These are tax-return figures for the 2023–24 income year, the latest the ATO has published. They count part-time dentists and practice owners as well as full-time employees, so they are not a salary rate.
Is there an award for dentists?
No modern award names dentists. The Health Professionals and Support Services Award [MA000027] covers employers that deliver dental services, but its list of health professions (Schedule B, which the award calls an indicative list) names dental hygienists, dental therapists, oral health therapists and dental prosthetists — not dentists — and the Fair Work Ombudsman's summary of the award doesn't list dentists among its examples either.
So this page publishes no award minimum for dentists. If you are an employed dentist and want to know whether an award applies to you, ask the Fair Work Ombudsman; an award-free adult employee is still owed at least the National Minimum Wage and the National Employment Standards.
A dentist who owns a practice, or contracts to one rather than being employed by it, is not an employee: no award, minimum wage or payslip applies. Dentists in public dental services are paid under state awards and agreements, which this page doesn't reproduce.
The dental team around a dentist does have award minimums: see dental hygienist pay rates — and dental assistants are covered by the same award.
Dentist salary in Australia: the ATO’s 2023–24 figures
Every year the ATO publishes what people earned, grouped by the occupation they put on their tax return. The 2023–24 figures (released on 17 June 2026) are the most recent. For occupation code 252312, Dentist, 8,859 people reported an average taxable income of $162,722 and a median of $131,588. Those who were paid a salary or wage had an average of $108,448 and a median of $95,289 from it.
| Who | People | Average taxable income | Median taxable income | Average salary or wages | Median salary or wages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 8,859 | $162,722 | $131,588 | $108,448 | $95,289 |
| Female | 4,858 | $136,824 | $117,693 | $93,631 | $81,727 |
| Male | 4,001 | $194,166 | $156,393 | $126,704 | $111,957 |
Taxable income is everything a person earned — salary, business and contracting income, investments — less their deductions; the ATO’s averages and medians for it include everyone in the occupation, whatever hours they worked. Salary or wages is only what employers paid, and its figures cover only the people who were paid one. Neither is a full-time salary rate.
Dentists and dental specialists
Dental specialists (occupation 252311) are counted separately from general dentists. The last row is the whole unit group, 2523 Dental practitioner, which is the level the ATO's state figures use.
| Occupation | People | Average taxable income | Median taxable income | Average salary or wages | Median salary or wages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 252312 Dentist | 8,859 | $162,722 | $131,588 | $108,448 | $95,289 |
| 252311 Dental specialist | 1,045 | $265,110 | $154,164 | $126,764 | $89,440 |
| 2523 Dental practitioner | 9,904 | $173,525 | $133,248 | $110,386 | $94,643 |
ATO Taxation statistics 2023–24, Individuals Tables 15A and 15B. Whole dollars, before tax.
Dental practitioner income by state, 2023–24
State figures are only published for the whole unit group, so these rows count dental specialists with dentists. The 23 people who lodged from overseas are left out.
| State or territory | People | Average taxable income | Median taxable income | Average salary or wages | Median salary or wages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 2,930 | $174,487 | $135,288 | $114,395 | $100,000 |
| VIC | 2,389 | $159,963 | $119,285 | $89,190 | $72,365 |
| QLD | 2,394 | $181,632 | $138,994 | $121,115 | $107,770 |
| WA | 1,022 | $177,131 | $139,727 | $106,488 | $84,351 |
| SA | 681 | $162,493 | $141,788 | $113,090 | $97,808 |
| TAS | 179 | $201,371 | $162,637 | $139,435 | $129,999 |
| ACT | 217 | $220,242 | $169,121 | $155,455 | $122,500 |
| NT | 69 | $195,788 | $169,829 | $136,200 | $139,257 |
ATO Taxation statistics 2023–24, Individuals Table 15D. Whole dollars, before tax.
What full-time employed dentists earn
Jobs and Skills Australia puts median full-time earnings for Dental Practitioners (ANZSCO 2523) at $3,232 a week ($85 an hour), about $168,064 a year. It also reports that 60% of people in the group work full-time hours, and that full-time workers average 42 hours a week.
The group counts dental specialists as well as dentists, and covers employees only — practice owners and contractors are not in it.
