Medicine remains one of the the most financially lucrative careers in Australia, but physicians lag behind surgeons in the remuneration league tables, new figures show.
The Australian Taxation Office has released statistics forĀ the average taxable incomes of all AustraliansĀ for 2015-16, with the top three highest earning occupations all taken by medical practitioners.
Surgeons took the top spot, claiming Australiaās highest average taxable income of $393,467.
Second on the list are anaesthetists with an average income of $359,056.
Internal medicine specialists ranked third with an average annual income of $291,140.
Other high earning occupations on the ATO list included financial dealers ($263,309), judicial and legal professionals ($198,219) and mining engineers $166, 557)
In comparison, Australiaās average income was $59,215 with junior doctors earning an average of $90,211.
Data broken down by medical specialty revealed stark gender pay gap, borne out most markedly in cardiology and gastroenterology.
Across selected specialties, the annual taxable incomes were:
Cardiologist $266,805 (female) and $484,086 (male)