2020 (including Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Employers filled less than half of
graduate diploma and graduate certificate level engineers). The the mining engineer vacancies and shortages were identified for the
pandemic is likely to have an impact on employment growth but the first time since 20136.
extent of that impact is at this stage difficult to forecast.
The latest figures show disappointing progress in the participation
The most recent figures show that the number of students of women with only 14.6 per cent of the engineering workforce
commencing a degree in engineering increased by 0.2 per cent on women, lower than the 2001 figure.
the previous year driven by a 3.8 per cent increase in entry-level
commencements offsetting a 14.8 per cent decline in post-graduate Engineering vacancies in Australia to June 2019 contracted by
commencements. Completions were up, driven by a 7.3 per cent 9.2 per cent compared to a decline of 7.4 per cent for the overall
increase in entry-level course completions that offset a 2.6 per vacancy rate.7 Consistent with long-term trends, vacancy levels
cent decline in post-graduate completions. It is also noteworthy were highest in Civil engineering followed by Industrial/Mechanical/
that there was an increase in completions of 4.5 per cent marking Production engineering vacancies and Mining and ICT engineers. The
a record high for completions of engineering courses by domestic strongest growth in engineering vacancies was in New South Wales
students.5 The decline in international students able to continue followed by Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia driven
their studies in Australia as a result of the pandemic is likely to largely by major infrastructure spending on roads and rail projects.
impact completions and the impact is likely to have a long tail, but (see Table 1 below).
again the magnitude of the impact is difficult to predict.
Table 1 – Engineering vacancies by state
AVERAGE MONTHLY PERCENTAGE GROWTH/ PROPORTION OF

STATE
ENGINEERING VACANCIES DECLINE OVER 2019 (%) ENGINEERING VACANCIES (%)
NSW 1,161 -21 28

VIC 930 -14.7 23
QLD 839 -2.5 20
WA 836 Less than 1 20
SA 172 -10.3 4
ACT 78 (% too small to report) 2
NT 44 (% too small to report) 1
TAS 35 (% too small to report) 1
Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business figures show that the main reasons
employers found applicants for engineering roles unsuitable were lack of experience in a particular
specialisation, insufficient technical skills and poor application, interview or work history.8
The current supply of engineers provides a firm foundation of engineering capacity. However, a range
of initiatives will be needed to create a sustainable Australian engineering capability for the future
and ensure engineers play the central role they should in the economic recovery phase following the
COVID-19 crisis. These include ensuring an adequate talent pool of engineers with five to ten years'
experience, equipping engineers with up-to-date specialist technical skills in existing and emerging
areas, making efforts to boost engineering course commencements and completions to maintain the
latest upturns and initiatives in the face of the pandemic and to encourage greater participation of
underrepresented groups including women in the engineering workforce.

KEY FINDINGS
REMUNERATION
• Average wages for professional engineers over the 12 months to • A Masters degree delivered a wage premium of 13.6 per cent
April 2020 rose by 2.4 per cent, outpacing a CPI increase of 2.2 when compared with a Bachelor degree, while a Graduate
per cent over the 12 months to 31 March 2020 and the Wage Diploma delivered a wage premium of 16.6 per cent. Respondents
Price Index increase of 2.1 per cent across all professions over the with a doctorate received the highest wage premium, at 32.4 per
same period. cent.
• Engineers in the Education and training industry fared best in • 41.0 per cent of respondents received no pay rise at all in the
terms of growth rate with an average annual increase of 3.4 per previous 12 months – 43.2 per cent in the private sector and 37.5
cent. per cent in the public sector.
• Wages in the Consulting and technical services industry, Transport, • Average annual salary movements were greatest for engineers
postal and warehousing and the Mining industry also rose qualified in the Mechatronics and Aeronautical disciplines with
strongly, increasing between 2.6 and 2.7 per cent. increases of 4.9 and 4.2 per cent respectively.
• Gas supply as well as Manufacturing exhibited the weakest • Movements were lowest for engineers qualified in Systems,
growth, both at 1.5 per cent. Geological and Information technology and communications
engineering with movements of 0.0, 1.3 and 1.5 per cent
• Respondents in the Education and training industry reported the respectively.
highest average wage with a median total package of $203,954,
followed by engineers in Gas supply and Information Media and
telecommunications with packages of $191,625 and $171,804
respectively.
• Engineers in the Defence industry recorded the lowest average
total package at $115,263, followed by Manufacturing with an
average package of $126,272.
• The survey found almost one-third (30.5 per cent) of respondents
were dissatisfied with their current level of remuneration.
• 6.7 per cent of respondents said they were considering leaving the
profession permanently and the most common reason for wanting
to leave the profession was lack of career advancement. STAT E
• 45.6 per cent said they believed their remuneration package was
• Respondents from Western Australia reported the highest median
falling behind what others undertaking similar work were being
total package at $155,700, followed by the ACT at $153,181 and
paid.
Tasmania with $142,499.
• 47.1 per cent said they did not believe their package appropriately
• The Northern Territory and Tasmania performed the strongest in
reflected the level of responsibility they undertook in their day-to-
terms of wage growth, with average salary movements of 4.8 and
day work.
3.3 per cent respectively.
• The survey found that accreditation in the form of RPEng,
CPEng or RPEQ delivered a premium of 24.7 per cent higher
remuneration. Respondents holding an accreditation reported
a median total package of $157,850, compared with $126,625
among those respondents not holding an accreditation.

WORKPLACE ISSUES SEC TOR
• 50.0 per cent of public sector respondents saw an increasing • A sector comparison shows that the public sector marginally
lack of in-house engineering capacity as a major issue in their outperformed the private sector in terms of wage growth,
workplace over the last 12 months, compared with 24.6 of private delivering a 2.4 per cent increase compared with an increase of
sector respondents. 2.3 per cent for the public sector.
• 45.9 per cent in the public sector saw poorly scoped or designed • Public sector respondents reported a slightly higher median total
projects as an issue impacting their workplace compared with package at $139,921 compared with $136,061 for the private
38.0 per cent in the private sector. sector.
• Insufficient skills development was seen as a factor affecting
engineering workplaces by a similar number of public and private
sector respondents at 49.7 and 46.1 per cent respectively.
• A lack of engineers in decision-maker roles was reported as
a serious workplace issue by 38.5 per cent of public sector
respondents, compared with 19.4 per cent of private sector
respondents.
• Survey respondents confirmed changes in staff morale and levels
of fatigue in their workplaces with 40.0 per cent of respondents
reporting that staff morale at their workplace had declined in WOMEN IN
the previous 12 months and 39.2 per cent reporting that worker
fatigue had increased.
ENGINEERING
• 25.2 per cent of public sector respondents said their organisation • 50.9 per cent of female respondents reported that they had
did not actively regard engineering capability as a source of experienced discrimination on the basis of gender.
innovation compared with 11.2 per cent of engineers in the • While 81.7 per cent of respondents said their employer had in
private sector. place formal policies to deal with discrimination and 75.3 per
• Respondents ranked job satisfaction, remuneration, job security cent said their employer had in place formal policies to promote
and work/life balance as their top four work priorities. diversity, 12.8 per cent said that their employer did not have
strategies in place to actually implement the policies.
• Workplace stress and poor workplace management were the main
factors negatively affecting respondents' mental health. • 32.5 per cent of female respondents reported having experienced
sexual harassment in the course of their employment compared
to 1.9 per cent of male respondents.

ENGINEER
R E M U N E R AT I O N
Over the 12 months to end May 2020, engineering remuneration continued its trend of growth, with
wages rising steadily at a similar rate to that reported last year. Salaries across each industry increased to
varying degrees, with the median salary across the profession increasing by 2.4 per cent - 2.3 per cent in
the private sector and 2.4 per cent in the public sector, outpacing the Wage Price Index (WPI)9 at 2.1 per
cent. Engineering salaries marginally outperformed the Consumer Price Index (CPI)10 over the past year,
which increased by 2.2 per cent.
This result indicates engineering salaries has remained ahead of the cost of living. The March 2020 CPI
figures include the first effects of COVID-19 and are notably increased from the March 2019 result of
1.3%. Prices may continue to rise faster than they have in the past, particularly in response to emergency
fiscal policy. While engineers are well positioned to weather the effects of the pandemic, they will not be
immune to the effects on wages and income.
For a more comprehensive report on the initial employment impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on
professional engineers, visit the APEA website at www.professionalengineers.org.au/impacts-covid-19-
pandemic-engineers-report.
Figure 1 - Median percentage increase in salaries by sector of employment

4.5%
4.0%
3.5%
3.0%
2.5%
2.0% 3.9%
1.5%
1.0%
2.3% 2.4% 2.1% 2.2% 2.4%
0.5%
0.0%
All Private All Public All Other WPI (Mar '20) CPI (Mar '20) All Sectors

Wage growth by industry
Growth in salaries across the engineering profession is closely linked to the performance and strength of
each industry.
Strong wage growth in Education and training is explained by the experience engineers in that field have
and the ongoing strength of demand for employment in the industry to the point this snapshot was
taken.
Wages growth in Consulting and technical services was strong reflecting large-scale investment in
transport infrastructure and renewable energy projects in the last 12 months. Consulting Engineers
have expressed concern about project delays for a range of reasons including site shutdowns, domestic
and international supply chain interruptions and bottlenecks, shortages of equipment and materials
and travel restrictions but it is likely stimulus measures will support this industry as a means of driving
economic recovery over the coming 12 months.
Figure 2 - Median percentage increase in salaries by industry
Education and Training 3.4%
Consulting & Technical Services 2.7%
Other Transport, Postal and Warehousing 2.6%
Mining (inc. Oil/Gas extraction) 2.6%
Water, Sewerage and Drainage 2.5%
Rail 2.5%
Road 2.5%
Information Media and Telecommunications 2.4%
Public Administration and Safety 2.4%
Electricity 2.3%
Defence 2.2%
Construction 1.7%
Manufacturing 1.5%
Gas Supply 1.5%
0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% 3.5% 4.0%

Average wages by industry
Respondents in Education and training reported the highest total remuneration package ($203,954),
followed by engineers in Gas supply ($191,625) and Information media and telecommunications
($171,804). While engineers in Gas supply reported the second highest overall wages, they also reported
the lowest wage growth of 1.5 per cent (see Figure 2). Education and training’s comparative strength in
both pay levels and pay growth are likely the result of the experience engineers employed in that field
have, moving into lucrative teaching roles within tertiary institutions.
Conversely, engineers in Defence reported the lowest median total packages ($115,263), a concern given
lower wage growth in this industry despite its importance to Australia. Manufacturing was also low in
both total packages and wage growth ($126,272, 1.5 per cent), but with the focus on manufacturing as
a potential source of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis there may be an opportunity for growth in the
future.
Figure 3 - Median base salary and total package by industry
Education and Training $170,000 $203,954
Gas Supply $155,000 $191,625

Information Media and
Telecommunications $148,679 $171,804
Electricity $140,000 $164,450
Mining (inc. Oil/Gas extraction) $135,000 $158,775
Rail $125,815 $146,899
Public Administration and Safety $118,000 $138,262
Other Transport, Postal

and Warehousing
$120,000 $136,879
Construction $110,000 $136,000
Road $112,948 $131,400
Consulting & Technical Services $114,842 $131,400
Water, Sewerage and Drainage $110,000 $130,415
Manufacturing $112,192 $126,272
Defence $103,000 $115,263
$0K $50K $100K $150K $200K
Base Salary Total Package

Differences in pay reported by industry are influenced by both remuneration levels and the distribution
of respondents across responsibility levels. Table 2 below provides a breakdown of salaries by industry as
well as responsibility level for further reference. Responsibility level definitions can be found in the About
the survey section.
Table 2 - Median base salary and total package by industry and responsibility level
LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 5 ABOVE LEVEL 5

