Average Aussie IT salary rises $5k

The average salary of an Australian IT professional has risen over $5,000 in six months to hit $87,599 per annum, according to a survey conducted by ZDNet.com.au.

(Credit: Australia by Steve Woods, Royalty free)

The Australian IT Salary and Skills Report 2009 had a sample of 10,933 online respondents who answered questions about their salary, industry, job function and education level. The survey was perviously held in August 2008 and produced an annual salary of $82,507.

An increase in salary was seen across all industries within the IT sector, with the sole drop of $1,227 being seen amongst those identifying themselves as working in systems development.

Experience remained key to an increased salary; with a $25,000 jump occurring between the three experience brackets measured. Respondents with less than 5 years experience earned an average of $58,318, those with 5-10 years earned $83,237 and those with greater than 10 years averaged $107,677.

Company size also played a role in salary; those in companies of less than 1000 staff earned $78,829 on average, compared to $98,999 for staff sizes greater than 1000. Those staff whose headcount was in the middle averaged $88,217.

The highest earning state was the ACT ($95,385), which pipped New South Wales ($94,911) at the post, after a $6500 decrease came Victoria ($88,408), followed by Western Australia ($81,746), Queensland ($80,468), Northern Territory ($77,929), South Australia ($63,261) and finally Tasmania ($63,261) bringing up the rear.

The survey stated that 48 per cent of respondents held at least one professional certification, up 4 per cent from the previous survey, and had a far greater spread of certifications. Microsoft's Certified Professional option was still the most popular option with 15.10 per cent and Cisco's Certified Network Associate (CCNA) remained at second with 9 per cent, but both certification's percentages were halved compared to 2008.

It will be interesting to see the next iteration of the survey after the financial crisis and subsequent layoffs.

Click here to take part in the survey and download the full report.