Paramedic salary in Australia
The median full-time salary for a paramedic is $148,300 per annum, before tax, up $31,000 since 2018.
- Public ambulance services pay under enterprise agreements, so your base rate climbs with years of service and shift loadings add to it, especially for night work and overtime.
- Intensive care and extended-care paramedic roles sit on higher classifications once you finish the postgraduate study.
- When you compare two jobs, ask whether the salary on offer includes penalties and whether overtime is paid or built into the figure, since two ads can look identical and pay quite differently.
The median salary rose by $31,000 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.
How to negotiate a higher paramedic salary
- Know the market rate before you ask. The median full-time paramedic salary is $148,300; use that, not a guess, as your anchor, and adjust for your experience and employer.
- Use demand as leverage. Paramedics are on the national skills shortage list, so employers are more likely to move on price to keep or attract someone in a role they're struggling to fill.
- Lead with what's scarce, not just tenure. Skills like Clinical assessment and treatment and Medication management tend to command a premium over general paramedic experience, name them specifically when you ask.
- 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."
Paramedic salary questions
How much do paramedics earn in Australia?
The median full-time salary for a paramedic is $148,300 a year before tax. Seniority, specialisation, sector and the award or agreement you're employed under all move it.
Is paramedic pay rising or falling?
The median paramedic salary is up $31,000 since 2018. Figures from 2025 onward on this page are a projection, not a measured result.
Related salaries
- Intensive Care Paramedic salary
- Registered Nurse salary
- Paramedic Manager salary
- Emergency Management Officer salary
- Lifeguard salary
- Aged Care Worker salary
Pay advice
- Salary sacrificeSalary sacrifice is an agreement with your employer to give up part of your future pre-tax pay in exchange for benefits of similar value, such as extra super, a car through a novated lease, or everyday expenses if you work for a charity or public hospital.
- 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.
- 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.