BASE TOTAL BASE TOTAL BASE TOTAL BASE TOTAL BASE TOTAL BASE TOTAL
SALARY PACKAGE SALARY PACKAGE SALARY PACKAGE SALARY PACKAGE SALARY PACKAGE SALARY PACKAGE
Consulting & Technical $67,000 $73,365 $80,000 $89,539 $106,000 $121,545 $135,000 $159,229 $174,039 $202,626 $225,000 $246,375
Services
Construction $72,302 $82,241 $85,500 $93,623 $100,228 $129,244 $138,542 $167,477 $172,500 $219,864 - -
Mining (inc. Oil/Gas $82,000 $89,790 $81,000 $88,855 $130,275 $153,300 $159,932 $184,200 $159,000 $194,848 - -
extraction)
Electricity $87,078 $96,808 $100,156 $116,070 $135,657 $157,445 $151,400 $176,480 $192,843 $230,447 - -
Gas Supply - - - - - - $180,000 $202,575 - - - -
Water, Sewerage and $67,653 $74,080 $87,756 $98,540 $110,000 $138,375 $127,700 $145,293 $156,723 $193,410 - -
Drainage
Information
Media and - - - - $110,000 $123,200 $160,000 $193,090 - - - -
Telecommunications
Defence $71,400 $78,183 $85,000 $93,130 $106,000 $116,070 $142,544 $162,353 $175,000 $216,425 - -
Public Administration - - - - $102,500 $113,833 $118,000 $138,336 $145,813 $199,616 - -

and Safety
Road $69,500 $76,103 $102,500 $116,009 $107,524 $124,968 $118,438 $139,220 $162,000 $186,150 - -
Rail $68,298 $77,897 $90,500 $103,348 $120,000 $137,635 $151,150 $170,826 $194,500 $214,042 - -
Other Transport,
Postal and - - $90,000 $98,550 $124,400 $137,414 $129,000 $160,694 - - - -
Warehousing
Education and Training - - - - - - $143,478 $169,774 $180,000 $212,054 - -
Manufacturing $70,000 $76,775 $83,000 $93,349 $101,857 $128,115 $130,920 $153,035 $164,250 $185,603 - -
Other - - - - $97,500 $111,763 $121,325 $132,851 - - - -
All industries $70,000 $76,900 $85,000 $94,972 $112,598 $132,920 $140,000 $163,155 $174,039 $206,517 $216,000 $251,988

DISCIPLINE
Average annual total packages were highest for engineers qualified in the Geological and Manufacturing
disciplines but low responding in these categories limit the drawing of any serious inferences. Total
packages were lowest for those qualified in the Structural discipline where there was substantial
responding.
Figure 4 - Median annual base salaries and total package by engineering discipline
Geological $160,250 $176,295
Manufacturing $140,000 $166,600
Electrical $130,000 $149,456
Biomedical $126,000 $137,970
Aeronautical $116,000 $137,020
Civil $114,000 $133,715
Information Technology
and Communications
$120,000 $132,969
Electronics $115,003 $132,794
Systems $115,000 $132,250
Mechanical $110,000 $131,400
Chemical $109,012 $130,642
Environmental $110,000 $127,913
Mechatronics $105,500 $123,530
Materials $110,428 $121,981
Naval Architecture $105,000 $114,975
Structural $101,500 $114,874
$0K $20K $40K $60K $80K $100K $120K $140K $160K $180K $200K

Average annual salary movements were greatest for engineers qualified in the Mechatronics and
Aeronautical disciplines with increases of 4.9 and 4.2, per cent respectively. These were followed by
Environmental engineering at 2.7 per cent.
Movements were lowest in the Systems, Geological and Information technology and communications
disciplines with movements of 0.0, 1.3 and 1.5 per cent respectively.
Figure 5 – Median annual percentage base salary movements by engineering discipline
Mechatronics 4.9%
Aeronautical 4.2%
Environmental 2.7%
Chemical 2.6%
Structural 2.6%
Mechanical 2.5%
Biomedical 2.5%
Civil 2.4%
Manufacturing 2.4%
Electrical 2.0%
Materials 1.8%
Electronics 1.8%
Information Technology 1.5%

and Communications
Geological 1.3%
Systems 0.0%
0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0%

STAT E
In 2020, the respondents from Western Australia reporting the highest median total package at
$155,700, followed by the ACT at $153,181 and Tasmania with $142,499.
Annual salary movements were greatest in the Northern Territory and Tasmania with growth of 4.8 and
3.3 per cent respectively.
The extent of the impact and recovery will depend on factors such as the number of cases, the size of the
population, the size of cities and degree of urbanisation, whether the state has large older or indigenous
populations, the concentration of workers in at-risk occupations and industries such as tourism, the
success of lockdown measures, the extent and impact of stimulus measures, the extent to which the
state relies on overseas arrivals and/or international students for growth, the extent to which the state
public sector can provide a floor to job losses, the state of the state's economy prior to the crisis and the
impact on markets for particular state-manufactured products and services.11
Figure 6 - Median total package and percentage increase in salary by state
NT
$127,605
4.8% QLD
ANNUAL GROWTH $134,685
1.9%
WA ANNUAL GROWTH
$155,700
SA
1.8% $135,626
ANNUAL GROWTH
2.3% NSW
ANNUAL GROWTH
$139,623
2.5%
ANNUAL GROWTH
ACT
$153,181
VIC 0.0%
$134,263 ANNUAL GROWTH
2.2%
ANNUAL GROWTH TAS
$142,499
3.3%
ANNUAL GROWTH

SEC TOR
There was very little difference in the performance of participants from the public and private sector
in 2020 in terms of median base salary, total package and salary growth. Private sector respondents
reported increases of 2.3 per cent compared to 2.4 per cent in the public sector (see Figure 1). Public
sector respondents reported a median total package of $139,921, compared to $136,061 in the private
sector.
Figure 7 - Median base salary and total package by sector

$145,000
$140,000
$135,000
$120,000
$120,000
$118,000
$130,000
$139,921
$138,336
$136,061
$125,000
$120,000
$115,000
$110,000
$105,000
All Private All Public All Sectors
Differences between the remuneration of participants in the private and public sector were much
more apparent looking across standard levels of responsibility (see About the survey section for level
definitions). Public sector engineers tended to report superior base salaries at Levels 1 and 2, which
represent more junior roles with few to no subordinates. At Levels 3 to 5 and beyond, the private sector
tended to offer better base salaries. These roles are typically more senior and involve exercising marked
autonomy, judgement, management skills and authority. The premium for working in the private sector
was greater the more responsibility a role involved.
Figure 8 - Median base salary by sector across levels of responsibility

$250K
$200K
$150K
$225,000
$216,000
$193,672
$177,000
$174,039
$160,000
$100K
$144,300
$140,000
$130,000
$112,598
$115,000
$107,612
$95,000
$85,000
$82,686
$70,000
$71,500
$50K
$70,000
$0K
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Above Level 5
Private Sector Public Sector All Sectors

The survey found that 41.0 per cent of respondents received no pay rise at all in the previous 12 months.
However, this issue was more prevalent in the private sector, with 43.2 per cent of respondents receiving
no pay rise, compared with 37.5 per cent in the public sector. Positively, the gap between receiving a
pay rise in the public and private sector has shrunk in 2020. Still, the rate overall is surprisingly high and
indicates that wages for a large portion of the nation’s engineers are failing to keep up with the basic
cost of living. This will be a big concern as we recover from the crisis. Engineering skills will be critical to
the government’s plan for growth and employers that fail to maintain market pay rises will likely face the
prospect of losing skilled staff, potentially costing more over the longer-term due to the cost of recruiting
and training new staff, and/or outsourcing with short-term savings but higher whole of life/long-term
costs.
Figure 9 - Annual salary movements - All sectors
6% or more 9.7%
4.5% to 6% 3.4%
3% to 4.5% 8.3%
1.5% to 3% 17.5%
0% to 1.5% 20.1%
No increase 41.0%
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%
% of Respondents
Figure 10 - Annual salary movements - Private sector
6% or more 11.6%
4.5% to 6% 3.6%
3% to 4.5% 7.0%
1.5% to 3% 14.8%
0% to 1.5% 19.9%
No increase 43.2%
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%
% of Respondents
Figure 11 - Annual salary movements - Public sector
6% or more 5.3%
4.5% to 6% 2.7%
3% to 4.5% 10.6%
1.5% to 3% 22.9%
0% to 1.5% 20.9%
No increase 37.5%
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%
% of Respondents

RESPONSIBILITY LEVEL
The Professional Employees Award 2010, which covers the majority of professional engineering
positions, defines standard levels of responsibility for engineering roles. Individuals can place their
unique role within this broadly applicable structure for the purpose of comparison to other roles.
Descriptions of each level can be found in the About the survey section at the end of this report.
Average annual movements in median base salary were highest at Level 1 with a median increase of
5.3 per cent. This result is not surprising, as larger percentage movements are required at this level in
order to have a tangible effect on take-home pay and professionals tend to acquire experience at the
greatest rate at this stage in their career. The average salary increase tended to fall as responsibility level
rose, with respondents at Level 4 reporting an average 1.9 per cent increase. Growth recovered slightly
amongst the most senior engineers.
Figure 12 - Median annual salary movements across responsibility levels by sector
6.0%
5.0%
4.0%
3.0%
5.3%
5.0%
4.7%
4.3%
2.0%
3.8%
3.3%
3.1%
2.6%
2.5%
2.5%
2.5%
2.5%
2.2%
2.0%
1.9%
1.0%
1.3%
SNR
SNR
0.0%

The median base salary for a Level 1 engineer across all sectors was $70,000 with a median total package
of $76,900. Salaries not surprisingly were greatest above Level 5 where the median base salary was
$216,000 and the median total package was $251,988. Median base salaries ranged from $70,000 at
Level 1 to $225,000 above Level 5 for the Private sector, $71,500 at Level 1 to $184,272 above Level 5 for
the Public sector.
Table 3 - All full-time respondents - base salary and total package by responsibility level -
All sectors
BASE SALARY TOTAL PACKAGE

N LOWER UPPER LOWER UPPER
MEDIAN MEAN MEDIAN MEAN
QUARTILE QUARTILE QUARTILE QUARTILE
LEVEL 1 79 $65,000 $70,000 $74,603 $70,905 $72,270 $76,900 $84,233 $80,022
LEVEL 2 140 $77,000 $85,000 $95,000 $87,520 $85,895 $94,972 $109,514 $98,909
LEVEL 3 296 $99,246 $112,598 $131,000 $116,206 $112,785 $132,920 $153,300 $135,256
LEVEL 4 275 $120,000 $140,000 $155,000 $140,834 $137,400 $162,660 $184,199 $163,195
LEVEL 5 99 $150,000 $174,039 $192,843 $175,621 $175,450 $206,517 $227,507 $205,184
ABOVE LEVEL 5 20 $185,000 $216,000 $269,000 $232,915 $232,673 $251,988 $349,623 $284,475
ALL RESPONDENTS 909 $93,500 $120,000 $150,000 $124,340 $105,120 $138,336 $171,688 $144,209
Private sector

LEVEL 1 58 $65,000 $70,000 $73,500 $70,618 $71,550 $76,650 $83,106 $78,849
LEVEL 2 110 $75,159 $82,686 $92,000 $84,800 $84,315 $93,343 $102,930 $96,104
LEVEL 3 185 $99,120 $115,000 $130,000 $116,547 $112,785 $131,988 $153,300 $135,348
LEVEL 4 160 $125,000 $144,300 $160,000 $145,350 $142,350 $164,250 $186,533 $166,917
LEVEL 5 62 $152,640 $177,000 $195,000 $177,438 $175,450 $208,077 $227,802 $205,866
ABOVE LEVEL 5 13 $200,000 $225,000 $315,000 $248,498 $239,000 $296,815 $376,425 $301,205
ALL RESPONDENTS 588 $87,000 $118,000 $150,000 $123,253 $98,177 $136,061 $171,400 $142,126

