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Site Reliability Engineer salary in Australia
The median full-time salary for a site reliability engineer is $122,200 per annum, before tax, up $25,300 since 2018.
DerivedIndicative estimate, not yet verified against official Jobs and Skills Australia / ABS data · Estimate
- Pay moves most with the sector and the size of the employer: banks, telecommunications companies and large cloud providers typically pay above the median, while smaller software businesses often pay less.
- Whether on-call is paid as a separate roster allowance or built into the base salary makes a real difference to what lands in your account, so it is worth asking how the roster is compensated.
- Certifications help at the margins, but experience running production systems is what employers pay for.
The median salary rose by $25,300 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 site reliability engineer
The largest typical pay rise is $9,700 a year, moving into Software Engineer.
- Software Engineer+$9,700/yr
- DevOps Engineer+$9,700/yr
- Network Architect+$2,600/yr
How to negotiate a higher site reliability engineer salary
- Know the market rate before you ask. The median full-time site reliability engineer salary is $122,200; use that, not a guess, as your anchor, and adjust for your experience and employer.
- Use demand as leverage. Site Reliability Engineers 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 Cloud infrastructure and Programming and software development tend to command a premium over general site reliability engineer experience, name them specifically when you ask.
- Bring a real alternative to the table. Software Engineer pays a typical $9,700 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."
Site Reliability Engineer salary questions
How much do site reliability engineers earn in Australia?
The median full-time salary for a site reliability engineer is $122,200 a year before tax. Seniority, specialisation, sector and the award or agreement you're employed under all move it.
Is site reliability engineer pay rising or falling?
The median site reliability engineer salary is up $25,300 since 2018. Figures from 2025 onward on this page are a projection, not a measured result.
What pays more than site reliability engineer?
Software Engineer pays a typical $9,700 a year more and draws on similar skills to site reliability engineer.
Related salaries
- Cloud Engineer salary
- Network Engineer salary
- Network Architect salary
- Software Engineer salary
- DevOps Engineer salary
- Data Engineer 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.