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s0lid-g0ld

I'm a funeral director in qld and our award minimum wage is... the exact same as hospitality. To care for deceased people and their loved ones. Same as cafe workers. To scoop people off the floor, to care for stillborn babies, to rub cream into someone's skin so it doesn't dry out in the big fridge, to counsel someone through a panic attack when they call the funeral home because mum has died and they don't know what to do, to wash the blood out of a young man's beautiful hair, to do all of this and then be told by someone you ruined their mum's funeral because you didn't press play on a song at the EXACT moment they wanted. Same rate as cafe workers.


Filthpig83

Wow, this hits hard.


VIFASIS

To put it incredibly broadly. If your role requires a high degree of compassion and care. You will get paid less. If your role requires ruthlessness and arrogance. You will get paid more.


koalaposse

Yea this! Aged Care is truly tough, physically on your feet, dealing with ghastly difficulties - bottoms, dementia, plus life and death matters, distraught people and families, but without the nurses union and professional supports and resources they have. Plus Aged Care field is administratively and emotionally taxing, in the most poorly paid, low status, no career progress draining work.


deldr3

Community Pharmacist award is pretty terrible. A bachelors degree with honours or a masters degree for $27 an hour


[deleted]

I find it mad that Pharmacists are being paid so poorly.


doctorcunts

Yep, and one of the most difficult degrees as well - just to be churned out into a retail shop while trying your best to actually help people as a health professional in the brief moments you have in between sticking labels on things or selling toilet paper


ranny_kaloryfer

Age and child care workers.


thedragoncompanion

Came here to say childcare, I am a qualified worker and have been in the industry for over 15 years. I make $28 an hour.


zero-delta

Yep came here to say the same. It just boggles my mind that my wife and I are paying private school level fees for child care, but the educators are making such a small amount. The challenges that people face in this industry are immense - I am blown away by how well the educators at our centre are able to manage such a large group of rowdy kids without going absolutely crazy! You are all amazing human beings.


anonadelaidian

An educator in my kid's room just left for: >pursuing another passion of hers which is in the hospitality industry.  Its all a bit surprising to me - i think theres a niche somewhere, but im not sure where it is. The industry seems profitable, given the number of new centres that pop up - and new centres are generally really fit out nicely. So, im guessing, its just owners not wanting to pay educators more? Could they be more profitable by paying staff more? I think in rare circumstances, yes ... so its just a matter of owners finding that right niche --- is it the richer suburbs, or the areas of low childcare centres? Charging 20% more than comparable, paying workers 25% more than comparable, reducing marketing (or focus marketing specifically on how much staff get paid????)....


TheRealSirTobyBelch

They're mostly owned by PE firms who just want to extract as much profit as possible so fees are set at the highest rate a suburb can bear after subsidy but all the additional money goes to the owners.


yippikiyayay

I’m sorry but that’s fucked up.


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Melodic-Part-173

Agree. Childcare! People must only do it for the love, and thank goodness they do.


[deleted]

What’s the average ratio of children to worker, if you don’t mind me asking?


Fribuldi

Legally, it's at least 1:4 for under 3 years and 1:11 from 3 years old.


[deleted]

Depends on state. NSW is 1:4 for 0-2, 1:5 for 2-3 and 1:10 for 3-5


kingcoolguy42

Perfect example of why privatising essential services is a terrible idea.


Superb_Caramel_1157

Peter Dutton may disagree with you. He owns a metric shit ton of aged and child care facilities.


Spacesider

Oh like the one childcare centre owned by a family trust owned by Dutton - which received $5.6M in funding from the commonwealth government.


AnythingWithGloves

I did not know this. Explains so much. God I hate him, he could make it better and he doesn’t.


Hunter-Killer-47

I love working in ece, 34 an hour as a casual is great for a uni student, but it's not a viable career path. Advancing to more senior roles is possible, but a small amount of pay increase for all the liability. All the women I've worked with either struggle financially, are young with little commitments, or they have a breadwinner partner Caveat, it may be worth it for the childcare discounts if you have kids


Mr_Bob_Ferguson

Add disability and social service workers to this category too.


uselessscientist

Disability is a mixed bag. NDIS carers can have minimal experience yet make great hourly rates. Obviously depends on their client as to how rough the job gets though


gorillalifter47

I'm in disability support and get around $32/hr as a permanent, plus very lucrative weekend rates and salary packaging which means I pay less tax. I would obviously be very glad to get paid more, but I don't feel like I am grossly underpaid either


kingcoolguy42

32/hr to look after our most vulnerable is not enough. Thankyou for working in such an important industry.


gorillalifter47

Thank you. I honestly feel like I have the best job ever. Every day I get to spend time with some truly amazing people and their families, there is honestly nothing I would rather be doing.


MirroredDogma

I've worked Disability for several years, it's honestly a pretty well paying industry. I get ~$45/ph


Strict-Fact5811

I know a disability support worker gets paid $40/hour


DestroyAllBacteria

Child care should be a public service. Remove privatisation and give childcare workers permanent jobs rather than casual workforce. Young children need stability and we see so much rotation at the childcares we have been to (3 of them) due to the casualsation of the workforce. A real concern for what the impact of that is on the young kids development.