Public sector

LEVEL 1 19 $67,595 $71,500 $74,603 $71,823 $74,460 $80,966 $85,410 $83,585
LEVEL 2 29 $84,000 $95,000 $108,000 $97,924 $91,980 $113,500 $120,450 $109,640
LEVEL 3 109 $99,372 $107,612 $131,000 $115,282 $112,785 $133,390 $152,384 $134,632
LEVEL 4 109 $112,000 $130,000 $149,000 $133,765 $131,400 $149,175 $173,272 $157,049
LEVEL 5 31 $143,000 $160,000 $190,000 $170,299 $169,418 $199,633 $226,005 $201,854
ABOVE LEVEL 5 4 - $184,272 - $184,955 - $233,183 - $229,631
ALL RESPONDENTS 301 $100,000 $120,000 $143,000 $124,151 $115,082 $139,921 $168,714 $145,305
Other sectors (inc. Education)

LEVEL 1 SNR - - - - - - - -
LEVEL 2 SNR - - - - - - - -
LEVEL 3 SNR - - - - - - - -
LEVEL 4 6 $140,000 $144,978 $160,000 $148,836 $164,450 $169,774 $199,200 $175,599
LEVEL 5 6 $170,000 $185,000 $200,000 $184,333 $205,108 $215,527 $223,323 $215,345
ABOVE LEVEL 5 3 - - - $229,333 - - - $285,102
ALL RESPONDENTS 19 $140,000 $165,000 $190,000 $164,264 $164,450 $199,200 $223,323 $195,318

JOB FUNC TION
Average annual base salaries and total packages were highest for engineers employed in management
functions, followed by those employed in Teaching or training and Sales and marketing. The high total
package for engineers employed in Sales and marketing was driven by more valuable additional benefits
than annual base salary.
Average annual salary movements were also greatest for engineers in Teaching or training, followed by
Construction supervision with increases of 4.3 and 3.8 per cent respectively.
Movements were lowest in the Sales and marketing function with annual salaries holding level with the
12 months prior (0.0 per cent)
Figure 13 - Median annual base salaries and total package by job function
Management $155,000 $185,885
Teaching or Training $157,500 $181,937
Sales & Marketing $122,500 $179,707
Construction Supervision $114,684 $153,300
Asset Management $131,000 $148,978
Research & Development $125,500 $142,350
Project Management $113,644 $132,353
Project Study and Analysis $112,000 $131,400
Production, Quality, Maintenance $101,000 $121,500
Design $104,816 $120,450
$0K $50K $100K $150K $200K

Figure 14 - Median annual percentage base salary movements by job function
Teaching or Training 4.3%
Construction Supervision 3.8%
Production, Quality, Maintenance 2.7%
Design 2.6%
Project Management 2.4%
Asset Management 2.4%
Management 2.3%
Project Study and Analysis 2.1%
Research & Development 1.9%
Sales & Marketing 0.0%
0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% 3.5% 4.0% 4.5% 5.0%

UNION/PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
MEMBERSHIP
A 2017 study using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey
from 2001-2013 with a sample of 80,000 workers showed that union members earned higher wages per
hour than non-union members.12
Our survey data is consistent with the findings of the HILDA survey, with members of Professionals
Australia earning more than their non-member peers from Levels 1 to 5. Professionals Australia
membership delivered a median premium of 13.9 per cent in base salaries and total packages.
Figure 15 – Median base salary by Professionals Australia membership – Levels 1 to 5

$300K
$250K
$200K
$257,600
$150K
$243,425
$210,900
$193,205
$162,290
$163,155
$100K
$134,685
$131,450
$106,348
$92,433
$76,954
$76,103
$50K
$0K
Professionals Australia member Not a member

The Association of
To look at the
benefits of
Professionals
Australia
membership, visit:
PROFESSIONALENGINEERS.ORG.AU/JOIN
POST-GRADUATE QUALIFICATIONS
In investigating the impact of post-graduate qualifications on salary levels the survey found that
additional qualifications deliver a real wage premium for professional engineers. Respondents holding a
Masters degree delivered a wage premium to their total package of 13.6 per cent when compared with
a Bachelor degree, while a Graduate diploma delivered a wage premium of 16.6 per cent. Respondents
with a Doctorate/PhD received the highest wage premium at 32.4 per cent.
These results highlight the importance of growing the technical skill and knowledge base of the
engineering workforce, with employers willing to pay a premium for highly-skilled engineers with post-
graduate qualifications. The results are also useful for employees seeking to improve their remuneration
with skill acquisition linked to career opportunities and higher wages.
Figure 16 - Median total package by qualification
Diploma $129,102
Bachelor Degree (inc. Hons) $131,400
Graduate Diploma $153,193
Masters Degree (inc. MBA) $149,321
Doctorate/PhD $173,917
Other $121,603
$0 $40,000 $80,000 $120,000 $160,000 $200,000

ACCREDITATION
Accreditation is a critical risk management mechanism for organisations. It ensures recognition of
qualified, competent and up-to-date engineers which in turn ensures high standards of engineering
output, current skill and knowledge, a strong capacity to protect community safety and the efficient
movement of engineering capability across domestic and international boundaries.
The survey found that the remuneration of engineers who hold accreditation was significantly higher
than those who did not. The extra remuneration received by accredited engineers demonstrates the
additional value that these engineers provide to their employers. Accredited engineers are recognised as
experts in their field providing a high-level of engineering capability and high standards of engineering
practice. Accredited engineers are also required to continuously improve their engineering skills through
CPD, ensuring that they are up-to-speed on changes in engineering practice and standards. By employing
accredited engineers, employers can be sure they are maintaining a superior level of engineering skill
that is highly regarded by clients and other stakeholders.
The survey found that accreditation in the form of RPEng, CPEng or RPEQ delivered a premium of
26.4 per cent higher remuneration ($29,000 higher as measured by median base salary across levels
of responsibility).
Accreditation by responsibility level

Across all levels, respondents holding accreditation reported earnings greater than their non-accredited
counterparts. Respondents with accreditation reported a median base salary of $139,000, compared
with $110,000 for those respondents not holding an accreditation. This premium was evident across all
levels of responsibility from Level 2, the point at which accreditation becomes available.
Figure 17 - Median base salary by accreditation across responsibility levels

$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$221,000
$207,500
$178,000
$167,500
$100,000
$143,500
$135,000
$139,000
$120,635
$110,000
$110,000
$105,022
$84,000
$50,000
$0
Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Above Level 5 All Levels
Holds accreditation Does not hold accreditation

Accreditation by industry
The survey found solid rates of accreditation across industries. Engineers in the Consulting and technical
Services industry reported the highest proportion of engineers who held accreditation at 42.7 per cent
of respondents, followed by the Electricity industry at 42.4 per cent, Mining at 37.1 per cent and Public
administration and safety at 36.0 per cent.
Information media and telecommunications reported the lowest rate of accreditation, followed by
Manufacturing.
Figure 18 - Proportion of engineers holding an accreditation by industry
Electricity 42.4%
Construction 32.3%
Rail 31.8%
Defence 25.8%
Road 24.5%
Gas Supply 22.2%
Manufacturing 16.2%
Information Media and 9.1%

Telecommunications
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
% of Respondents

Accreditation cost
Engineers in the Electricity industry were most likely to have their accreditation paid for by their
employer, followed by engineers in Consulting and technical services, Rail, Gas supply and Defence.
Engineers in Information media and telecommunications, Public administration and safety and
Manufacturing industries were least likely to have their accreditation paid for by their employer.
Figure 19 – Proportion of engineers whose employer pays for accreditation by industry
Electricity 54.4%
Rail 43.1%
Gas Supply 42.9%
Defence 40.6%
Road 29.6%
Construction 29.5%
Manufacturing 17.5%

Telecommunications
4.5%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
% of Respondents
HOW MUCH MORE

DO ACCREDITED
ENGINEERS EARN?
$29,000
Accredited engineers earn 26.4% more on average than non-accredited engineers as
measured by median base salary across levels of responsibility from 2020 Professional
Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report.
Visit the RPEng website at www.professionalengineers.org.au/RPEng

RECENT GRADUATES
By sector, recent graduates in the public sector reported higher median commencing salaries, at
$69,600, compared with $65,000 in the private sector. Commencing salaries in the public sector tend to
be set by enterprise bargaining agreements that often include graduate commencing salaries that are
higher than in the private sector.
Civil and Mechanical engineers accounted for the largest group of recent graduate respondents,
suggesting that these roles are providing the largest number of entry-level opportunities for graduate
engineers.
By discipline, graduates qualified in Structural engineering reported the highest median commencing
salaries at $70,000, followed by Mechanical engineering at $69,199.
In terms of industry, Consulting and technical services accounted for the largest share of respondents.
This result is not surprising as consulting engineers effectively provide their services across the whole
economy. Manufacturing and Water sewerage and drainage also accounted for a large proportion of
graduate respondents.
By industry, recent graduates in Electricity reported the highest median commencing salaries, at $84,000
followed by engineers in Mining ($80,000) and Road ($70,000). The Consulting and technical services
industry employs a large number of graduate engineers, but unfortunately offers some of the lowest
median commencing salaries among those surveyed at $61,644.

Table 7 - All full-time recent graduates commencing salaries
COMMENCING SALARY
LOWER UPPER
N MEDIAN MEAN
QUARTILE QUARTILE
PRIVATE 54 $60,000 $65,000 $72,000 $66,252
SECTOR
PUBLIC 18 $63,100 $69,600 $74,000 $71,357
AERONAUTICAL 3 - - - $75,833
CHEMICAL 6 $60,000 $62,500 $74,000 $63,920
CIVIL 21 $60,000 $67,000 $70,000 $67,055
STRUCTURAL 6 $67,000 $70,000 $70,000 $68,282
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND
6 $58,000 $65,000 $72,000 $67,667
DISCIPLINE COMMUNICATIONS
ELECTRICAL 13 $62,000 $67,595 $75,000 $69,507
ELECTRONICS 6 $60,000 $63,500 $84,000 $68,500
MECHANICAL 21 $62,000 $69,199 $80,000 $69,660
MECHATRONICS 8 $55,500 $62,550 $69,406 $63,364
OTHER 5 $62,000 $70,000 $74,000 $71,400
OTHER JOB FUNCTIONS 4 - $64,000 - $63,500
ASSET MANAGEMENT 7 $69,199 $72,000 $84,000 $74,314
DESIGN 28 $57,913 $64,007 $67,798 $63,860
JOB FUNCTION MANAGEMENT 3 - - - $73,500
PRODUCTION, QUALITY, MAINTENANCE 6 $53,066 $62,000 $70,000 $61,844
PROJECT MANAGEMENT 10 $67,653 $71,209 $80,000 $72,611
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 10 $60,000 $69,406 $87,000 $74,858
CONSULTING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES 12 $57,680 $61,644 $66,500 $62,054
CONSTRUCTION 6 $60,000 $66,209 $75,000 $72,014
MINING (INC. OIL/GAS EXTRACTION) 6 $75,000 $80,000 $82,000 $77,917
ELECTRICITY 7 $65,000 $84,000 $87,155 $77,464
WATER, SEWERAGE AND DRAINAGE 10 $55,000 $61,000 $69,199 $60,926
INDUSTRY
DEFENCE 7 $63,100 $66,000 $72,000 $65,871
ROAD 6 $60,000 $70,000 $72,795 $67,299

RAIL 5 $62,000 $67,595 $72,000 $66,531
MANUFACTURING 10 $60,000 $63,500 $70,000 $64,775

GENDER
The contribution that a diverse workforce makes to organisational effectiveness is well-documented,
and higher levels of participation and retention for female engineers remains one of the most significant
challenges in achieving a diverse and sustainable engineering workforce. Women are one of the largest
under-represented pools of talent in engineering and organisations will need to devote greater attention
to addressing the employment practices that create disadvantage for women if they wish to attract and
retain highly-skilled women to the engineering profession, especially in the post-COVID-19 recovery
period.
Gender pay gap

