Home Funeral Director Salary
Funeral Director salary in Australia
The median full-time salary for a funeral director is $68,600 per annum, before tax, up $14,300 since 2018.
DerivedIndicative estimate, not yet verified against official Jobs and Skills Australia / ABS data · Estimate
- Pay moves with the hours you carry: on-call rosters, evening and weekend work and public holidays usually attract loadings or overtime.
- Directors who also embalm, or who move into managing a funeral home's operations, tend to earn more, and a small regional firm may pay differently from a large metropolitan provider.
The median salary rose by $14,300 between 2018 and 2024; the dashed line shows a projection to 2028 based on the real ABS Wage Price Index growth rate, not a role-specific forecast.
Roles that pay more than funeral director
The largest typical pay rise is $16,400 a year, moving into Event Coordinator.
- Event Coordinator+$16,400/yr
- Family Support Worker+$1,600/yr
How to negotiate a higher funeral director salary
- Know the market rate before you ask. The median full-time funeral director salary is $68,600; use that, not a guess, as your anchor, and adjust for your experience and employer.
- Lead with what's scarce, not just tenure. Skills like Operations management and Regulatory compliance tend to command a premium over general funeral director experience, name them specifically when you ask.
- Bring a real alternative to the table. Event Coordinator pays a typical $16,400 a year more and draws on similar skills, even mentioning you're weighing it up is a legitimate data point in a pay conversation.
- Time it deliberately. Reviews, the end of a project you delivered, or taking on responsibility beyond your job description are stronger moments to ask than an arbitrary date on the calendar.
- Ask for a number, not a raise. "Based on the market rate and [specific contribution], I'd like to move to X" gets a clearer answer than "I think I deserve more."
Funeral Director salary questions
How much do funeral directors earn in Australia?
The median full-time salary for a funeral director is $68,600 a year before tax. Seniority, specialisation, sector and the award or agreement you're employed under all move it.
Is funeral director pay rising or falling?
The median funeral director salary is up $14,300 since 2018. Figures from 2025 onward on this page are a projection, not a measured result.
What pays more than funeral director?
Event Coordinator pays a typical $16,400 a year more and draws on similar skills to funeral director.
Related salaries
- Event Coordinator salary
- Family Support Worker salary
- Marriage Celebrant salary
- Administration Officer salary
- Embalmer salary
- Security Manager salary
Pay advice
- How to ask for a pay rise, and back it up with real numbersWhat national wage growth looks like right now, how to work out a figure for your own role, wording you can adapt for the conversation, and what to do if the answer is no.
- The average salary in Australia (2026)Full-time adults in Australia averaged $2,083.70 a week in May 2026. Several measures get called the average salary, and this explains which one fits your situation.
- Overtime pay, time in lieu and what your award saysOvertime rates come from your award or agreement, not one national rule. How rates work, what happens on a salary, and how time off in lieu works.