IT Salary Benchmarks: Australia 2026 (Engineering, Data, Cloud, Security)

How to read these benchmarks

All figures are 2026 base salaries in AUD, before super (12% mandatory), excluding equity and cash bonus. Sydney bands are listed; Melbourne typically sits 5–8% lower, Brisbane 8–12% lower, Perth/Adelaide 10–15% lower. Remote-friendly employers increasingly pay Sydney bands nationally.

Each band shows the typical 25th–75th percentile of offers in our placement data over the last 12 months. The top end represents true competitive offers — not headline LinkedIn numbers.

Software engineering — Sydney 2026

By specialism (senior level, Sydney 2026):

• Backend: $175–$220k
• Frontend: $165–$205k
• Full-stack: $170–$210k
• Mobile (iOS/Android): $170–$210k
• DevOps / SRE / Platform: $180–$225k
• Embedded / firmware: $170–$205k

Data — Sydney 2026

Cloud, platform and SRE — Sydney 2026

• Cloud engineer (mid): $135–$170k
• DevOps / SRE (senior): $180–$225k
• Platform engineer (senior): $185–$230k
• Cloud architect: $210–$280k
• Head of platform: $260–$340k

Security — Sydney 2026

Security pay has risen fastest of any tech discipline in the last 18 months, particularly for cloud security and AppSec engineers.

• Security analyst (SOC): $115–$145k
• GRC analyst: $125–$155k
• AppSec engineer (senior): $190–$235k
• Cloud security engineer (senior): $200–$245k
• Security architect: $220–$285k
• CISO (mid-market): $280–$380k+

Engineering leadership — Sydney 2026

• Engineering manager (1st-line, ~6–8 reports): $200–$255k
• Senior EM / Director (~15–25 reports): $260–$340k
• Head of engineering (~40–80 engineers): $310–$420k
• CTO (Series B–C): $290–$420k + meaningful equity
• VP Engineering (Series C–D): $340–$460k + equity

12-month movement: where pay rose fastest

The pattern is consistent across the market: scarcity drives premium. ML/AI engineers, security and staff-level engineers saw the biggest gains. Junior bands stayed almost flat — a function of bootcamp/graduate supply staying strong.

Equity in 2026: back as a serious lever

71% of Series A–C offers in 2026 included meaningful equity, vs 52% in 2023. Indicative ranges for new senior hires at a Series B Australian startup:

• Senior engineer: 0.05–0.20%
• Staff engineer: 0.15–0.40%
• Principal: 0.25–0.75%
• EM (1st-line): 0.15–0.35%
• Director / Head: 0.30–0.80%
• VP / C-level: 0.50–2.50%

Strike price, cliff, vest schedule and acceleration on change-of-control matter as much as percentage. Senior engineers in 2026 read the documents — make sure yours hold up to scrutiny.

Super and benefits

12% super is mandatory from 1 July 2025. Competitive employers offer 12.5–15%. Other benefits that move the needle:

• $3–5k learning budget, manager-free spend
• Hardware choice (Mac Studio, mechanical keyboard, monitor)
• 20+ days annual leave plus a Christmas shutdown
• Genuine remote/hybrid, documented and enforced (not "we're back 5 days a week")
• Parental leave materially above statutory (e.g. 18+ weeks paid, primary or secondary)

Counter-offers and proactive benchmarking

Counter-offers are succeeding ~38% of the time in 2026 — up from ~22% in 2022. That's a failure signal, not a win:

• It means your employees were materially underpaid
• You paid more and lost trust
• The resignation will likely recur within 12 months

A better operating model:

1. Re-benchmark senior staff every 6 months
2. Make proactive adjustments without waiting for resignation
3. Communicate market position clearly during 1:1s
4. Reserve 1.5–2% of payroll for off-cycle adjustments

How to use these benchmarks

For each role, pick the band that matches the seniority and discipline, adjust 5–10% by location and 0–10% by company tier. If your offer is in the lower half of the band, expect 40–55% offer accept rates. In the upper half, 65–80%.

If you're paying below band, you'll fill — but you'll keep doing it every 18 months.

Closing thought

The 2026 market rewards specialism and seniority and punishes flat pay structures. Re-benchmark, lead with total comp, and remember: the most expensive employee is the one you have to hire twice.