The gender pay gap figures in this year's survey were inconclusive. While the survey found a gender
pay gap of 2.1 and 4.4 per cent for base salaries and total packages favouring men respectively when
looking at the mean pay figures, the medians were inconsistent with those findings. Previous surveys
have consistently found a gender pay gap favouring men when considering median pay figures so it is
unfortunately not possible to make conclusive findings about the gender pay gap based on this year's
data.
Figure 20 - Mean male and female base salary for all respondents across survey sample
$150,000
$145,000
$140,000
$135,000
$130,000
$144,869
$125,000 $138,821
$120,000
$115,000
$124,633 $122,116
$110,000
Base salary ($) Total package ($)
Male Female
Figure 21 – Median male and female base salary for all respondents across survey sample
$145,000
$140,000
$135,000
$130,000
$125,000
$138,157 $141,375
$120,000
$115,000 $125,493
$120,000
$110,000
$105,000
Base salary ($) Total package ($)
Male Female

Rather than suggesting the gender pay gap has been reduced or no longer exists, this is likely due to
sampling issues that skewed results including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on respondency
patterns. The pandemic contributed to overall lower levels of responding in 2020 than in 2019.
Responding declined in a proportionate manner across most demographics, but there was a clear
decline in the number of women responding to the survey employed at lower levels of responsibility.
In 2019 only 20.8 per cent of women reported being employed in a Level 4 role, and 3.3 per cent in a
Level 5 role, compared with 25.6 and 11.0 per cent respectively in 2020. Similarly, the percentage of
women that reported being employed in a Level 1 or Level 2 role was noticeably less in the 2020 survey
compared to the 2019 survey. While this is the clearest impact, other factors may also be at play.
Workforce distribution - responsibility level and age

Despite more female respondents being represented at higher levels of responsibility in 2020 than
previous surveys, this year's data continues the trend of male respondents being more likely to be
employed at higher levels of responsibility, and females more likely to be employed at less senior
responsibility levels. 63.4 per cent of female respondents reported being employed at Level 3 or below,
and only 36.6 per cent were employed at Level 4 or above. By comparison, 56.0 per cent of males were
engaged at Level 3 or below, while 44.0 per cent were employed at Level 4 and above. Ensuring women's
workforce participation and representation at senior levels is a critical factor in addressing the gender
pay gap.
Figure 22 - Workforce distribution by responsibility level and gender

35%
30%
25%
% of Respondents
20%
32.5%
30.8%
30.5%
15%
25.6%
20.7%
10%
14.9%
12.2%
10.8%
11.0%
2.4%
8.5%
5%
0%
0%
Male Female

Discrimination by gender
The survey asked respondents to report on whether or not they had experienced discrimination in their
workplace over the previous three years, and, if so, the type of discrimination they had experienced. A
disturbing 50.9 per cent of female respondents reported that they had experienced discrimination on
the basis of gender. Discrimination on the basis of age was the second most frequently reported type of
discrimination but still more common for women (20.5 per cent) than men (15.0 per cent). Males were
much more likely to have not experienced discrimination on any of the bases listed with 79.0 per cent of
male respondents reporting no discrimination, compared with 44.6 per cent of female respondents.
Figure 23 - Types of discrimination experienced in the workplace over previous three years
by gender
Age
20.5%
15.0%
0.0%
Disability
0.5%
Gender
50.9%
4.5%
Race
7.1%
4.7%
0.0%
Religion
2.0%
1.8%
Sexual identity
0.3%
None of the above

44.6%
79.0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
% of Respondents
Male Female
Discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sexual identity and disability were also highlighted as issues
of serious concern.

Gap between policy and implementation
• 81.7 per cent of respondents said their employer had in place formal policies to deal with
discrimination.
• 75.3 per cent said their employer had in place formal policies to promote diversity.
• 12.8 per cent said that while their employer had formal policies in place around diversity and
discrimination, they did not have strategies in place to actually implement them.
The survey confirmed that while over two-thirds of workplaces had policies in place to support diversity
and deal with discrimination, many did not have the strategies in place to give effect to the policies. The
challenge remains to ensure that policy, strategy and workplace culture are integrated and support the
implementation of diversity and anti-discrimination policies.
Sexual harassment
32.5 per cent of female respondents reported having experienced sexual harassment in the course of
their employment compared to 1.9 per cent of male respondents.
These figures highlight sexual harassment as a serious workplace health and safety issue in the
engineering workforce.

SATISFAC TION WITH CURRENT
REMUNERATION
Maintaining strong job satisfaction among employees is a major challenge for many organisations and
effective recognition and reward strategies are vital for businesses if they wish to attract and retain
skilled staff. The survey however found a concerning level of dissatisfaction with remuneration – 30.5 per
cent of respondents across all sectors reported being dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their current
level of remuneration. This result represents a small decrease on last year’s figure of 35.3 per cent.
A total of 49.0 per cent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their level of remuneration, slightly
up on the result of last year (45.7 per cent) and the previous year (46.5 per cent). Satisfaction levels were
a little higher amongst public sector engineers at 52.7 per cent than their private sector peers at 47.1
per cent.
Figure 24 - Satisfaction with current remuneration by sector

60%
50%
% of Respondents
40%
30%
48.6%
42.9%
39.8%
20%
25.8%
6.9%
7.3%
6.2%
6.7%
23.8%
6.4%
20.9%
19.9%
20.2%
20.4%
4.1%
10%
0%
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
In addition, respondents were asked about how they saw their remuneration package in the context of
others undertaking similar work and whether or not they saw their package as adequately reflecting their
responsibilities. The survey found that around half the respondents did not feel their remuneration was
keeping up and did not adequately reflect the responsibility level of their role.
• 45.6 per cent said they believed their remuneration package was falling behind what others
undertaking similar work were being paid.
• 47.1 per cent said they did not believe their package appropriately reflected the level of responsibility
they undertook in their day-to-day work.

Figure 25 – Perception remuneration package is falling behind others undertaking similar engineering work
35%
30%
% of Respondents
25%
20%
33.2%
15% 29.3%
10%
18.1% 16.3%
5% 3.1%
0%
Strongly Disagree Neither agree Agree Strongly
disagree or disagree agree
Figure 26 – Perception remuneration package does not reflect level of responsibility undertaken in day-to-day work
35%
30%
% of Respondents
25%
20%
15% 30.2% 29.3%

10% 19.8% 17.8%
5% 2.8%
0%
Strongly Disagree Neither agree Agree Strongly
disagree or disagree agree

WORKPLACE ISSUES
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Engineers in the Consulting and technical Services and Electricity industries engaged in a greater number
of hours of continuous professional development (CPD) than their counterparts in other industries,
both reporting a median of 40 hours in the previous 12 months. These industries correspond closely
with those industries more likely to be engaged in CPD with the exception of Rail where CPD is regularly
engaged in but rarely provided by the employer.
Figure 27 - Median hours of CPD engaged in over last year by industry
Consulting & Technical Services 40
Electricity 40
Mining (inc. Oil/Gas extraction) 36
Public Administration and Safety 36
Construction 30
Rail 30
Defence 26
Water, Sewerage and Drainage 24
Road 20
Gas Supply 20
Manufacturing 20

Telecommunications
20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Hours of CPD

The Road industry and predominantly government-owned or heavily-regulated areas such as, Public
administration and safety and Defence reported the highest proportion of CPD provided by their
employer, other than Information media and telecommunications where technology and standards are
constantly changing.
Figure 28 - Median proportion of CPD provided by employer by industry
Road 75.0%
Telecommunications
65.0%
Defence 50.0%
Electricity 50.0%
Construction 20.0%
Manufacturing 14.0%
Rail 10.0%
Gas Supply 0.0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Proportion employer provided
The median number of hours was consistent across sectors (30 hours) with employers in the private
sector most likely to cover the cost of CPD.
Figure 29 – Median hours of CPD and proportion of CPD provided by employer by sector
31 100.0%
30 90.0%
29
Proportion Employer Provided
28 80.0%
27 70.0%
Hours of CPD
26 60.0%
25
50.0%
24 30 30 30
23 40.0%
22 30.0%
21 50%
20
40% 20.0%
19 20% 10.0%
18 0.0%
Private sector Public sector All sectors
Hours of CPD Proportion Employer Provided

HOURS OF WORK
Respondents reported working a median 40.8 hours per week in the public sector and 43.6 hours in the
private sector, longer than the standard 38-hour week in both cases. This included an average of 3.4
hours overtime in the public sector and 5.2 hours in the private sector.
Figure 30 - Mean hours worked and overtime per week by sector

44 6
43
5
Hours Worked per Week
42
Overtime per Week

41 4
40
3
39 43.6
5.2 42.6
38
4.6 2
40.8
3.4
37
1
36
35 0
Private sector Public sector All sectors
Hours worked per week Average overtime per week
Table 8 - Hours worked per week by sector
HOURS WORKED PER WEEK

N LOWER QUARTILE MEDIAN UPPER QUARTILE MEAN
PRIVATE SECTOR 663 40.0 42.0 45.0 43.6
PUBLIC SECTOR 332 38.0 40.0 42.3 40.8
ALL SECTORS 995 40.0 40.0 45.0 42.6
Table 9 - Average overtime hours per week by sector
AVERAGE OVERTIME PER WEEK

N LOWER QUARTILE MEDIAN UPPER QUARTILE MEAN
PRIVATE SECTOR 660 2.0 4.0 7.0 5.2
PUBLIC SECTOR 332 0.0 2.5 5.0 3.4
ALL SECTORS 992 1.0 4.0 7.0 4.6

By job function, engineers employed in Teaching or training roles reported working the longest hours
(outside of those employed in ‘other’ roles), at 46.6 per week including an average of 7.7 hours overtime,
followed by those employed in Sales and marketing who worked a mean of 45.6 hours per week
including 7.7 hours of overtime. By comparison, those employed in Asset management reported the
shortest weekly hours, with a mean of 41.1, including 3.5 hours of overtime per week.
Figure 31 - Mean hours worked and overtime per week by job function
Other 12.3 52.0
Teaching or Training 7.7 46.6
Sales & Marketing 7.7 45.6
Research & Development 6.3 45.0
Project Study and Analysis 4.8 43.6
Project Management 4.3 42.4
Production, Quality, Maintenance 3.7 42.1
Management 3.9 41.9
Design 3.8 41.7
Construction Supervision 4.3 41.5
Asset Management 3.5 41.1
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
Hours Worked per Week Average Overtime per Week

Overtime compensation
The way in which overtime is compensated differs significantly by sector. Public sector engineers are
more likely to receive time off in lieu of payment, with 33.9 per cent of respondents citing this form
of compensation, compared with only 12.0 per cent in the private sector. Conversely, 23.3 per cent of
private sector engineers reported that overtime was built into their base salary, compared with 11.7 per
cent in the public sector.
Figure 32 - Compensation for overtime worked by sector
35.7%
No compensation received
56.1%
11.7%
Overtime built into base salary
23.3%
33.9%
Time off in lieu of payment
12.0%
18.6%
Monetary payment at hourly rate
8.6%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%
% of Respondents
Private sector Public sector
Overall, engineers in the public sector are less likely to receive no payment for overtime worked, with
35.7 per cent of respondents reporting no compensation, compared with 56.1 per cent in the private
sector.
Among those who reported some form of compensation for overtime, remuneration tended to be
higher no matter how many hours were worked in an average week. Although longer hours tended
to be associated with higher incomes for those that did not receive overtime compensation, those
with explicit overtime compensation tended to be remunerated better if they worked more than 40
hours in an average week. Given the average engineer works 42.6 hours a week, more explicit forms of
compensation for working additional hours tend to benefit professional engineers.
Figure 33 - Median base salary by hours worked per week and overtime compensation
$190K
$170K
$150K
$130K
$110K
$90K
$70K
$50K
37.5 42.5 47.5 52.5 57.5
Average Hours Worked per Week
Overtime Compensated No Compensation for Overtime

PROFESSIONAL INTENTIONS
To understand respondents’ professional intentions for their potential impact on the engineering
workforce and achievement of organisational objectives, survey participants were asked whether they
were considering leaving the profession either permanently or temporarily. 6.7 per cent said they were
considering permanently leaving the profession in the next five years suggesting that measures to
increase and/or incentivise retention of engineering talent are likely to be critical to meeting workforce
demand for engineering skills over this period.
Leaving employer
13.3 per cent of respondents had already changed employer over the past year, with 86.7 per cent of
them having done so voluntarily.
Figure 34 - Proportion of engineers that Figure 35 - Proportion of engineers that

changed employer in last 12 months voluntarily changed employer
13.3% 13.3%
Not voluntary
Changed
employer
86.7%
Didn't change
employer
86.7%
Voluntarily changed
The survey provides useful insights into the factors that influence engineers changing employer. Of those
who voluntarily changed, professional development opportunities were the most commonly reported
factor, followed by improved pay and an improved workplace culture.

