Half of all young Australians are still living with their parents, up from 39 per cent in 2001, a survey reveals.<\/p>\n
The RBA’s four assistant governors received total remuneration between $743,000 and $868,000 each, and its chief operating officer received total remuneration of $905,543.<\/p>\n
The figures can be found in the RBA’s 2026 annual report<\/a>, which was released on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n The median annual earnings for all employees in Australia is $74,672<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In March this year, Ms Bullock received unwanted media attention<\/a> when she and her husband bought a $2 million home in Yamba, in northern NSW, on the same day that the RBA lifted interest rates on February 3.<\/p>\n It was her third investment property.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her property purchase was recorded in her declaration of material personal interests<\/a> on the RBA’s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michele Bullock says she sympathises with the plight of Australian workers. (ABC News: John Gunn)<\/p>\n The RBA governor’s pay is slightly above most federal departmental or agency heads, which are mostly clustered around $900,000-$1,000,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the chief executives of some publicly owned corporations are paid far more.<\/p>\n Ellie Sweeney, the NBN Co chief executive, received $3.4 million<\/a> in total remuneration in 2025-26, up from $1.9 million a year earlier, making her Australia’s highest-paid public servant<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paul Graham, the chief executive of Australia Post, received $3.3 million<\/a> in 2024-25. Dennis Barns, the chief executive of Snowy Hydro Limited, received $2.1 million<\/a> in 2024-25.<\/p>\n RBA workers don’t want a real wage cut<\/p>\n The RBA is currently arguing with junior RBA staff about pay and conditions.<\/p>\n Lower-ranked RBA staff have been asking for a pay increase of 11 per cent over three years<\/a> and an inflation-protection mechanism that triggers additional pay rises if inflation outpaces wages, to avoid real wage cuts in coming years.<\/p>\n Workers’ pay not keeping pace with productivity growth<\/a><\/p>\n Workers’ pay not keeping pace with productivity growth, research suggests<\/p>\n But last month, hours after the RBA lifted rates for the fourth time this year, Ms Bullock emailed RBA staff and asked them to vote for a pay offer of 9.5 per cent over three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n A majority of RBA staff had rejected a similar proposal in July.<\/p>\n The Finance Sector Union says enterprise agreement negotiations have been dragging on since late last year<\/a> and the RBA has refused to move on its original pay offer.<\/p>\n The latest round of voting for the RBA’s proposed enterprise agreement will close on Monday at 5pm<\/a>.<\/p>\n After lifting interest rates last month, Ms Bullock said she sympathised with the plight of Australian workers.<\/p>\n But she said the only way workers could keep receiving sustainable increases in real wages was from productivity growth, and Australia’s economy was struggling to deliver it.<\/p>\n “People are feeling, quite rightly, very annoyed and very upset about the fact that the costs of everything are rising, that their wages are not keeping pace with that, they\u2019re seeing real wage cuts,” she said<\/a>.<\/p>\n “If we don’t get productivity growth, there’s not going to be real wage rises coming down the pipeline.”<\/p>\n According to the RBA’s annual report, the bank has 2,201 employees, equating to 2,082 full-time equivalent employees.<\/p>\n It has 76 senior executives, and another 222 highly paid staff.<\/p>\n The RBA’s workforce has increased by 8 per cent over the past 12 months. The RBA says that reflects the additional resources it needs to implement its transformation and change agendas.<\/p>\n The additional staff are concentrated in technology and corporate support functions.<\/p>\n RBA staff numbers increased by 8 per cent in the past year. (Source: RBA annual report 2026)<\/p>\n Higher unemployment will help to control inflation<\/p>\n Australia’s unemployment rate is 4.7 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms.<\/p>\n It is higher than the RBA forecast for this point in its rate-hiking cycle.<\/p>\n At a fireside chat last month, Ms Bullock said Australia may need an unemployment rate of 5 per cent to get inflation completely under control.<\/p>\n “[W]hat level of unemployment eases the pressure on the supply side of the economy?” she asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I think between 4.5 and 5 will probably take enough heat out of the labour market that it’ll ease pressure on inflation,” she said.Unemployment rate remains at 4.7pc<\/a><\/p>\n An estimated 39,300 fewer Australians were in work last month, while the number of unemployed people increased by 8,900.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2d3884daa76ad34bbd991bc87ffc9b52.jpeg\")
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