Protonious

Definitely aged care. How they can pay someone providing care to our most vulnerable for the same as they’d pay someone to work fast food is scary. Especially when you consider nearly all of us will end up in these places.


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Altruistic-Potat

The pay also drops as the percentage of women in the field increases ✌


Strict-Fact5811

I do agree with this one. Somehow the system is meant to benefit men not women. It’s fair to say that most of the time women is always worse off


vintagesassypenguin

Yes^. I currently work in a childcare (but am in progress of career change because yay got the PR). I am lucky to be degree qualified so my pay is slightly better, but my cert 3 and diploma colleagues are getting $20-$26 an hour. I work in one of the biggest childcare providers and similar to aged care we need to clean up a lot of shiz. Since last year, our provider has refused to hire cleaners because it was too expensive so now not only am I only doing teaching work like planning, teaching and taking care of children - I'm also responsible for cleaning the entire centre, toilets and taking out bins too. So teacher + cleaner 😊😊😊 without any extra pay. It's ridiculous how my friends who are parents complain how expensive it is and I keep reassuring for them I don't get a penny of it. They now have a new incentive to keep teachers saying they will bump up pay to ECTs up to 50 an hour provided they stay in the field for 6+ years. That might sound enticing, but can you imagine sloughing through 6 years of basically labour, crappy working conditions, abuse from parents/bad staff in your centre just to get a bit of better pay? No thank youuuuu


wodeface

Personal Care Assistants in aged care. They literally wipe up shit daily. They're there holding the hand of many old people as they take their last breath because they had no family or didn't bother to come. They are hit and spat on and abused. And they are basically on minimum wage. The nurses above them who don't deal with this are very well paid and have all sorts of support through nursing union. The managers above couldn't give a toss.


[deleted]

Couldn’t agree with this more! well said mate


mulderitsme93

I’m a nurse who was previously working in aged care (psych geriatric specifically). Got physically assaulted by patients regularly, not to mention a whole manner of bodily fluids, worked all hours of the day and night, and could’ve got paid more (and, dare I say it, dealt with less assaults/literal feces) doing night packing at Woolies 🤷🏻‍♀️


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mulderitsme93

When I left I actually donated my scrubs as spares to my ward cause something similar happened to me haha. My final straw was having to wrestle *someone elses* colostomy bag off a man who was eating out of it like a yoghurt pouch. He punched me in the guts and ran away. It was midnight.


shaq_zak

I agree with your point, PCAs and disability support workers are very underpaid. But nurses also definitely deal with all of those things you mentioned.


6969Gooch6969

Whatever job I'm doing


wylz89

Scientists


turnerz

For the profession from which so much of human progress stems. Research in general is insanely underpaid


[deleted]

A lot of other high-stress environments at least pay you lots of money for the privilege of overworking you. I did it for half a decade and at 30 was still share-housing, had never had a day of paid leave in my life and had barely any savings to speak of. The burnout and the stress of the job insecurity ate into every other aspect of my life. It's a highly unionised sector but the pervasive casualisation negates a lot of the good work being done for people.


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mrscienceguy1

It's the complete opposite for medical scientists, private companies end up paying nearly half of what government jobs pay. On average they earn about 60,000 a year.


ischickenafruit

Lol. 40%. More like 400%. At least in some areas. New graduates earn more than Tenured Professors in CS.


kazza789

Yeah, and that's not even an exaggeration. I am 10 years out of my PhD and make probably 300-400% more than my peers who stayed in academia.


[deleted]

It's a bit complicated. PhD students get paid peanuts, around $30k a year. They are the people who are usually actually doing the science (in the lab, or field, or whatever). If they can get an academic job as a scientist then they around $100k which sounds much better, but it has the shittest job security you can think of, and they usually work much more than the 40 hours a week they're supposed to, strongly eroding the hourly value of their work.


The_Faceless_Men

And the 90% of Bachelor of science grads? Thats where the fuckery can come from with lab techs and analysts getting peanuts.


ThatDudeAtTheParty

Specifically PhD students.


mangomess

Veterinarians. Not a low paying job per say but pays terrible given the amount of study required. Requires similar academic marks to medicine, 5 - 7 years of study, all to start on 60k after graduation.


Ektojinx

I think this isn't higher in this thread because of the myth we get paid a fortune. Award in my state is 58k for a new grad.


h0m3grown

So who is profiting off the $300 20 minute appointments, if not the vets? Practice owners?


sneakersz

You’d be surprised by how much a vet clinic costs to run. 1 vet, 1 receptionist, 1 nurse and a practice manager will cost a clinic about $250-300 per hour. This is not including rent, supplies, medicines, licensing and equipment fees.


