THE HIGHEST PAYING

IT JOBS IN AUSTRALIA

2024-2025

According to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Australia’s $167 billion tech sector has grown at a huge 80 per cent in the past five years. And according to Gartner, IT spending in Australia should be over $133 billion in 2024, up 7.8 per cent on last year. The additional good news for workers is that we’re struggling to find the skilled workforce to keep up with such growth. As a result, there are many roles paying over $200k for highly skilled workers. 

Salary shouldn’t be the sole driver for career decision, but it’s certainly an incentive when it comes to choosing your path. 

We’ve put together information on the highest paying IT jobs in Australia based on the findings from the latest Hays Salary Guide. Of the 15,324 respondents, there were 3,480 from the world of technology – the biggest sector to record results.  
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While Sydney is usually home to the highest average salaries across many sectors, the top earners in IT are not all located in Sydney but spread out across the country. In particular Canberra understandably offers high salaries for IT specialists. We've listed the highest reported salaries for each role across a range of Australia's IT industry verticals. 

The chief information officer (CIO) remains the highest paying job in the IT sector in Australia, with salaries up to $375k in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. A typical Sydney salary is just over $300k at $306k, and it’s just under in Melbourne and Canberra at $290k.

In today's complex and changing technology landscape, effective CIOs are relied on more than ever to spearhead digital transformations and deliver business value. This is reflected in their generous remuneration packages. 

Australia's leading CIOs are not only skilled in IT strategy but also have excellent business acumen, people management skills and the ability to navigate complex organisational politics. As their organisation's chief guide into future tech applications and trends, CIOs need to maintain a deep understanding of the latest innovations and how they can be applied to solve business problems. 

Workforce transformation has also put other IT leadership roles in the spotlight. Currently, chief technology officer (CTO) follows closely behind CIO as the second highest paying IT job in Australia, earning up to $370k in Melbourne with a typical salary of $275k. In Sydney the typical salary is higher at $306k, but peaks at $357k.
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In contrast to CIOs, CTOs focus mainly on the technical aspects of their organisation's digital transformation strategy and play a key role in driving innovation.

​Another leadership position worth highlighting is the CISO manager (Chief Information Security Officer) which is becoming more and more important as cyber security becomes further under the spotlight. A CISO Manager can earn up to $360k in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, with a typical salary of $255k in all three states.

There is a drop in salary then to a standard IT Manager, who has an upper limit of $220k in Sydney and Melbourne, $210k in Canberra and $200k in Perth.​​​​​​

The constant demands of digital transformation have created the need for robust project management capabilities within organisations. Within the discipline of projects & change management, project directors have emerged as vital in ensuring the successful planning and execution of complex digital transformation projects, many of which involve multiple stakeholders and large budgets.

IIn recognition of their importance, project directors are the highest paid professionals in projects and change management, earning up to $300k in Melbourne, Perth and Canberra, dropping to $280k in Sydney.

Enterprise architects are the next highest paid projects and change management professionals, taking home up to $280k in Melbourne, $250k in Perth and Canberra, and $240k in Sydney. Such high salaries are not surprising when you consider how integral enterprise architects have been in helping organisations migrate to the cloud.

Other high paying roles include Sydney-based program managers (up to $240k) and senior PMO Managers (up to $230k in Brisbane) and Senior Change Managers (up to $230k in Canberra).

The cloud has been one of the most transformative technologies of the past decade and is only set to grow in the years ahead. This is reflected in the growing salaries of dedicated cloud architects, now one of the highest paying IT jobs in Australia, earning up to $280k in Canberra where there is high demand. This drops in other states with the upper limit being $230k in Melbourne, and $220k in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane.

Along with the CISO Managers mentioned previously, there are a number of other roles in the world of cyber security that have become valuable as the need for digital protection increases. Cyber Security Architects can earn up to $275k in Canberra, where security if obviously paramount. In Sydney, Melbourne and Perth there is an upper limit of $250k.

In addition, Cyber Security Managers can now earn up to $250k, IDAM Architects and IDAM Engineers up to $240k in most states, and Penetration Testers up to $200k in Sydney and Melbourne.

A strong IT infrastructure is the backbone of many organisations and as such, network architects who can design, implement and manage complex networks earn high salaries as a result. In Canberra the salary can reach up to $250k, although this drops to a high of $200k in Sydney and Melbourne. Infrastructure Managers, Service Delivery Managers, Infrastructure Architects can also all earn up to $200k.

Big data is here to stay, and it's been driving plenty of growth in the tech industry over the past few years. Not surprisingly,  data-related roles  are some of the highest paying in Australia. Data Architects can earn up to $250k in most major states, while Data Scientists can also earn up to $250k in Sydney and Melbourne

The last few years of digital transformation have not just pushed organisations onto existing platforms but necessitated the creation of new software to support business needs. Software development teams are in overdrive as they attempt to meet these demands. Development managers can earn up to $250k in Sydney and Canberra.  

The next highest paying roles in software development belong to solution who can also earn up to $250k in Canberra, or $220k in Sydney and Melbourne. Mobile app developers in Sydney and Melbourne can also earn up to $200k.

As organisations strive to become more data-driven, the demand for skilled ERP and CRM professionals has increased. The effective use of relational databases that can store and analyse large amounts of data relies on a deep understanding of how data is organised and accessed. Three roles stand out in this area: ERP/CRM architects, ERP/CRM test analysts, ERP/CRM technical consultants and ERP/CRM functional consultants, all of whom can earn up to $220k in a number of states. 

For more information on the highest paying IT jobs in Australia, download our Hays Salary Guide.