Figure 36 - Reasons for voluntarily changing employer
Professional development opportunities 49.1%

A pay increase 38.2%
Improved workplace culture 37.3%
A more challengin workload 36.4%
Opportunity for better management 35.5%
Improved work/life balance 30.0%
Greater job security 28.2%
Flexible working arrangements 21.8%
Working closer to home 19.1%
Promotion 15.5%
Other 13.6%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
% of Respondents
Leaving profession
Survey respondents were asked whether they intended to leave the engineering profession, and if so
the time frame in which they expected that to occur as a basis for adding to our understanding of the
stability or otherwise of the engineering workforce. Overall, 6.7 per cent of respondents said they were
considering leaving the profession permanently, and 4.0 per cent said they were considering leaving
temporarily. 89.3 per cent did not intend to leave the profession. Those that intended to leave the
profession most commonly had an outlook of only remaining for another one to three years (45.0 per
cent).
Figure 37 – Proportion of engineers that intend to leave profession
6.7%
89.3% Permanently
4.0%
Not leaving
Temporarily

Figure 38 – Intended time until leaving profession
50%
45%
40%
% of Respondents
35%
30%
25%
20% 45.0%
15%
10% 21.0% 25.0%
5% 9.0%
0%
In under 12 months In the next 1 to 3 years In the next 3 to 5 years In over 5 years time
The most common reason for wanting to leave the profession was a lack of career advancement,
however there were noticeable differences in the reasons for wanting to leave the profession by gender.
Men were much more likely than women to cite intending to leave the profession due to a lack of
recognition or opportunities. In comparison, women were much more likely than men to cite intending
to leave the profession due to a lack of flexible work options, discrimination or bias in the workplace, or
parenthood. Men were also more likely to cite intending to leave due to retirement. This is likely due to a
combination of historically low representation of women in the engineering profession, and a tendency
for women to leave the profession earlier.
Figure 39 – Reasons for intention to leave profession by gender
53.8%
Lack of career advancement
47.7%
23.1%
Lack of recognition or opportunities
43.2%
38.5%
To pursue another career
40.9%
38.5%
Workplace culture issues
34.1%
30.8%
Poor pay
34.1%
46.2%
Lack of flexible work options
17.0%
7.7%
Retirement
21.6%
Discrimination or 30.8%
bias in the workplace
13.6%
7.7%
Insecure work
10.2%
30.8%
Parenthood
5.7%
0.0%
Illness
1.1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

% of Respondents
Female Male

WORKER FATIGUE, STAFF MORALE
AND PRODUC TIVITY
Survey respondents were asked to consider how the attitudes and output of their peers had changed
over the previous 12 months in the areas of worker fatigue, staff morale and overall productivity.
• 39.2 per cent said worker fatigue had increased while 57.4 per cent said it had remained the same as
the previous year.
• 40.0 per cent of respondents said staff morale had declined while 50.5 per cent said it had remained
the same as the previous year.
• 20.5 per cent said overall productivity in their organisation had declined while 65.4 per cent said it had
remained the same as the previous year.
Table 10 - Changes in worker fatigue, staff morale and productivity by sector
WORKER FATIGUE STAFF MORALE OVERALL PRODUCTIVITY

(RESPONSE %) (RESPONSE %) (RESPONSE %)
STAYED THE STAYED THE STAYED THE

DECREASED INCREASED DECREASED INCREASED DECREASED INCREASED
SAME SAME SAME
PRIVATE SECTOR 3.6% 57.5% 38.9% 38.2% 52.2% 9.6% 18.1% 65.6% 16.3%
PUBLIC SECTOR 2.8% 57.3% 39.9% 43.5% 47.3% 9.2% 25.2% 65.0% 9.8%
ALL SECTORS 3.3% 57.4% 39.2% 40.0% 50.5% 9.5% 20.5% 65.4% 14.1%

WORK PRIORITIES
Due to feedback on last year’s report, a new item ‘job satisfaction’ was added to the list of work priorities
in place of ‘being close to home’. Overall, respondents ranked job satisfaction, remuneration, job security
and work/life balance as their top four work priorities.
Table 11 - Ranking of work priorities - All respondents
RANK PRIORITY
1ST Job satisfaction
2ND Remuneration
3RD Job security
4TH Work/life balance
5TH Positive workplace culture
6TH Flexible work arrangements
7TH Career progression
8TH Continuing professional development
9TH A challenging workload
The top four work priorities of remuneration, job security, work/life balance and positive workplace
culture were shared across gender lines and converged on the same rankings, although remuneration,
job security and work/life balance were almost interchangeable for female respondents.
Table 12 - Ranking of work priorities by gender
MALE FEMALE
RANK PRIORITY RANK PRIORITY
1ST Job satisfaction 1ST Job satisfaction
2ND Remuneration 2ND Remuneration
3RD Job security 3RD Job security
4TH Work/life balance 4TH Work/life balance
5TH Positive workplace culture 5TH Positive workplace culture
6TH Flexible work arrangements 6TH Flexible work arrangements
7TH Career progression 7TH Career progression
8TH Continuing professional development 8TH Continuing professional development
9TH A challenging workload 9TH A challenging workload
Across the private and public sectors the top four priorities remained the same, but engineers employed
in the public sector tended to see job security as more important than remuneration while the reverse
was true for those in the private sector.
Table 13 - Ranking of work priorities by sector
PRIVATE SECTOR PUBLIC SECTOR

RANK PRIORITY RANK PRIORITY
1ST Job satisfaction 1ST Job satisfaction
2ND Remuneration 2ND Job security
3RD Job security 3RD Remuneration
4TH Work/life balance 4TH Work/life balance
5TH Positive workplace culture 5TH Positive workplace culture
6TH Flexible work arrangements 6TH Flexible work arrangements
7TH Career progression 7TH Career progression
8TH Continuing professional development 8TH Continuing professional development
9TH A challenging workload 9TH A challenging workload

FAC TORS IMPAC TING ENGINEERING
CAPABILITY
Survey participants were asked about the factors that impacted engineering capability in their
organisation.
In the public sector, the clearest change over the last 12 months impacting engineering capability
was the lack of in-house engineering capacity, noted by 50.0 per cent of respondents. Poorly scoped
or designed projects, insufficient skills development and cost-cutting were also key concerns in the
public sector (noted by 45.9, 49.7 and 43.0 per cent of respondents respectively). The reduced number
of engineers in decision-maker roles and increased outsourcing of engineering functions were also
changes commonly reported by public sector engineers (38.5 per cent and 40.8 per cent of respondents
respectively).
The private sector shared insufficient skills development, cost-cutting and poorly scoped or designed
projects as issues occurring over the previous 12 months with the public sector (46.1, 44.4 and 38.0 per
cent respectively).
Figure 40 – Changes occurring in engineering workplaces over last 12 months
49.7%
Insufficient skills development
46.1%
43.0%
Cost-cutting
44.4%
45.9%
Poorly scoped or designed projects
38.0%
50.0%
Lack of in-house engineering capacity
27.6%
29.9%
Poor graduate development
31.4%
31.2%
Misallocation of resources
25.0%
Increased outsourcing of 40.8%

engineering functions
19.4%
Reduced number of engineers 38.5%

in decision maker roles
19.4%
32.5%
Less engineering driven innovation
22.0%
Reduced adherence to 22.9%

professional standards
12.5%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

% of Respondents
Public sector Private sector

The survey also asked respondents about the extent to which they agreed engineering capability was
regarded as a source of innovation within their organisation. 25.3 per cent of public sector respondents
said their organisation did not regard engineering capability as a source of innovation compared with
11.2 per cent of engineers in the private sector. On a more positive note, 43.3 per cent of public sector
and 69.5 per cent of private sector respondents said their organisation did see engineering capability as
a source of innovation. These findings suggest that the public sector may be lagging behind the private
sector when it comes utilising their engineering capability to drive innovation. It may also suggest that
innovation is a higher priority for private sector businesses, and public sector organisations may need to
review the way they support innovation.
Figure 41 – Extent to which engineers agree they are seen as a source of innovation in their
workplace
50%
45%
40%
% of Respondents
35%
30%
25%
20% 42.9%
15% 33.6% 31.5%
26.6%
10% 19.3% 20.6% 4.7%
5% 9.7% 8.9% 2.3%
0%
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
Private sector Public sector

FAC TORS IMPAC TING MENTAL HEALTH
Survey respondents identified workplace stress and poor workplace management as the key factors
negatively impacting their mental health. With the exception of long hours, the extent of each of the
factors was greater for female respondents than male respondents.
Figure 42 – Factors negatively impacting mental health
Workplace stress 47.1%

Poor management 39.9%
Poor workplace culture 27.4%
Unreasonable workload 26.3%
Long hours 22.8%
Conflict with peers/colleagues 12.3%
Workplace bullying 9.7%
Discrimination 8.2%
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%
Figure 43 – Factors negatively impacting mental health by gender
50.4%
Workplace stress
46.5%
44.2%
Poor management
39.9%
37.2%
Poor workplace culture
26.2%
33.6%
Unreasonable workload
25.6%
20.4%
Long hours
22.5%
18.6%
Conflict with peers/colleagues
11.5%
21.2%
Workplace bullying
7.5%
18.6%
Discrimination
6.5%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

% of Respondents
Male Female

INDEPENDENT
CONTRACTORS
A trend in the engagement of professional engineers is the increasing number appointed under
independent contractor arrangements. Employers of professional engineers are making greater use
of such arrangements as a means of meeting peak workloads or to engage contract professionals for
specific projects or tasks.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that up to 20 per cent of the workforce is now engaged in
non-standard work arrangements with professionals operating as independent contractors or consultants
among the fastest growing group.
Ultimately, the hourly rate charged by independent contractors depends on the market for the service
provided and there is no substitute for specific knowledge of the particular industry and the value of the
service being offered to a client, but these rates can be used as a benchmark to ensure that contractors
don’t undercharge for their services.
The hourly rate for contract engineers takes into account the conditions of employment which
apply to employee professional engineers, as professionals operating under independent contractor
arrangements must meet these costs themselves.
Professional engineer employees have access to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and
receive annual leave, sick leave, paid public holidays, long service leave, superannuation, jury leave,
compassionate leave, family leave, professional development and retrenchment/redundancy provisions.
Independent contractors may be engaged on an hourly basis and generally do not have access to these
provisions. The contract engineer must therefore take such provisions into account when determining
the hourly fee to be charged. Based on a 38-hour week, the hourly fee is calculated using a 1980 hour
year (i.e. 38 hours by 52.1 weeks) and deducting from the year the following factors:
Table 14 - Value of items independent contractors do not receive
ITEM VALUE VALUE IN HOURS
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS 12 days 92

ANNUAL LEAVE 20 days 152
LONG SERVICE LEAVE 4.3 days 33
SICK LEAVE 10 days 76
SALARY CONTINUANCE 3% 60
SUPERANNUATION 10% 198
PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY
3% 60
INSURANCE
MISCELLANEOUS LEAVE 3 days 23
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 5 days 38
TERMINATION/REDUNDANCY 5 days 38
TOTAL 770 hours
Thus the hourly rate should be calculated on the basis of about 1210 hours (1980 - 770).

