What a general manager is paid in Australia: the legal minimum under the award, the classification ladder either side of it, and what the market actually pays. Every figure sourced and dated.
Award floor
None
No award minimum applies. National Employment Standards still apply.
Market band
$160,000 to $180,000
National advertised range, SEEK, refreshed 1 July 2026. Indicative day rate ~$750.
Executive and general manager roles sit above award coverage, so there is no award ladder and no legal minimum. The National Employment Standards still apply. Above the high income threshold, an employer can give an employee a guarantee of annual earnings, which removes award coverage even where an award would otherwise apply.
With no award floor to anchor to, the band is the whole picture on this role. Ordinary hours only: no overtime, no penalty rates, no superannuation.
None. Directors' duties under the Corporations Act apply to anyone acting as a director, which is a legal obligation rather than a licence.
No, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates 111111 Chief Executive or Managing Director as not in shortage nationally or in any state, on the 2025 list. Being off the shortage list does not mean the role is easy to fill well, it means the national supply of people who can do it is not constrained. Source, checked 27 July 2026.
At this level the market is entirely referral driven. Roles are rarely advertised, candidates are rarely looking, and the process runs on introductions rather than applications.
What sets pay at this level is the shape of the business rather than the title: revenue, headcount, whether the role reports to an owner, a board or a parent company, and whether it carries full profit and loss accountability. A general manager of a fifteen person business and one of a three hundred person business share a title and almost nothing else. Terms matter as much as the number, because notice periods are longer, restraints are common and usually enforceable in recruitment terms, and incentives are often tied to performance over a year or more. Confidentiality shapes the entire process, since candidates at this level cannot be seen to be looking, which is why these searches happen quietly and rarely through advertising.
Running an executive search like a job advertisement. The people who can do the job are not reading listings and will not apply to one. The second is anchoring the band to what the last incumbent was paid, which may be years out of date. The third is underestimating how long a genuine executive process takes, then compromising on the shortlist because the seat has been empty too long.
No. Executive roles sit above award coverage. The National Employment Standards still apply, and above the high income threshold a guarantee of annual earnings can be used.
Against the market, because there is no floor to anchor to. Published bands are wide because the role varies enormously with the size and complexity of the business.
An arrangement available above the high income threshold under which an employer guarantees earnings and award coverage is removed, although the National Employment Standards continue to apply.
Longer than most businesses plan for, because the strongest candidates are employed, are not applying to advertisements, and then have to serve a notice period that at this level is frequently three months or more. Building that into the timetable at the start is what stops a business compromising on the shortlist because the seat has been empty too long.
They matter more here than anywhere else. Senior appointments routinely carry non-competition and non-solicitation terms, and the incoming employer needs to see the outgoing contract rather than take a candidate's summary of it. It is a question worth asking early rather than at offer stage.
Award rates are the adult full-time minimum for the classification named, effective the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guides. Casual loading of 25 per cent sits on top. Market bands are the national advertised ranges published on SEEK salary pages, refreshed 1 July 2026, quoted as published. Annual conversions use 38 ordinary hours a week over 52 weeks and exclude overtime, penalty rates and superannuation. Award minimums are national, so these figures do not vary by state. Checked 27 July 2026. The award that applies to any individual is decided by the work actually performed and by the employer's industry: see our award finder, or ask the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.