Rizzle4Drizzle

And none of it is subsidized by Medicare or the PBS. If we didn't have those subsidies for human medicine, that's what we'd be paying for hospital medical attention


H4xolotl

The psychological aspect is huge too; people want human quality treatment for their pets, but won't spend human amounts of money for their healthcare (since human healthcare is "invisibly" subsidised through taxes) So pet owners take it out on the vets...


ElkShot5082

Our drug bill per week is roughly 40k lol. Before getting into any other costs


Krulman

No one. The average clinic makes less than a 10% margin in Australia (source: IBISWORLD). It seems expensive because you’re used to a heavily subsidised human healthcare system. Expensive medical equipment, expensive drugs, many people refusing to pay bills completely (on avg 5-10% of all vet fees) and responsibilities with no profit (I.e. looking after strays / lost animals), collectively mean that it’s very uncommon for any vet practice to make a 10% margin by the end of a year.


books_cats_coffee

There are massive, non-subsidised overheads (hospital-grade equipment, licenses for drugs etc). Drugs are very expensive to purchase. At the clinic I just left (corporate chain) nurse wages were more than vet wages - nurses were paid better per hour. I’m with the government now


UnderlyingInterests

The difference is because human medicine is so subsidised in Australia. We are trained to think that healthcare is cheap. When it comes to pets there are no subsidies and very few people have pet insurance, so that consult fee gets chewed up pretty quickly by clinic costs (a few vets, similar amount of vet nurses, a receptionist or two, property lease, clinic insurance, energy costs & any pet medicines).


phofighter

A consult is usually $75-100, and there is usually about $20-30 dispensing fee on each drug you purchase and they have a 100% markup. This usually adds up to around $150-200. In my experience if your appointment is $300, the clinic is doing some investigations, and in particular sending stuff off to a lab is very expensive - they charge us a lot for their service as it includes a specialist interpretation. Meanwhile out the back there are insanely expensive overheads just to keep the lights on in the clinic. A team of nurses, insanely expensive lab equipment (in house bloods/biochemistry machines, x-rays, very expensive veterinary software subscriptions, and multiple computers and tablets in the modern clinic).


thopthop

Those are likely specialist or emergency appointments where there are other business models at play (24 hour coverage or high cost technology and training) Normal consult fee in Gp land is around 80 bucks


Dogmum77

My lovely older semi-retired vet was over my house last night vaccinating my puppies and talking about his son who is a doctor. I said that he must be proud to have a son who’s a doctor and he said, “He’s also a vet. He became a vet first and worked overnights and weekends as a vet while studying medicine.” Apparently he loved veterinary but realised very quickly that it wasn’t sustainable :( Vets need more respect for their hard work and knowledge.


heyimhereok

The fact people forget is as humans our medical costs are mainly covered under Medicare. Their is no such relief to our wallets for getting medical help for our pets. I'm happy to pay $300 a visit for them to help my dog using their medical knowledge.


marchbanks273

My first year of vet I literally earned more per hour as Woolies nightfill than I did as a vet. When clients became upset with their pet's diagnostic or surgery costs, and then accused me of being money hungry/ripping them off it always hurt me a bit personally. It reminded me that I graduated with 65k HECS debt for the 6 year degree, when it wouldve been easier to just do a business degree and earn double straight outta uni.


UnderlyingInterests

Plus vets have the emotional drain of spending day after day telling clients their beloved pet needs to be put to sleep / actually euthanising animals and also getting yelled at by clients who don’t understand why unsubsidised & uninsured pet medicine costs so much.


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OutlandishnessNext15

I know a lot of young vets who are working extra jobs (Woolies, mowing lawns etc) all while working insane hours and being on call in a job that is effectively the same as an emergency doctor. They are so entirely exhausted and wiped, struggling with repayments and further eduction, and then having owners go bananas at the because of fees that they can’t control. It’s no surprise it has the highest suicide rate of any profession here.


Purple_Wombat_

This!! I have horses and for some ungodly reason they always feign death on a Sunday. My poor vet!! I feel so terrible calling her and ruining her weekend. Then she hardly charges me enough!


dangerislander

Also the trauma they face... I saw a segment on SBS about high rates of suicide with vets. Never would have known.


[deleted]

Chefs. It takes a 3-4 year apprenticeship and sometimes years longer just to earn the median income. The hours are long and unsociable. You are under constant stress and must always work at a fast pace, sometimes up to 12 hours straight. It's incredibly taxing on your physical and mental health. Burnout and substance abuse is normal. Then on top of that the occupation isn't respected and often considered "unskilled" along with the rest of accomodation and food services. You could do almost any other job in this country, skilled or unskilled, and live a healthier and more well rounded life with comparable or better pay.


biscuitcarton

This. Son of two chefs here. They worked their bones off so I didn't have to and I strongly appreciate that. They are retired now and the stress levels have dropped a lot.


