When looking at Australian general practitioner salaries and comparing them to other countries, it can look like the United States has an unfairly high average. Today, we’re going to explain why in Australia especially, these salaries can vary wildly, some of the variables that affect it, and why the United States looks the way it does when comparing any aspect of its medical industry.
The United States and its unusual medical industry…
We have no interest in becoming political here, so we’re simply going to state the facts the way they are. In the United States, the medical industry is almost entirely not subsidized by the government. While there do exist some subsidized programs for the elderly, as well as the exceptionally impoverished, the average individual has to pay out-of-pocket, either through an insurance provider or directly, to visit a doctor, get medication or receive surgery or any other form of treatment.
This is simply a cultural thing, the United States views every industry as a profit-focused thing, and while it’s easy to become judgmental of something like this, it’s important to remember that there are reasons why the United States has one of the highest GDP’s on the planet. They’re going to be trade-offs in quality of life for this, and there are going to be some cultural differences that may seem rather abrasive to those of us living elsewhere.
Also, while the United States is far bigger and far broader in demographic than even Australia, the strange relationship between state autonomy and federal law there results in some odd statistics when it comes to average salaries. This is a case across pretty much every industry, but the medical industry is especially odd.
We just felt it was very important to point out that the United States is a strange climate when it comes to industries like this, so when comparing by country, you really shouldn’t use them as one of your points of data.
What about Australia?
In Australia, there are several variables to consider. Subsidy from the government does guarantee more job security and economic security when it comes to being a GP, which is one advantage over places like the United States where it’s treated more like a pure industry. However, the salary can vary wildly depending on the state, city and local demographic.
In a rural area of a lower-population state, you may find yourself earning as low as $74,000 a year starting out, where a more populous state or a larger city may see you earning up to $260,000 a year. However, before bulking at that $74,000 figure, remember that the cost of living is far more predictable based on location and population in Australia than in other places as well. You can live quite comfortably on that $74,000 a year in a small town in a more rural state, where that $260,000 in a place like Sydney or Perth may actually add up to a bigger financial challenge to live on in the long run.