Median weekly pay of full-time, non-managerial adult employees before tax and salary sacrifice, from the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (May 2025) as published by Jobs and Skills Australia. It reflects what employers actually pay, including people on enterprise agreements or above-award salaries, so it is a market figure, not a legal minimum.
Dentist salary after tax
What each figure above leaves after income tax and the Medicare levy at 2026–27 rates, treating it as taxable income with no deductions. The ATO figures are from 2023–24, so this shows what the same income takes home today, not what it took home then.
| Gross a year | Income tax | Medicare levy | Take-home a year | A fortnight | HELP repayment, if any |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $95,289Median salary or wages — ATO 2023–24, dentists paid a salary or wage | −$19,107 | −$1,906 | $74,276 | $2,857 | −$3,864 |
| $131,588Median taxable income — ATO 2023–24 | −$29,996 | −$2,632 | $98,960 | $3,806 | −$9,346 |
| $162,722Average taxable income — ATO 2023–24 | −$41,277 | −$3,254 | $118,191 | $4,546 | −$14,639 |
| $168,064Full-time employee median — $3,232 a week × 52, Jobs and Skills Australia | −$43,254 | −$3,361 | $121,449 | $4,671 | −$15,547 |
2026–27 resident tax rates with the low income tax offset and the 2% Medicare levy, assuming private hospital cover (without it, the Medicare levy surcharge adds up to 1.5% at these incomes — check yours with the Medicare levy surcharge calculator). The last column is the compulsory repayment if you still have a HELP debt; it comes out of take-home pay on top of tax. Super is paid on top by an employer at 12%.
For the full breakdown at the median, see take-home pay on $132,000 (the nearest step to $131,588), or put in your own salary below.
What a dentist’s pay looks like on a payslip
An employed dentist gets a payslip each pay day showing gross pay, the PAYG tax withheld (which already allows for the Medicare levy), any HELP repayment withheld, and the super the employer paid on top. Check the tax withheld against the tax withheld calculator and each line against understanding your payslip.
At the $95,289 median salary or wage, an employed dentist takes home about $2,857 a fortnight after tax and the Medicare levy, with no HELP debt.
A dentist contracting to a practice is not paid through payroll. No tax is withheld unless the dentist and the practice have a voluntary PAYG withholding agreement, so tax and the Medicare levy are paid through PAYG instalments or at tax time instead.
Contracting rather than employed? Compare the two with the contractor pay calculator.
What this page does not show
- An award minimum for dentists: no modern award names them.
- Public dental service salaries, which are set by state awards and agreements.
- Practice owners' profits and contractors' billings, which are business income rather than wages.
- A salary ladder by years of experience: no primary source publishes one, and we do not estimate salaries.
Dentist salary questions
Other doctor and dentist salaries
How this page is sourced▼
Income figures are the ATO’s Taxation statistics 2023–24, Individuals Table 15, read from the spreadsheet the ATO publishes on data.gov.au on 9 October 2026 and transcribed to the dollar. They describe what people reported on their tax returns; they are not pay rates. Employee medians come from Jobs and Skills Australia’s occupation profiles, and award and public hospital salaries from the instrument named beside each table.
Take-home figures use the same tax engine as the rest of this site. Nothing on this page is estimated: a figure we could not read from a primary source is listed under “What this page does not show” instead.
Sources & References
- 1Taxation statistics 2023–24, Individuals Table 15: average and median taxable income, salary or wages and total income, by occupation and sex— Australian Taxation Office (data.gov.au)
- 2Individuals statistics for Taxation statistics 2023–24— Australian Taxation Office
- 3Dental Practitioners (ANZSCO 2523) occupation profile — ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025— Jobs and Skills Australia
- 4
- 5Health Services Award [MA000027] — who the award covers— Fair Work Ombudsman
Last verified: 9 October 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.
Anita Bell
AuthorFounder & Senior Bookkeeper
Accountancy degree (2015); certified in Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Saasu, Zoho and Reckon One
Anita Bell earned her accountancy degree in 2015 and has worked as a senior bookkeeper with Prime Bookkeeping for over 5 years. This built her skills in Australian and New Zealand tax legislation and industry regulations. She is certified in Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Saasu, Zoho and Reckon One, and works with payroll and rostering software including Gusto, Deputy, Tsheets and KeyPay. She has strong experience in hospitality, building and construction, financial services, real estate, ecommerce, and medical and health services.
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