Figure 44 - Proportional value of components in a full-time employment contract
Public Holidays
Long Service Leave
Sick Leave
Annual
Leave Salary Continuance
Superannuation
Professional Indemnity Insurance

Base Salary Miscellaneous Leave
Professional Development
Termination/Redundancy
Any travel costs and workers’ compensation would be on top of these rates, and it may be necessary to
factor in an additional charge to cover legal and accounting fees. Care should also be taken to allow for
professional indemnity insurance premiums. ASIC fees may also need to be covered depending on the
particular business entity or structure the consultant or contractor has in place.
If the contract engineer is engaged on a short-term basis, a further factor should be included to allow for
the time and overheads involved in seeking contracts. A factor of 20 per cent would not be unreasonable
for this purpose. The hourly rate should then be based on 1000 hours. Short-term contracts are
considered to be those which last for less than 12 months.
Using the formula described here, a contract engineer seeking a salary equivalent of say $100,000 per
annum would calculate the hourly fee as follows:
Short-term contract $100,000p.a. / 1000 hours = $100.00 p/h

Long-term contract $100,000p.a. / 1210 hours = $82.65 p/h

Recommended hourly rates
Based on full-time Professional Engineer remuneration identified in this survey and the methodology
outlined in this section, Professionals Australia recommends rates in the following ranges for short-
term and long-term contracts if contractors wish to be remunerated commensurate with their full-time
employed peers at each responsibility level. (These rates are derived using the methodology set out in
this section and from the data set out in Table 2.)
Table 18 - Contractor hourly rates charged by duration of contract and responsibility level
(derived from full-time equivalent salaries)
LONG TERM SHORT TERM
LOWER UPPER LOWER UPPER
LEVEL 1 $53.72 $57.85 $61.66 $58.60 $65.00 $70.00 $74.60 $70.90
LEVEL 2 $63.64 $70.25 $78.51 $72.33 $77.00 $85.00 $95.00 $87.52
LEVEL 3 $82.02 $93.06 $108.26 $96.04 $99.25 $112.60 $131.00 $116.21
LEVEL 4 $99.17 $115.70 $128.10 $116.39 $120.00 $140.00 $155.00 $140.83
LEVEL 5 $123.97 $143.83 $159.37 $145.14 $150.00 $174.04 $192.84 $175.62
ABOVE LEVEL 5 $152.89 $178.51 $222.31 $192.49 $185.00 $216.00 $269.00 $232.91
Table 19 - Contractor hourly rates charged by duration of contract and responsibility level
(as reported by respondents)
LONG TERM SHORT TERM

LOWER UPPER LOWER UPPER
N MEDIAN MEAN N MEDIAN MEAN
LEVEL 1 SNR - - - - - - - - -
LEVEL 2 3 - - - $313.14 SNR - - - -
LEVEL 3 4 - $76.88 - $91.19 7 $86.87 $100.00 $180.00 $122.41
LEVEL 4 10 $82.00 $92.50 $130.00 $103.70 8 $105.00 $137.00 $177.50 $142.88
LEVEL 5 5 $110.00 $140.00 $190.00 $153.00 9 $125.00 $140.00 $350.00 $196.78
ABOVE LEVEL 5 3 - - - $781.67 SNR - - - -
ALL LEVELS 26 $80.00 $102.50 $165.00 $210.81 30 $86.87 $135.00 $185.00 $152.40
The rates set out in the table above were those actually reported by respondents and while sample
size was limited, they generally indicate that contractors charge near the rate Professionals Australia’s
methodology would suggest.
Contract agency rates

If the independent contractor is engaged through a contract agency, some components such as workers’
compensation/disability insurance and superannuation contributions would normally be paid for by the
agency. These components would be removed from calculations.
A typical calculation made by a contract agency might see the annualised hours rise to around 1600 after
the removal of superannuation from the calculation as it is provided by the agency, so that the hourly
rate for an equivalent $100,000 annual base salary would be:
$100,000p.a. / 1600 hours = $62.50 per hour

Advertorial
W H AT H A P P E N S I F I
CANCEL MY PROFESSIONAL
INDEMNITY COVER?
CAN I DO WITHOUT IT?
I F YOU S ELL YOU R CAR YOU CAN STO P I NS U R I NG I T; MOTO R
VE HI CL E I NSU R ANC E COVE RS R I S KS O N AN “O CCU R R E NCE ”
BAS I S A ND ONC E TH E C AR I S G O NE S O I S T HE R I S K.
Professional indemnity is different.

Professional Indemnity works on a “claims made” basis and you must have insurance in place at the time a claim is made against you. This
means that even if your business has wound down or you have ceased providing service entirely, you still carry ongoing exposure for past
work.
This is especially true for professional engineers, with many claims relating to building or construction work coming several years after the
member had completed their part of the work, in fact in April 2020 a Professional Indemnity claim was lodged for a Professionals Australia
member relating to engineering work undertaken in 2014!
Example:
Work for a client is completed on 4 February. Your Professional Indemnity Insurance is due for renewal
on 20 June but you choose to lapse it. That client decides on 1 August they were unhappy with the
service and alleges problems arising from it have caused them losses, so they make a demand against
you for compensation. In this scenario there would be no Professional Indemnity Insurance protection
even though insurance was in place when the work was done.
Key considerations towards Get professional advice. There may be

maintaining Professional Indemnity other avenues to consider to assist you
Insurance
• Reviewing your premium on renewal due to reduced actual
• Ongoing protection for past claims – if you lapse or cancel all income and reduced projected income
protection for past work ceases
• If your business has reduced to zero, discuss “run off” cover at
• Professional licensing or accreditation – Many professional renewal which reduces your insurance to covering past work only
engineers will have their licence or registration (eg VBA or NSW
• Reviewing your sum insured (buy less cover) where not restricted
BPB) conditional upon holding valid professional indemnity
by professional licence or contracts
insurance
• Review your excess (retain more risk) which reduces your
• Contractual liabilities – there may be a requirement to maintain
premium
professional indemnity for several years after the work
• Reduced future cover – if you lapse or cancel and seek to re-
purchase in the future, some cover like Retroactive Cover for past
work and Continuous Cover may not be available

RISING INSURANCE COSTS
About the professional indemnity What can I do?
insurance market Get advice on how to manage the best outcome from the
The professional indemnity market has come under pressure in Insurance market. With Insurers taking a more conservative and
2019 and 2020 with premiums increasing, and insurers reducing selective approach to their underwriting, a good broker and quality
capacity. Some PA members may have been forced to change submission to insurers can often be the difference between turning
insurer due to their prior insurer no longer offering cover. These a decline into getting your business a favourable quote.
market pressures have particularly affected any professionals
It is no longer about just a standard proposal form. Some elements
involved in the construction space. Given the myriad of issues
that make a quality insurance submission include:
surrounding cladding, non-compliant building products, the Opal
Tower, and Mascot Towers insurers have been reducing their • CVs of Directors
capacity and seeking to increase premiums between 20%-40%.
• Risk management plans
• Advice on your contractual engagements, do you use a standard
contract form, or do you limit liability or consequential loss?
• Advice on how your business has been impacted by COVID-19
and what changes you have made such as changes to on-site
inspections, changes to cyber security and working from home,
and remote peer review processes
INSURAN CE BRO K I NG AND SUPE R ANNUAT I O N SE R VI C E S
Professionals Australia Insurance Broking & Superannuation Services gives advice to clients - not
just Professional Indemnity Insurance but also on contractual indemnity clauses, their insurance
implications and the adequacy of professional services descriptions contained within insurance policies.
If you would like an obligation free professional indemnity insurance quotation, please contact
Professionals Australia Insurance Broking and Superannuation Services on 1800 800 998, complete the
online form here: http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/contractors-consultants/financial-edge/
professional-indemnity-insurance/ or let them know your renewal date and they can contact you at the
appropriate time to provide you with a quotation.
Disclaimer - This advice and comments are provided in the capacity as an insurance broker and should not be construed as legal advice.
Separate legal advice relating to the interpretation and implication ofProfessional Engineers
this article for your individual Employment and be
circumstances should Remuneration
obtained. Report 2020/21 | 57
ABOUT THE
SURVEY
The Professional Engineer Remuneration Survey was conducted online during April/May 2020 using
the present engineering member base of Professionals Australia. Non-members were also invited
to participate in the survey through a combination of social media and direct e-mail. Non-member
engineers contacted were those that had previously demonstrated interest in the association’s
remuneration reports, surveys or campaigns. In total, 1,563 responses were used for the analyses
contained in this report.
Social media was notably less effective in 2020 than previous years due to additional restrictions placed
on communications through these platforms because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear how these
restrictions impacted on responding beyond reducing the overall sample size.
Duplicate respondents were screened for using a variety of variables collected during the survey in
conjunction with IP addresses associated with each response. Where a duplicate was identified the most
complete response was retained.
Participants were not required to answer all questions in full. As a result many questions have a different
sample size reported and the sum of all returned data in any given table may not add up to the total
number of responses received. Where a specific analysis has less than three responses no results are
reported. Means are reported where there are three or more responses, medians where there are four
or more responses and quartiles where there are five or more.
Professionals Australia has been conducting regular salary surveys of members since 1974.
In order to provide comprehensive information on professional engineers’ remuneration, Professionals

Australia publishes its detailed survey report annually. The survey is the largest of its kind undertaken in
Australia and as such represents an authoritative picture of the remuneration of professional engineers.

Sample characteristics
The gender breakdown of survey respondents was 89.8 per cent male and 10.2 per cent female.
New South Wales was the most strongly represented state across respondents accounting for 36.1 per
cent of participants, with each state receiving similar levels of representation to their population as a
proportion of the Australian population.
Figure 44 - Geographic breakdown of survey population
6.6%
SA
7.5% 2.7%
WA TAS
23.5%
QLD
1.7%
ACT 31.1%
NSW
24.2%
VIC
0.5%
NT
The Consulting and technical services industry was the most strongly represented industry in the
survey at 19.4 per cent of respondents, followed by the manufacturing industry with 13.0 per cent of
respondents. Civil was the most common branch of engineering for respondents to be qualified in (37.4
per cent) followed by Mechanical (19.1 per cent) and Electrical (18.3 per cent).

Terms used
Base salary Statistical terms used
Refers to the annual salary component of the contract of For the purposes of salary analysis, the following statistics were
employment for a participant, exclusive of any additional allowances, used:
payments or non-cash benefits.
• N: The number of observations recorded for each category;
Total package
• Lower Decile (10th Percentile): The value below which 10 per
The total remuneration package received by a participant, including cent of observations were recorded. Not reported where N is less
the value of all components of remuneration. Total package includes than 10;
the following: • Lower Quartile (25th Percentile): The value below which 25 per
cent of observations were recorded. Not reported where N is less
• Base salary;
than 5;
• Annual leave loading;
• Median (50th Percentile): The value below which 50 per cent of
• Overtime; observations were recorded. Not reported where N is less than 4;
• Award allowances; • Upper Quartile (75th Percentile): The value below which 75 per
cent of observations were recorded. Not reported where N is less
• Employer superannuation contributions;
than 5;
• Motor vehicle;
• Upper Decile (90th Percentile): The value below which 90 per
• Parking; cent of observations were recorded. Not reported where N is less
• Performance pay; than 10;
• Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT); • Mean: The sum of individual salary values divided by the number
of observations;
• Other items eligible for FBT; and
• Response %: Proportion of the survey sample represented by the
• Other items not eligible for FBT. number of observations in a given category.
Where a non-cash benefit such as a motor vehicle is provided, an Statistics for Base Salary and Total Package are calculated separately
estimate is made of the salary equivalent value of the benefit. for each of the sample respondents, and then ranked. The median
is not, therefore, a reflection of the middle ranked respondent
SNR
across all categories, but rather, the middle value of the particular
Sample Not Representative - indicates a category for which there component when all values of that component are ranked. As a
were not enough respondents to produce reportable statistics. consequence, the component statistics will not add up to the value
given by the overall statistic.
Where a significant difference exists between the value of the mean

and the median, this will indicate the following:
• where the mean is higher than the median, a number of high

values were recorded, sufficient to skew the mean upwards away
from the median;
• conversely, if the mean is lower than the median, a number of low
values were recorded, sufficient to skew the mean downwards,
away from the median.
If the mean and median are relatively close, the distribution was
approximately normally distributed.