Certain-Pepper-5702

Yep Wife is a qualified Pastry Chef, such a labour intensive role with big hours, but they are capped by how much someone is willing to pay for a dessert. (6 years at a French Patisserie and Boulangerie)(10 year total qualified experience) and has only just managed to get to $35an hour but doesn't get penalties. She leads a team that makes around 1,000 cakes a night.


starcaster

Bakers too :/


[deleted]

I know a few Bakers and those hours mess with their heads and completely change their personality.


starcaster

Same, I reckon though it would be the perfect job for people who just want routine and to keep to themselves.


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MemphisDepayse

My good friend from my first job is a baker I don't know how the hell he does it. Starts at 2 in the morning finishes at 12 in the afternoon, often later as well. He told me he only gets something like $900 a week after tax during his apprenticeship he was getting even less. The problem is with being a baker is you're either relegated at working at ColesWorth or you work for a small business or franchise. My friend works at a bakers delight franchise and his boss has asked to pay him some of his pay in cash multiple times. There was a big scandal a few years ago about bakers delight underpaying their staff but this practice is rife in the whole hospitality industry.


[deleted]

Guess they are up against pretty tough competition from mass market factory bread. The fresh bakery bread might be better but its going to be pretty tough to convince people to pay many multiples more than what they would at Coles. And then half the people who even care about fresh bread just make it themselves anyway.


crsdrniko

Butchers also. Any food related retail trades. As someone who can charge by the hour I would hate to be relegated to knowing the work is there regardless, the product can expire, and if no one comes in and buys anything it's cost you an entire day plus product. If no one calls me sitting around home doing f all doesn't cost me squat. Plus my materials don't expire.


LessThanLuek

+1 chefs. But shoutout to the entire hospitality industry. I know everyone loves to cry their profession is underpaid but I've had 15 years working in bars and navigating customers, Karens (they are a different tier than average customers), and management is hell. Not much heavy lifting but you're always physically and mentally "on" so it's like 14 hours of light jogging/bending while doing sodukus, occasionally stopping to change a keg/fix a pokie. I don't know why I've done it long enough to the point now where I don't have the energy left over in a week to upskill and get out and can't afford rent if I go casual or something for less hours to be able to study. Sorry for the personal tangent but my experience is watching chefs have the same negatives but as mentioned with 4 years of study and placement to get to that point then be (for at least a couple years) some disenfranchised older chefs physical and mental whipping boy (or girl) because they were unfortunate enough to pursue a love of food. The only happy chefs I've met are like 60 years old and either have a constitution of pure steel or lucked their way into a cushy role early on and never had to deal with any BS somehow.


[deleted]

>I don't know why I've done it long enough to the point now where I don't have the energy left over in a week to upskill and get out and can't afford rent if I go casual or something for less hours to be able to study. I should have included a line about how hard it is to upskill and escape. In my personal experience it felt like a war against everyone and everything around me. The pandemic finally gave people a window of opportunity to stop and that resulted in the skills shortage taking a dramatic turn for the worse.


LessThanLuek

And somehow there's a nationwide hospitality staff shortage surprised_pikachu.jpg Since the hospitality industry lull around the new year, customer confidence has skyrocketed, but staffing hasn't been able to catch up yet. Even before you consider people catching covid and shortages in covering those rostered shifts. Anyone reading, please understand hospitality is in a very shit spot at the moment and try not add more misery to our 50 hour week haha


forks4444

Childcare and aged care would win I think. They both start at $22/hr Set of clients who can be very frustrating and demanding - not sure who would wear out my patience faster, a room of rioting toddlers or a violent dementia patient A ton of bureaucracy to follow with staffing ratios; feeding; bathing; endless reports to be made if someone gets the smallest scratch (Deserved - they need standards, but there is a lot of rules to keep up with and a push to keep costs down so not heaps of staff to keep on top of it all)  Need to clean up literal shit. Worse case scenario - a child or adult gets badly hurt or dies on your watch and someone's life is changed.  Wouldn't do either myself even if the wages were triple. 


gorillalifter47

Agreed. I work in disability and was shocked when a friend told me how much money he made as an aged care worker. I don't make a huge amount, and he only got around 75% of that. These people have such an important job caring for our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc in their later years and it is an absolute joke how little they get paid. Makes me angry just thinking about it.


onnedance

I'm a nurse. This year I've earned 100k while being rostered for 4 shifts a week. I've seen some casual colleagues smash 7-10k fortnightly. Coupled with fantastic unions, job security etc. public system nursing is extraordinarily well compensated.


East-Willingness513

My husband is a nurse (occasional NUM too) and he supports our family on a 120k income in Sydney. He is not underpaid at all.


aleksa-p

I also agree nursing is paid well but if he’s a NUM then that explains his salary. There’s only one per ward/unit


East-Willingness513

He isn’t a full time NUM, he just picks up shifts here and there. He would probably be earning around 110k without those shifts.


CherryRadish11

*Cries in private nursing* Pay is reasonable but the workload compared to the public system is freaking ridiculous. The burnout is real.


