National Salary Survey

24 August 2020

The ACA National Salary Survey provides important data on architectural salaries across Australia.

The ACA National Salary Survey has been conducted annually since 2013. It provides members with vital information about their position within the broader marketplace. It also develops important longitudinal data about architectural remuneration.

Architects are in a competitive market for both labour and projects, and the better informed we are the better we are able to strategise and respond.

The survey questionnaire covers a wide range of roles and positions including professional, technical, and administrative and line management. It has filters for location, size and type of practice, as well as a question regarding benefits within packages.

The survey is independent and anonymous, and the results are available to members through a private portal.

We encourage all ACA members to participate in this regular survey – the more responses, the more meaningful the data that we can provide to members on these important issues.

Why take the ACA National Salary Survey?

The survey is a significant resource for individual practices, and for the industry as a whole. The results provide valuable information to help inform a multitude of decisions in your practice:

  • Setting staff salaries – are yours competitive? The survey allows you to benchmark against other practices locally and nationally.
  • Preparing for staff reviews
  • Avoiding potential loss of staff (and thereby losing knowledge and incurring substantial costs associated with recruitment)

Completing the ACA Salary Survey also increases knowledge of current trends in employment and remuneration across the country, and therefore of the health of the industry. The findings are an important base for ACA advocacy, and built significant longitudinal knowledge.

About the Salary Survey

How long will it take?

The survey will take approximately 10 minutes.

What do I need?

Before commencing the survey, please read the definitions below and have at hand the remuneration details for all staff including:

  • The average salary per role (eg. total remuneration / no. of staff in that role).
  • The lowest salary per role
  • The highest salary per role
  • The list of the benefits your firm offers staff

IMPORTANT NOTE: If any role category where there is only ONE STAFF member, simply list the salary for that staff member in the ‘Average’, ‘Lowest’ and ‘Highest’ columns. If there are NO STAFF in a particular position, DO NOT ENTER ANY DATA.

Definitions

Salary package’ means total cost to business including superannuation and packaged benefits but excluding dividends, distributions and bonuses.

‘Combined full-time equivalent’ means total number of full-time years worked, with wages adjusted for part-time staff to be full-time equivalent.

Outcomes

Members who undertake the survey are able to access the full results and explore the data in range of ways via an individual login to the survey portal.

Earlier reports are available to all members, with an executive summary available publicly.

Read the report on 2022 survey findings.

Read the report on 2018 survey findings.