Responsibility level definitions
Level 1 Professional Engineer Level 4 Professional Engineer

The graduate engineer (as defined) commencement level. A professional engineer required to perform professional engineering work involving
considerable independence in approach, demanding a considerable degree of
The graduate engineer (as defined) commencement level. originality, ingenuity and judgement, and knowledge of more than one field of, or
expertise (for example, acts as his/her organisation’s technical reference authority) in a
The engineer undertakes initial professional engineering tasks of limited scope and particular field of professional engineering.
complexity, such as minor phases of broader assignments, in office, plant, field or
laboratory work. The professional engineer:
Under supervision from higher-level professional engineers as to method of approach • initiates or participates in short-range or long-range planning and makes independent
and requirements, the professional engineer performs normal professional engineering decisions on engineering policies and procedures within an overall program;
work and exercises individual judgement and initiative in the application of engineering
principles, techniques and methods. • gives technical advice to management and operating departments;
• may take detailed technical responsibility for product development and provision of
In assisting more senior professional engineers by carrying out tasks requiring accuracy specialised engineering systems, facilities and functions;
and adherence to prescribed methods of engineering analysis, design or computation,
the engineer draws upon advanced techniques and methods learned during and after • co-ordinates work programs; and
the undergraduate course.
• directs or advises on use of equipment and material.
Training, development and experience using a variety of standard engineering methods
and procedures enable the professional engineer to develop increasing professional The professional engineer makes responsible decisions not usually subject to technical
judgement and apply it progressively to more difficult tasks at Level 2. review, decides courses of action necessary to expedite the successful accomplishment
of assigned projects, and may make recommendations involving large sums or long-
Decisions are related to tasks performed, relying upon precedent or defined procedures range objectives.
for guidance. Recommendations are related to solution of problems in connection to the
tasks performed. Duties are assigned only in terms of broad objectives and are reviewed for policy,
soundness of approach, accomplishment and general effectiveness.
Work is reviewed by higher-level professional engineers for validity, adequacy, methods
and procedures. With professional development and experience, work receives less The professional engineer supervises a group or groups including professional engineers
review, and the professional engineer progressively exercises more individual judgement and other staff, or exercises authority and technical control over a group of professional
until the level of competence at Level 2 is achieved. staff, in both instances engaged in complex engineering applications.
The professional engineer may assign and check work of technical staff assigned to work Level 5 Professional Engineer
on a common project.
A professional engineer usually responsible for an engineering administrative function,
Level 2 Professional Engineer directing several professional and other groups engaged in inter-related engineering
responsibilities, or as an engineering consultant. Achieving recognition as an authority in
Following development through Level 1 he/she is an experienced engineer (as defined) an engineering field of major importance to the organisation.
who plans and conducts professional engineering work without detailed supervision,
but with guidance on unusual features and who is usually engaged on more responsible The professional engineer independently conceives programs and problems to be
engineering assignments requiring substantial professional experience. investigated and participates in discussions determining basic operating policies,
devising ways of reaching program objectives in the most economical manner and of
Level 3 Professional Engineer meeting any unusual conditions affecting work progress.
A professional engineer performing duties requiring the application of mature The professional engineer makes responsible decisions on all matters, including
professional engineering knowledge. With scope for individual accomplishment and co- the establishment of policies and expenditures of large sums of money and/or
ordination of more difficult assignments, the professional deals with problems for which implementation of major programs, subject only to overall policy and financial controls.
it is necessary to modify established guides and devise new approaches.
The professional engineer receives administrative direction based on organisation
The professional engineer may make some original contribution or apply new policies and objectives. Work is reviewed to ensure conformity with policy and co-
professional engineering approaches and techniques to the design or development of ordination with other functions.
equipment or special aspects of products, facilities and buildings.
The professional engineer reviews and evaluates technical work, selects, schedules,
Recommendations may be reviewed for soundness of judgement but are usually and co-ordinates to attain program objectives and/or as administrator, makes decisions
regarded as technically accurate and feasible. The professional engineer makes concerning selection, training, rating, discipline and remuneration of staff.
responsible decisions on matters assigned, including the establishment of professional
engineering standards and procedures, consults, recommends and advises in speciality
engineering areas.
Work is carried out within broad guidelines requiring conformity with overall objectives,
relative priorities and necessary co-operation with other units. Informed professional
engineering guidance may be available.
The professional engineer outlines and assigns work, reviews it for technical accuracy
and adequacy, and may plan, direct, co-ordinate and supervise the work of other
professional and technical staff.

Methodology
The Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Survey tracks annual
changes in compensation for full-time professional engineers in Australia. In addition to
presenting national trends, it includes analysis by separate indices including engineering
discipline, levels of responsibility, years of experience and job function.
The survey was conducted online during April/May 2019.
To avoid duplication of data arising from a participant starting multiple survey sessions
due to technical difficulties, incomplete questionnaires were discarded where multiple
responses had been submitted from a single IP address, at least one questionnaire was
completed in full, and responses to the incomplete questionnaires mirrored responses
in the completed survey.
Incomplete surveys were included in the analysis for any item where respondents
provided enough information for that item.
Base salary
Participants were asked to provide both their base salary and an hourly rate of pay.
Where a participant did not provide a base salary, but did provide an hourly rate, this
was used in conjunction with their reported hours worked each not including overtime
to determine an equivalent base salary.
Superannuation
The dollar value of a participant’s superannuation as a component of their total package
was calculated by multiplying their employer’s contribution percentage by their base
salary. Where a participant did not specify their employer’s contribution percentage
but did indicate they received superannuation as part of their role the government
mandated minimum rate of 9.5 per cent was used.
Annual salary movement

Annual salary movements were calculated by taking the percentage change from a
participant’s annual base salary 12 months ago to their annual base salary at the time
of the survey. The calculation is only performed for participants indicating they had not
received a promotion or changed employers in the last 12 months. The calculation was
also not performed for individuals with less than one year of experience.
Valuation of motor vehicles

The value given to a motor vehicle provided as part of a salary package has been
determined based on the following formula:
22.5 per cent of Cost of Vehicle + 25 cents per km.
Cost of vehicle is the original cost of the car inclusive of government taxes and charges
and dealer delivery fees. Capital costs within the formula are based on 22.5 per cent
straight-line depreciation over 4 years with a 10 per cent salvageable value at the end of
those 4 years.
Vehicle running costs are based on an average derived from the Royal Automobile
Club of Victoria annual survey of car running costs. These costs include registration,
insurance, fuel and servicing.
For the purposes of the analysis contained in this report, the Fringe Benefits Tax
statutory rate of 20 per cent is used in calculating the FBT liability component of a motor
vehicle.
Report preparation
Alex Crowther, Surveys Manager, Professionals Australia
Kim Rickard, Director Surveys and Research, Professionals Australia

EMPLOYMENT
FRAMEWORK
National Employment Standards Modern Awards
The NES are 10 minimum employment entitlements that must be Professional employees are covered by a range of Modern Awards
provided to all employees. The national minimum wage and the and particular Awards underpin Enterprise Agreements. The major
NES make up the minimum entitlements for employees in Australia. Award covering Professional Engineers in the private sector is the
An Award, employment contract, enterprise agreement or other Professional Employees Award 2010.
registered agreement can't provide for conditions that are less than
the national minimum wage or the NES. They cannot exclude the The major provisions of a modern award will most commonly relate
NES. to:
The 10 minimum entitlements of the NES are: • Rates of pay;

• Classification levels;
• maximum weekly hours;
• Working hours and public holidays;
• requests for flexible working arrangements;
• Overtime and penalty rates;
• parental leave and related entitlements;
• Allowances;
• annual leave;
• Annual leave;
• personal/carer's leave, compassionate leave and unpaid family
and domestic violence leave; • Personal leave;
• community service leave; • Rest breaks;
• long service leave; • Engagement and termination of employment;
• public holidays; • Superannuation; and
• notice of termination and redundancy pay; and • Dispute settlement procedures.
• Fair Work Information Statement. For a list of relevant Awards and links to the Awards, visit:
All full-time and part-time employees in the national workplace http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/support/rights-wages-

relations system are covered by the NES regardless of the award, conditions/modern-awards.
registered agreement or employment contract that applies. For
further information on the National Employment Standards and Individual employment contracts
their application, visit the Employee entitlements section of the
Fair Work Ombudsman’s website at Where individuals are engaged under an individual employment
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements. contract, the remuneration information contained in this report can
provide a basis for negotiating a base salary and total remuneration
package to be included in the contract. Employment conditions
to be included and referred to in the contract can be negotiated
and agreed so long as employers observe the NES or the relevant
underpinning Award which must apply. Some enterprise agreements
also provide for employees to enter into individual agreement/
contracts in relation to some aspects of their employment so in
these cases the employment conditions set out in the enterprise
agreement underpin the employment conditions set out in the
employment contract.

Remuneration packaging
Remuneration packaging is a legitimate way for employees
to increase their take-home pay and improve their overall
remuneration at no additional cost to their employer. Employees
agree to forgo part of their future salary in return for a benefit
provided by their employer.
It is important to review salary packaging arrangements each time

income tax thresholds are adjusted or the salary is increased beyond
the next income tax bracket. Different strategies are appropriate for
different levels of income. This is particularly important given the
top marginal tax is only payable on income above $180,000. As a
consequence, many employees now pay income tax at a lower rate
than the Fringe Benefits Tax rate.
Personal income tax rates 2019–20*
INCOME RATE
0 – $18,200 Nil
$18,201 – $37,000 19c for each $1 over $18,200
$3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over

$37,001 – $90,000
$37,000
$20,797 plus 37c for each $1 over

$90,001 – $180,000
$90,000
*Rates do not include 2 per cent Medicare Levy, low income tax offset

While the government charges employers Fringe Benefits Tax Motor vehicles
(FBT) equal to the top marginal tax rate plus Medicare levy (47 per
cent) on most non- salary benefits provided to an employee or an Motor vehicles are one of the most popular items to be included
associate of the employee (usually a family member) in respect of in a salary package, partially because of their concessional Fringe
the employee’s employment, there are still ways to structure your Benefits Tax (FBT) treatment.
remuneration to benefit from salary packaging.
FBT is calculated using either the ATO Statutory Rate or Operating
However, it is important for employees to ensure the terms of their Cost method. Generally the Statutory Rate method is used due to its
salary sacrifice arrangement includes an agreement to retain the greater simplicity and lesser record-keeping requirement.
normal (pre-sacrificed) salary as the basis for calculating benefits
Since April 2014 the FBT charge for a salary packaged motor vehicle
such as employer superannuation, overtime payments, annual leave
has become a flat 20 per cent fraction, irrespective of the distance
loading and the like.
travelled by the vehicle.
To determine if it is in your interests to salary package a specific
FBT = purchase price * statutory rate * FBT rate * gross-up factor
benefit, you need to compare the amount of FBT charged as a
proportion of the total salary sacrifice with the amount of income Generally the greatest tax saving accrues to those employees in the
tax as a proportion of gross income required to obtain that benefit. highest income tax bracket (those earning more than $180,000 per
year). There are, however, methods to deliver additional savings to
The salary sacrifice required to package a benefit = cost of benefit
employees on a lower marginal tax rate.
+ (cost of benefit * FBT rate * gross-up factor) – input tax credit.
If the amount of salary sacrificed for a car would otherwise have
Note there should be no difference in the salary sacrifice required
been subject to income tax of less than 47 per cent (including
to package GST-inclusive and GST-exclusive items that are subject
Medicare levy), the employee will gain a benefit from making an
to the same rate of FBT. For all benefits subject to the full rate of
after-tax contribution equivalent to the taxable value of the car
FBT, the amount of salary sacrifice required to pay for each $1.00 of
benefit, as they will be effectively taxed at their lower marginal tax
benefit is $1.961.
rate instead of the FBT rate.
Example 1: Employee wishes to package $1,100 worth of school
For example, an employee on a salary of $60,000 who makes an
fees (nil GST)
after-tax contribution equivalent to the taxable value of the car
Salary sacrifice required = $1,100 + ($1,100 * 0.47 * 1.8868) – 0 benefit effectively pays only 32.5 per cent tax instead of 47 per cent
= $2,075 tax on the taxable value of packaged motor vehicle.
Example 2: Employee wishes to package $1,100 worth of home Limitations on the type and number of motor vehicles that can be
renovations (full GST) packaged include:
Salary sacrifice required = $1,100 + ($1,100 * 0.47 * 2.0802) – • Any car, either new or second-hand, can be packaged but most
($1,100 * 1/11) = $2,075 finance companies will not create a lease for a low-value second-
hand car. They will also generally charge a higher rate for second-
Due to FBT being charged at a rate equivalent to the top marginal hand vehicles;
tax rate plus Medicare, it is generally only effective to package
• Luxury cars and four wheel-drive vehicles may be packaged -
FBT-exempt and concessional taxed items.
there is no upper limit in terms of the value of the car;
• There is no restriction on the number of vehicles that can be
packaged, although multiple vehicle packaging would only
be worthwhile from a taxation perspective by those earning
sufficient income; and
• Motorcycles, goods-carrying vehicles with a capacity of one tonne
or more and vehicles designed to carry nine or more passengers
cannot be packaged as they are specifically excluded from the
ATO definition of a car and do not attract concessional FBT
treatment.