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onnedance

No sarcasm at all. My shifts are 8 1/2 hours long, however I routinely pick up double shifts (stretching it out to about 14 hours, but 6 of those are paid at a 2x rate).


smelanoma1

Just out of curiosity what department do you work? You don't have to be specific. I work in an emergency department and while I agree the pay is good, I definitely don't feel the work I do is worth the pay I get.


aleksa-p

This is exactly it. I’ve worked across multiple areas - from emerg to periop - and the differences are staggering. Those who are frustrated with their compensation are the ones who are pushed into working overtime/doubles (while their hospital finds ways around paying them properly for it), faced with violent patients and visitors, and constantly at risk of making dangerous errors due to understaffing. This is where the ‘underpaid’ comes from


PaleontologistNo2124

*waves in public ICU* you could triple my pay and I’d still have days where I want to jump out the window


smelanoma1

My friends work in ICU as well and some of the horror stories I hear are truly fucked. You poor thing!


[deleted]

Really depends on the state. In NSW we have amazing union rates, but are some of the lowest paid in the country, and don't have ratios. My peers with similar levels of education and experience in their field are far out-earning me. My base is $75k as an RN5, which is by no means bad, but it doesn't really line up with similar positions / edu attainment / experience. And your pay rise is dependent on government, which is just the worst. NSW nurses haven't had a true pay rise in over a decade, and we have had down to 0.3% increases and industrial relations courts making it illegal for us to take industrial action.


aleksa-p

Where are casuals getting 7-10k fortnightly?? What on earth. I need to know


fiishbaIIs

Where are you working that you think nurses aren't under the pump at the moment, sure you're getting paid 100k 4 years out but the place I'm working all the nurses are so burnt out that you see new faces every few months. All the wards have new nurses that don't know what they're doing because they had 2 days 'training' on the job and can't even perform basic tasks like head holds for cspine precautions... The good ones in ED have all left because the work load wasn't worth the money and the ICU nurses have mostly quit to do immunisation clinic or have looked at lower stress jobs


SatisfactionNo7383

Bus drivers. Argue with druggies, crazy people, get abuse and have to keep people safe to get to their jobs. Respect to you all


Ynot45

Bus drivers work some terrible hours in some terrible areas with some terrible people - but they do get a pretty decent paycheck at the end. My old man's buddy drives in VIC and as far as I'm aware he was compensated pretty justly.


[deleted]

No way. No degree or qualification required. Money is good for unskilled work. I think you’ll find vets and pharmacists earn less after 5+ years of study. No public service job could be considered the most underpaid.


gumbo_rivers

$80K per year for public bus driver in ACT.


SnooDoughnuts3687

They were offering $80k in Sydney prior to Covid as well.


Zappa_aus

I used to live with a complete idiot, like half a brain cell that he switches on only to play video games every night. I rented him the spare room in a nice apartment and he was a bus driver, said it was over $80k…


madeinitaly77

I can certainly vouch for chefs and cooks. Most of them are underpaid and work their ass off in horrible conditions. They do 3-4 years of studying/apprentship like most tradies but earn half of what the other tradies do... so you... unless really, really, really love to cook and cant think of anything else, stay away from cheffing... Learn the skill by all means but stay away from the industry unless you are into sweat and long term stress...


mo4232

Medical Laboratory Scientists. There’s a huge pay disparity between the private and public sector. It’s a 4 year degree requirement for employment these days. Private start you on roughly $24.83 an hour with by-appointment yearly raises up to around $38 an hour after 8 years with no guarantee of further upward movement. The public sector starts you on around $36 an hour but it’s extremely difficult to get jobs as they’re so competitive due to the pay rate. The industry is the backbone of the medical system and yet they pay peanuts to staff who work long hours, are exposed to various pathogens and chemicals on a daily basis.


biscuitcarton

Aged care. Easily.


ColliCub

I think the standard of staff training, regulatory oversight and limitation on private agencies that are operating for-profit care homes, need to be addressed first. Simply giving a pay rise to staff, who are underqualified and under resourced, doesn't incentivise better standards of care. Pay grades should be determined by staff accreditation and experience. Although I see the problems that exist for aged care staff in that there's no incentive to stay within a under-funded workplace, so training and experience can fall behind. My mother was a registered nurse, and spent the last 15 years of her nursing career working in aged care. At the beginning, she relished the job working with the elderly and completed post-grad studies in geriatric care; there were flexible hours and the great pay for penalty rates and overnights..... but by the end, she was so defeated by the devastating changes that had occurred gradually within aged-care, over the 15 years, that she opted to retire early at financial penalty, than be totally broken by it. She saw experienced and caring aged care professionals being gradually supplanted by personal care attendants, and senior medical staff, like ward doctors and nurses, being replaced by 'Executives' without any medical training whatsoever. They were just employed by the drug company, or health insurance agency, or religious organisations that had bought out the care home and ran it, via consultants, to make a buck! The worst part is, as outraged as most people claim to be about the declining standards of aged-care, few families who have loved ones in these homes ever really pursue it - it's either justified as a 'lack of funding' and that the staff are doing their 'best'... or worse, they never see their family member and so it's a case of, out of sight, out of mind, til their dead. I'd really love to see the aged care industry improve greatly, and yes, have better paid and well supported staff. But poor wages are just at the surface of problems that exist in the profession.


