What was claimed
NSW public health psychiatrists' average salary is $438,000.
Our verdict
False. While $438,000 is the maximum full-time remuneration for about half of the state's psychiatrists, it doesn't represent an average salary.
AAP FACTCHECK - Amid a dispute over salary rates, a NSW government minister claimed psychiatrists in the state's public hospitals have an average salary of $438,000.
This is false. The cited figure refers to a maximum total remuneration package for a senior full-time psychiatrist.
The average salary across all NSW Health psychiatrists is lower, reflecting smaller award rates for more junior doctors and the prevalence of part-time pay arrangements.
The state government and psychiatrists are currently embroiled in an industrial dispute over a proposed 25 per cent pay rise in NSW public hospitals.
Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson made the claim during a 2GB radio interview in June 2025, when she was asked whether psychiatrists are paid enough.
"The average salary at the moment for a psychiatrist in the NSW public health system is $438,000," Ms Jackson said (timestamp seven minutes 12 seconds).
"So, whilst I recognise that comparatively to other states they're arguing that's lower, my view is that's still a decent salary - that is still a good wage."
When asked for evidence of the average salary, Ms Jackson's office sent AAP FactCheck a summary of the total remuneration package for NSW psychiatrists on a "Senior Level 1" award rate in 2024.
The package is worth $438,000 a year in total.
This includes $354,479 in "base salary" plus an extra $92,521 made up of superannuation ($40,765), annual leave loading ($4756) and a professional development allowance ($38,000).
This allowance, which is an annual cap, is funding for further training undertaken, and not a form of take-home pay.
As part of her evidence, the minister told AAP FactCheck the majority of staff psychiatrists are at a Senior Level 1 grade.
However, the government's own data - provided to the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) in February 2025 - shows almost half of the state's psychiatrists weren't paid that much in 2024.
The data, which AAP FactCheck obtained from the IRC, shows 220 psychiatrists (51.4 per cent) were on the Senior Level 1 grade the minister cited in 2024.
A further 205 (47.8 per cent), however, were on a non-Senior Level 1 grade, while three others elected to be paid on other levels under the state's staff specialist award.
The 205 non-Senior Level 1 psychiatrists are paid less than those on the Senior grade, according to salary guidance published in 2023 and listed as "active" (page 5).
The guidance does not include annual leave loading, superannuation or the development allowance in "base salary".
While Senior Level 1 psychiatrists receive a base full-time salary of $354,479 under those arrangements (p5), the 205 without the Senior designation receive between $262,376 and $323,777 in base salary, depending on their classification year from one to five.
IRC rates information shows this base salary is made up of an award rate (p42) and two allowances - a special allowance and a private practice allowance.
The special allowance is worth 17.4 per cent on top of the award rate and compensates for being on call and overtime work, NSW Health told AAP FactCheck.
The private practice allowance is paid to Level 1 psychiatrists in return for their assigning billings from their private practice to the public hospital at which they work (Staff Specialists Determination, p4).
Factoring in non-Senior doctors, both the average base salary and total remuneration for psychiatrists is lower than the amount Ms Jackson claimed.
An exact average dollar figure would depend on the year non-Senior doctors are classified - information NSW Health declined to provide for confidentiality reasons.
A base salary range, however, can still be calculated using available data; it shows psychiatrists receive between $310,468 and $339,877 on average across the system.
Even at the upper end, assuming all non-Senior psychiatrists were paid at the fifth-year level, the average is less than the $354,479 figure Ms Jackson's office cited - and nearly $100,000 less than the $438,000 average cited in the interview.
To reach $438,000 as an "average salary", the minister has included $40,765 in superannuation, $4756 in annual leave loading and a $38,000 professional development allowance.
Again, this is for the Senior Level 1 positions, not the average across all psychiatrists.
When calculating the average across all psychiatrists on a full-time basis, the superannuation amount reduces between $1679 and $5061.
Annual leave loading, which Ms Jackson's office put at $4756 for Senior Level 1 psychiatrists, varies from worker to worker (IRC rates, p18) based on how many Sunday shifts they're required to work.
Leave loading for those doctors who aren't Senior is likely worth less because their base pay is lower. However, it's impossible to provide an exact figure, so AAP FactCheck has taken the minister's methodology for the sake of comparison.
When applied to non-Senior psychiatrists, annual leave loading is worth between $3520 and $4344 at a full-time rate.
The $38,000 professional development allowance was actually the maximum entitlement for Level 1 psychiatrists (both Senior and non-Senior) in 2023/24 (p1).
To provide a comparison to the minister's figure, the average total remuneration across all psychiatrists is between $388,337 and $421,523, including the development allowance.
With the allowance excluded, the range is between $350,337 and $383,523.
These calculations reflect average full-time pay and don't account for psychiatrists paid part-time rates.
While there were 428 psychiatrists in 2024, there were just 280.1 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles (65 per cent), according to government figures.
When the averages are adjusted for the inclusion of part-time pay rates, the base salary and total remuneration decrease well below the levels Ms Jackson cited.
Accounting for part-time, the average base salary is between $201,016 and $220,868.
Adding annual leave, superannuation and the professional development allowance to these figures, to reflect a total remuneration adjusted for part-time arrangements, makes the range between $264,870 and $287,271.
Excluding the development allowance, the range is between $226,830 and $249,230.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