How Fringe Benefits Tax is calculated Superannuation
FBT is not calculated on the direct cost of the benefit but rather Contributions to superannuation made under a salary sacrifice
to a “grossed-up” taxable value that reflects the amount of pre- arrangement are considered employer contributions. They are
tax income an employee on the top marginal tax rate (including exempt from FBT but incur a 15 per cent employer contributions tax.
Medicare) of 47 per cent would have to earn to obtain the same The contributions tax is well below the usual marginal tax rates of
benefit. professionals, which is generally at least 34.5 per cent (inclusive of
Medicare levy).
Gross-up rates also take account of whether benefits are subject to
GST, this reflects the fact that employers are able to recover the cost Employees should be aware that if they sacrifice $10,000 of pre-
of the GST paid on a benefit supplied to an employee as an input tax tax salary for superannuation, for example, only $8,500 will be
credit. credited to their superannuation account due to the contributions
tax. If an employee wishes to ensure $10,000 was credited to a
FBT payable by employer = cost of benefit * gross-up factor * FBT
superannuation account, they would need to sacrifice $11,765 of
rate
pre-tax salary.
For the period April 2018 to 31 March 2019 the gross-up factor
Employer superannuation contributions are preserved until
applying to items subject to GST is 2.0802 and the gross-up factor
retirement and cannot be accessed unless significant financial
applying to items not subject to GST is 1.8868.
hardship can be demonstrated.
FBT exempt items
Superannuation Guarantee Legislation
One laptop, notebook or similar portable computer can be packaged
Under Superannuation Guarantee legislation, employers are
each year without incurring a Fringe Benefits Tax liability. Devices
required to contribute a minimum 9.5 per cent of an employee’s
that are packaged must be primarily used for business.
ordinary time earnings, as defined, to a complying superannuation
To qualify as a laptop, the computer must be small in size, portable fund or retirement savings account of the employee.
and able to be operated without an external power source. Built-in
Superannuation Guarantee applies for full-time, part-time and casual
internal features (such as a modem or fax), external accessories
employees, including those who work under a contract principally
required for basic operation of the computer, (such as a mouse)
for the labour of the person.
and preloaded software part of the basic operating system can be
included as part of the laptop cost. There are some limited exceptions including:
Salary-packaged laptop cannot also be depreciated for the extent it • Employees paid less than $450 gross in a calendar month;
is used for income producing purposes.
• Employees aged under 18 years working 30 hours or less per
Other FBT exempt items include: week;
• Employer-provided child care; • Non-resident employees paid for work done outside Australia;
• Briefcase, calculators and other tools of trade; • Resident employees paid for work done outside Australia for a
non-resident employer;
• Income protection insurance, professional subscriptions, business
software, home office expenses and mobile phones used mainly • Employees covered by a Bilateral Superannuation Agreement;
for business; and • Some foreign executives who hold certain visas or entry permits;
• Superannuation. • Members of the Army, Navy, or Air Force Reserve for work carried
out in that role;
• Employees receiving salary or wages under the Commonwealth
Government Community Development Employment Program; and
• Employees paid to do work of a domestic or private nature for 30
hours a week or less.
Many professionals already receive additional employer-sponsored
superannuation well in excess of the legislated minimum amount.
Employers must report on employee payslips the amount of

superannuation paid into the employee’s superannuation account,
and superannuation funds will notify employers and employees if
regular payments cease.

Employees over preservation age Payment summary disclosure
Employees who are under the age of 65 and have reached Fringe benefits provided to employees must be reported on group
preservation age (55 for those born before 01/07/1960 increasing certificates where the grossed-up value of benefits exceeds $2,000
up to 60 for those born after 30/06/1964) but remain gainfully in this FBT year. These benefits must be grossed-up using a factor of
employed on a full-time or part-time basis, may access their 1.8868.
preserved benefits and restricted non-preserved benefits as a non-
commutable income stream. The amount disclosed on the group certificate will have no bearing
on income tax liability. The information is to be used by the
This enables them to sacrifice salary (subject to a maximum of Australian Tax Office to calculate employee liability in respect of the
$100,000 per annum) into superannuation where it is taxed at only following:
15 per cent, while drawing an income subject to no or concessional
tax to live on from their superannuation fund. This can result in • Medicare levy surcharge;
substantial tax savings and increase in retirement benefits. • HECS;
Anyone considering this should discuss their options with a • Family allowances;
registered financial planner.
• Social security benefits; and
Car parking • Personal superannuation contributions.
Generally, a car parking benefit will exist where an employer The taxable value of a benefit will normally be based on the actual
provides car parking facilities within business premises owned or cost of the benefit however some benefits may be valued using
leased by the employer. existing valuation guidelines produced by the ATO (e.g. motor
vehicles).
A car parking fringe benefit arises if a commercial car parking facility
available for all day parking and which charges more than $8.95 per
day (FBT year ending 31 March 2020) is located within one kilometre
of the employer-provided car parking facility.
If there is no commercial car parking facility within a one kilometre

radius, there will be no benefit.
Company loans
A loan fringe benefit arises from the provision of a loan to an

employee where low or no interest is charged on the loan. A loan
includes:
• an advance of money;
• the provision of credit; and
• the payment of an amount on behalf of a person.
Whether or not a fringe benefit arises depends on whether the
interest charged is less than the Australian Tax Office “statutory
interest rate”. The statutory rate for the year ending 31 March 2019
is 5.20 per cent and the year end 31 March 2020 is 5.37 per cent.

HOW TO ORDER THE
EXTENDED ENGINEERS
EMPLOYMENT AND
R E M U N E R AT I O N
REPORT
Gain access to more detailed data to benchmark remuneration for Further reading
your engineering workforce for only $330 (inc. GST).
Professionals Australia has a range of other publications for
Professionals Australia has been conducting regular surveys of engineers:
professional engineer remuneration for over 40 years. Our reports
are the most detailed source of information available when it comes • Engineering a better future
to pay and conditions for Australia’s engineering workforce.
• Engineering our Economic Prosperity
Purchase a full copy of the Professionals Australia Employment & • Better Infrastructure
Remuneration Report to gain access to detailed breakdowns for
engineering pay across industry, discipline, levels of experience, • Women in Engineering: Realising Productivity and Innovation
and more. Through Diversity
The full report is available for only $330.00 (inc. GST). Purchase by Other remuneration and
visiting the following link http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/ employment reports
financial-edge/salary-survey-reports/
Professionals Australia conducts a range of salary surveys and has
Professionals Australia member? Purchase the extended report for available reports for Scientists, Pharmacists and ICT Professionals.
only $99.00 (inc. GST) Download here
By purchasing you also get access to our Engineer Remuneration

Calculator. This tool allows you to perform custom analysis of
engineer remuneration using a wide range of demographics.
Members of Professionals Australia get access for free. Click here
to access the calculator http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/
financial-edge/salary-calculators/engineers-calculator/
Not a member? Look at the benefits of joining here!

http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/join/
Endnotes
1 IBISWorld Australia Industry Reports (ANZSIC). 8 Australian Government (2019). Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family
Business, Engineering Professions Australia, 2019.
2 Australian Construction Market Report, October 2019. Available at http:/
wtpartnership.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/WT-Australian-Construction 9 ABS Catalogue 6345.0, March 2020 (Trend)
Market-Report-28-Oct-2019.pdf.
10 ABS Catalogue 6401.0, March 2020 (All groups)
3 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016 Census.
11 Deloitte Access Economics, Weekly Economic Briefing, 28 April 2020.
4 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016 Census.
12 Daehoon Nahm, Michael Dobbie & Craig MacMillan (2017) Union wage effects in
5 Engineers Australia (2020). Australia's Next Generation of Engineers, University Australia: an endogenous switching approach, Applied Economics, 49:39,
Statistics for Engineering, pp.2,3. 3927-3942, DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2016.1273492.Available at https:/
theconversation.com/why-union-members-earn-higher-wages-than-their-non
6 Australian Government (2019). Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family union-colleagues-93122.
Business, Engineering Professions Australia, 2019.
7 Engineers Australia (July 2019). Australian engineering vacancies report: Trends to

June 2019 and Trends to February 2020.

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*Accredited engineers earn 26.4% more on average than non-accredited engineers as measured by median base salary across levels of responsibility
from 2020 Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report. Visit the RPEng website at www.professionalengineers.org.au/RPEng.
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The Association of
PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS
EMPLOYMENT AND
REMUNERATION REPORT
2020/21
STREET ADDRESS
152 Miller Street, West Melbourne, Victoria, 3003, Australia
POSTAL ADDRESS
GPO Box 1272, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia
TELEPHONE
1300 273 762
FAX
03 9695 8902
EMAIL
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WEB
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The Association of

Published by Professionals Australia

Copyright © 2020 by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and

ISSN 2203-1162 (previously ISSN 1444-7495)

GPO Box 1272, Melbourne Victoria 3001

2 | Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21

Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21 | 3

In response to the developing crisis, the 2020 survey included a

4 | Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21

Professionals Australia is a not-for profit organisation and is owned by its members.

Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21 | 5

Engineers have expressed concern about performance measures

6 | Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21

Table 1 – Engineering vacancies by state

AVERAGE MONTHLY PERCENTAGE GROWTH/ PROPORTION OF

NSW 1,161 -21 28

Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21 | 7

8 | Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21

Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21 | 9

Figure 1 - Median percentage increase in salaries by sector of employment

10 | Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21

Figure 2 - Median percentage increase in salaries by industry

Education and Training 3.4%

Consulting & Technical Services 2.7%

Other Transport, Postal and Warehousing 2.6%

Mining (inc. Oil/Gas extraction) 2.6%

Water, Sewerage and Drainage 2.5%

Information Media and Telecommunications 2.4%

Public Administration and Safety 2.4%

Gas Supply 1.5%

0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% 3.5% 4.0%

Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21 | 11

Figure 3 - Median base salary and total package by industry

Education and Training $170,000 $203,954

Gas Supply $155,000 $191,625

Electricity $140,000 $164,450

Mining (inc. Oil/Gas extraction) $135,000 $158,775

Rail $125,815 $146,899

Public Administration and Safety $118,000 $138,262

Other Transport, Postal

Construction $110,000 $136,000

Road $112,948 $131,400

Consulting & Technical Services $114,842 $131,400

Water, Sewerage and Drainage $110,000 $130,415

Manufacturing $112,192 $126,272

Defence $103,000 $115,263

$0K $50K $100K $150K $200K

Base Salary Total Package

12 | Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21

LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 LEVEL 5 ABOVE LEVEL 5

Gas Supply - - - - - - $180,000 $202,575 - - - -

Public Administration - - - - $102,500 $113,833 $118,000 $138,336 $145,813 $199,616 - -

Education and Training - - - - - - $143,478 $169,774 $180,000 $212,054 - -

Other - - - - $97,500 $111,763 $121,325 $132,851 - - - -

Professional Engineers Employment and Remuneration Report 2020/21 | 13

Geological $160,250 $176,295

Manufacturing $140,000 $166,600

Electrical $130,000 $149,456

Biomedical $126,000 $137,970