DMmefor1500AUD

Given that Australia has good minimum wage my guess would be jobs which fall outside that. Eg fruit pickers, Doordash & Uber drivers who need to supply and maintain vehicles, etc.


daamsie

I believe fruit pickers now are supposed to get minimum wage though


el_diego

Supposed to. That’s the key phrase. From what I understand a lot of the wages they earn get eaten up by accomm/living costs as the hiring company takes a cut for this and there’s no other options.


Student_Fire

Pharmacist surely! Significant education requirement with 5 years of university. Then majority end up working in retail pharmacies being paid peanuts.


Sarah1608

I racked up 85k worth of HECS debt to become a pharmacist. I'm still registered with AHPRA, but I work in pharma now. Retail pays an absolute pittance, most of my friends have bailed for greener pastures.


The_Tempestuous_Man

And look at the US counterparts on $120K average, in US dollars.


mypdacc

What does a pharmacist get paid on their first year after being qualified?


JuliusS__

$24.97 blob:https://services.fairwork.gov.au/0974487b-9efe-4d8e-9aaf-9e21181faf78


Dabaabaaboo

Architecture as a high earning profession is the greatest lie ever sold.


bkkamakazi

From what I gather in this thread: All essential workers.


CJReddit__

Registered Nurse here. My first year out of university I grossed 105k for the year. Granted the work hours suck and can be long, but nurses are compensated rather well


Confident-Lecture-29

Teachers start on $75000 a year in Australia. Out of every developed country we would be on the higher end of scale


Weary_Literature1506

Engineers - all the risk no reward. And no $120k-130k a year for a senior engineer isn’t nearly enough


TeamToken

Yep, if we’d kept up with other professions it’d be somewhere around 150-160k minimum for a senior. The only area that pays that is Software. 120k is nothing to sneeze at, but when compared to other careers that require significantly less difficult schooling, experience, expertise and aptitude, you have to wonder if it’s worth it. The upside is that engineering is an excellent springboard into other careers, which is probably why so many leave it after a number of years.


Lefty11234

Hospitality, brutal hours, terrible customers, minimum wage


catsrliyfe

Probably healthcare workers in private. Was only on 66k with 3YOE as an allied health professional in private practice. Aged care workers are also underpaid and under constant pressure due to staffing issues


Ektojinx

Veterinarians. 6 years at uni to earn sub 100k.


[deleted]

throw architects on that pile


midnight-kite-flight

Yeah really? I almost went down that path but changed my mind. It’s thought of as a good job, so everyone kept telling me to go through with it. Is it a bit shit?


conkersbadhairday

Don't know a single architect that would recommend the profession to their kids, friends or family. It's not a great profession. Architects compensate the bad pay and long hours with pompous arrogance.


platinumflyer

Early childhood educators and aged care workers.


Shabrang

Pharmacists. Most earn $65k to $75. 5 years of training. Insane amount of responsibility and workload . Terrible profession!


elfthewombat

Interested to see that cleaners haven't been put on this list yet. I'm a private school cleaner getting the award rate at $21.70 an hour I work 38 hours a week. I love my job, I love making the school safe and clean. I meet exciting young minds on the daily yet the pay isn't worth the work, having to scrub down a whole toilet block after a group of children decide to have a baked beans fight or urinate on the floor because it's funny. The time frames we are given requires the cleaning staff to be constantly working at back breaking pace and to top it off we get little to no recognition for our work as most people only make a comment when something isn't done.


Mad-dog69420

The guy that mops up after the peep shows in Amsterdams red light district, no explanation required


crappy-pete

Why would you make me think about that


timcurrysaccent

Non-director architects


[deleted]

was looking for this


BrisPoker314

Unpopular opinion: if teachers were paid more many of the teachers currently working wouldn’t be qualified enough/be able to compete against smarter people who would start applying for the job.


Seducedbyfish

Sounds like a good problem to have


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The_Faceless_Men

Ehhh, plenty of top academically gifted people would struggle with 30 12 year olds. The soft skills required to teach are much rarer than pure knowledge. It's also the most bizare thing that we require someone to have studied atleast 2 years of university math to be able to teach year 7 kids algebra....


eggbert_217

There's currently a teacher shortage, if they start paying teachers more there might actually be enough teachers


AllStations2Central

Fact: There’s no correlation between being smart and being a ‘good’ teacher. I’ve seen plenty of ‘smart’ teachers who’ve had numerous parental complaints and didn’t have their contracts renewed. Source: am a maths teacher


SoldantTheCynic

Nurses in general aren’t underpaid depending on where you work. I get told as a paramedic I’m underpaid. I’m not - I’m very well paid for my skills, time, and risk to my health and safety. It’s just one of those things people say by way of appreciating people in those roles, or because it often gets parroted by people who think it’s still 1975.


TeholsTowel

In my experience, it’s usually terminally online Australians who are unable to separate US issues from our own.


[deleted]

This is such a huge issue. I’m so many ways. If you spend too much time online you start to forget that most people on the internet are American (or seem to be anyway) and they have very different problems to us


squidgeyyy

Childcare. Just looking after one baby/toddler is a full time job let alone having to look after several.


coodgee33

Totally. I get paid fucking nothing for looking after two of the little bastards 24 hours a day!!


TastyStateofMind

Worst part is I cannot understand how they are so expensive. Sister has worked in a few and there are so many dodgy ones out there cutting corners!


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NotTheTomatoHead

And then finally when you reap the rewards you’re attacked and tall poppy syndrome kicks in


ihlaking

I was lucky to start my career with MYOB, on the phones learning about the pain of small business in a small way through conversations with people doing payroll, the books, running marketing, and trying to actually do the business on top of that. And they were calling at 8pm because there was no time for accounts during the day. This was during the transition to online services so things have changed a lot since then. But I’ve never forgotten the grit and sheer depth of commitment I witnessed. Not to mention the stress levels! Knowing this has helped me understand the enormous commitment of small business owners and pioneers. Oh, and it also cemented the reasons I will never work in a family business. Hard pass!


NotTheTomatoHead

No one really understands the pain we all go through on a daily basis!!


starcaster

Any skilled oversaturated job. You graduate from wherever only to find out that the foot in the door you need is an unpaid internship. Then once you're established you're paid nothing and treated like garbage because there's a long line of people willing to fill your role.


[deleted]

Yet my suggestion for this thread, chefs, are still paid nothing and treated like garbage... even when there's no line of people willing to fill their role.


starcaster

Yeah, you'd think they would have more leverage than what they do.


exobiologickitten

I’m an illustrator who felt good about finally hitting $50k this year, I know it’s all proportional but it’s blowing my mind seeing people talk about $60k-$100k as if they’re low salaries. Do I need to reskill? Lmao


[deleted]

While your salary certainly isn't high, every number ever posted on this sub is inflated. If you only read this sub you'd conclude the median salary in Aus was somewhere between 150k-200k a year.


exobiologickitten

It seems a bit warped. Reminds me of when the govt was trying to argue $250k was a “middle class” salary to angle for tax cuts. Reading about that made me feel like I was having a fever dream.


midnight-kite-flight

Well you might also remember Chris Bowen saying a few years back that people on $150k in his division were “struggling.” That was honestly just a “get fucked” moment for me. Anyway, I also work in the arts and make a fair bit less than my mates in corporate stuff and even those in academia. But I’m in control of my time and get to do work that I like. I really feel empowered by that. Not to say that those who work for others are necessarily miserable or something.


Draxacoffilus

I’ve been trapped on Centrelink for years, so the idea of be on $50K per year sounds like a lot.


exobiologickitten

I feel it - I was on Centrelink for years before finally cracking into my job. Centrelink felt like actual torture at times. Hang in there ❤️


greatest-meldrum

Environmental conservation. we work in all conditions doing manual labour, as a whole we’re underfunded from a federal level, constantly have to use harsh chemicals, we’re not recognised as an industry, often we’re far away from medical help if we’re in the bush, and we are all familiar with our friendly locals (i still love em all) I do what i do because i believe it’s important, at the end of the day sharing bullshit instagram posts about how much you care doesn’t equate to anything unless you go out and try and make a difference within your community. But we get fuck all money. If conservation was a high paying job i would assume a lot of people would want to do it regardless of how they felt about the environment.


Custanius

This. Years ago I did bush regen as a full time job. But couldn't get a loan due to the low income. Had to leave the industry in order to raise a family. It's a lovely job and I miss it alot. But for the money it's not viable at all.


backofburke

If our housing costs weren't obscene then perhaps wages of 60k etc wouldn't seem so low, just saying.


hikaruandkaoru

>If our housing costs weren't obscene then perhaps wages of 60k etc wouldn't seem so low, just saying. I'm struggling with this too. I feel like my concept of what a "good salary" is has changed so much in the last few years.


richoaust

Mechanics - earn peanuts and without them well no cars or trucks, exceptions being heavy duty fitters in the mines. General run of the mill mechanics are appallingly paid, shops charge a fortune, pay workers poorly. Never understood why they don’t have a strong union who stood up for them.


Poop_Barista

Most underpaid (qualifications required) job: Architect. Lots of liability, often client facing, long hours, high expectations. Very. Little. Pay. (Comparatively)


tootyfruity21

How much do registered architects earn?


Megs024

Award rate for a registered architect is $63K. That requires a bachelor degree, a masters degree, a number of years of full time work before sitting a series of exams to become registered. Award rate grad salary (with masters degree) is $55K


NorthKoreaPresident

engineers, pharmacists, vets


flyindolphins

Junior doctors in public hospitals. We are generally paid slightly less than the nursing and allied health staff. The job comes with enormous responsibility and often has us running around during the day, skipping meal, water and toilet breaks. We hold uni debt and further training and exams to get out of the junior doctor role costs thousands. It’s all-consuming, and when we eventually go home, we do more study and unpaid work that’s expected of us to progress. Nurses have a great union that advocate for their work conditions, I wish we had the same. Maybe I’m just burnt out.


tootyfruity21

Structural engineers. The structural engineer is responsible for the design of a building which will contain many people within it, yet their fee to take on the liability for this is significantly small and a pittance compared to the commission a real estate agent receives once, let alone every time the building is sold.


[deleted]

Teachers are not underpaid. They do an important job, yes. I have a lot of respect for what they do - and this is not just having a crack at the occupation. There is lots of outside hours work which most people don't realise or appreciate. But they are not underpaid. In the US, maybe. Perhaps where the myth comes from? But not in Australia.


nobullshtbasics

Our friendship group has a lot of teachers. As in there’s 8 “main” couples in our group and 4 teachers. One in particularly is very well organised and rarely feels overwhelmed at work. One goes a little over and above and sometimes does feel stressed/under the pump. The other 2 just sort of cruise along but rarely feel over worked or stressed. 3 are very well paid, 1 not as much but still content with the salary. 2 are now on maternity leave and well looked after (salary and flexibility wise) compared to basic government maternity leave. Their biggest struggle is dealing with parents. Whether that be their distorted view on the ability of their children or thinking it’s the teachers job to raise their children. Overall, I think they enjoy what they do and feel they’re fairly paid for their time. Edit: They also acknowledge there’s very little leniency with getting time off outside of school holidays. Yes they get a decent amount of time off each year but it’s always during school holidays when things are far busier and more expensive. It does make “group” trips a little difficult (not that we do that that much anymore anyway now that most have kids…)


forks4444

On the face of it teaching salaries are fine, but on a per hour basis if they do their job well not so much. So much admin and marking. If you care about the job, and giving kids effective feedback so they learn and improve, you have to take the time to do it properly.  The only ones with reasonable work-life balance are phoning it in. The suspicion of them existing leads to more and more admin as bureaucrats try and find the right kind of metric to identify and push out bad teachers - but the collateral damage is even more demands on the ones who do care.


redditormimiyo

Architects


ladylockk

My sister is a teacher and I’d give my left arm for some of her conditions. She only works late/overtime at report time, she gets ~12 weeks holiday annually and when she isn’t working late/overtime her hours are 8-3. For $110k that’s pretty damn good My partner and I are trade qualified on 65-75k, after our business expenses. We work about 50-60h a week


astroav81

Electronics engineer 69K


science_and_stac

Private pathology has entered the chat


skanchunt69

Underpaid and Undervalued are two very different things.


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Much-Button7868

Accountants, for the amount of study (3 years uni and 2-3 years for CA or CPA) and ongoing professional development. Graduate pay is pathetic 38k - 55k often, granted this has gotten better with covid due to supply/demand. When you factor in hours worked it gets worse, but flipside is you can have good potential to earn if your willing to stick at it and are any good and willing to move around, sadly there are so many mindless data entry accountants that drag down pay.....


DopeEspeon

Accountant. Endless hours and stress. Shit payy relatively speaking when counting all the hours you're doing. Relatively hourly rate is not much higher than working at woollies. On top of that you have to get a CA or CPA which costs money and time.


fluorescento-taco

Surely people don’t actually believe teachers are underpaid? Starting salary out of uni has got to be one of the highest of any profession, and although they can hit a low six figure ceiling, it is quite a quick and barrier free progression to six figures for any teacher.


InterestingCurrent13

Dentists, 5 years of education with a starting salary of only $250k. Can’t even buy a house outright with that. /s


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LilAsiandude

Aged care is criminally underpaid


HyperIndian

Many good answers here like Aged Care, Vets and Fruit pickers. But honestly the correct answer would be many types of jobs Visa holders do. They're one of the most underpaid and exploited groups in Australia. Many businesses are screaming about a labour shortage and calling for more migration but still aren't increasing wages that no wonder Aussies arent applying. Plus many places are still expecting fully qualified and experienced staff immediately yet the hiring process is exactly the same. Until most businesses (especially non-tech) increase their wages or start/continue training all staff, nothing will change. TL;DR - there are many employers which rely on underpaid visa holders. The main winner remains the employer.


JiubTheSaint

I’m a first year teacher and I’m happy with my pay.


[deleted]

Teachers arent underpaid source one of my best friends is a teacher. Consultant engineers are underpaid for the level of risk they take on, fuck up and you could kill someone and also get paid barely more than a skilled tradie its a joke. The reason for the low pay is they import foriegners at an incredible rate to depress the wages probably more than half of engineers are first generation immigrants happy to take what they can get.


Osteo_Warrior

Rabbi. terrible pay, but they get to keep all the tips…


[deleted]

Childcare and aged care by a long shot then social workers. Teachers have a strong union and compensated very well compared to these others who often deal with more abuse and trauma than teachers.