Salary guide · 2026
Aesthetics pay in Australia, 2026
What clinics and brands actually pay, by role, experience and city. For each role we show three things: the legal award floor, what clinics really pay above it, and the city read. Candidate pay, not our fee.
From the Fair Work awards, Seek and PayScale data, and ARA's read of the market. Built alongside our State of Aesthetics Hiring 2026 report.
Where these numbers come from
Three sources, always named. The legal minimum is the relevant Fair Work award, the floor a clinic cannot pay below, not the going rate; in aesthetics the market sits well above it, especially for experienced people. What clinics actually pay above it draws on current advertised rates (Seek and PayScale) and ARA's read of the market. The city read uses Seek's advertised-salary data. Where the read is too thin to call a number, or a market is still emerging, we say so and flag it rather than guess.
Pay varies significantly by employer type, so read every figure here as a market benchmark to work from. A retail or laser chain runs a lower guaranteed base with commission on top; an independent doctor-led or premium clinic pays a higher base. The clinic-manager role shows it most clearly: a chain-clinic manager may sit around $75,000 to $90,000 plus super, whereas an experienced manager in a premium doctor-led clinic can be $100,000 to $120,000 plus super or above, so the setting shifts the number as much as the title does. Last updated July 2026.
Cosmetic nurse injectors
Registered nurses who deliver injectables. The biggest hiring category in aesthetics, and most of what ARA places.
Award floor
~$32/hr
Nurses Award 2020 (RN minimum, 1 Jul 2026)
Typical market
$35-60/hr
what clinics actually pay (ARA, six years of placements)
Top of market
~$60/hr + commission
senior; above $60 is rare (one candidate on $80 in six years)
Annual: Roughly $70k to $118k full-time before commission. A senior injector with a strong patient book pushes toward $120k to $140k once commission is added. One honest note from six years of placements: clinics often advertise above what they actually pay, so treat advertised figures as the ceiling, not the offer. The award floor shown is the legal minimum, not what an experienced injector is actually paid. Experience is the major factor, so read the range in tiers: a newer injector sits at the lower end, nearer the floor; a few years in with advanced training lands mid-band; and a senior injector with an established patient book reaches the top, where the commission on top matters more than the base rate.
By city
Seek advertised salaries, annual (advertised often runs above what is actually paid).
Location is one of the biggest factors in how hard a role is to fill: Perth, Canberra and non-metropolitan markets are consistently the tough ones, so they typically pay toward the top of the band to land the same person. Tight role criteria narrow the pool further, a specific modality or device, tear-trough experience, or a set number of years. For Adelaide, Perth and smaller markets the public data thins out, so ask us for our read.
A skill worth paying for: regenerative aesthetics
Regenerative aesthetics is now an in-demand skill set within injecting, not a separate job. It covers PRP and PRF, polynucleotide skin biostimulators, exosomes, collagen-stimulating biostimulators and skin boosters. In Australia these are delivered within existing cosmetic-nurse and doctor scope under medical oversight, and nurses trained in them are in stronger demand.
What moves the number
Experience is the biggest mover, so it helps to read the range in tiers. A nurse fresh to injectables sits near the award floor. A few years in with advanced training moves up the middle of the band. A senior injector with an established patient book sits at the top, and above $60 an hour is reached mostly through that book rather than a higher base rate on its own. The commission (typically 5 to 15%, up to 20%) often matters more than the base for the strong ones, because it reflects the patients they bring and build. Doctor-led clinics and the major-city markets tend to pay higher, and a regional role usually has to pay toward the top of the band to land the same calibre.
Dermal therapists & clinicians
Skin specialists running peels, lasers, microneedling and skin-health programs. The pay gap here is mostly about qualification and setting.
Award floor
~$30/hr
Hair & Beauty (L4) to Health Professionals (L1), 1 Jul 2026
Typical market
$35-55/hr
what clinics pay (ARA)
Top of market
~$60/hr
senior, degree-qualified, medical clinic
Annual: Roughly $60k to $100k full-time.
By city
Seek advertised salaries, annual.
Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and regional markets have thinner public data for this role. Regional roles still tend to pay toward the top to reach the same calibre; ask us for the local read.
What moves the number
Qualification and setting drive the gap. A beauty-qualified therapist in a salon sits under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award, around $30 an hour. A degree-qualified dermal clinician in a medical or doctor-led clinic sits under the Health Professionals Award (around $31 an hour at entry, rising into the $40s with experience), and the market pays above that again. The lasers and devices they can run, and their experience, move them up the band.
Clinic managers
The person running the floor, the team and the numbers in an aesthetics clinic. A revenue-critical hire that almost no specialist pay guide covers.
Award floor
no single award
pay depends on the duties
Typical market
$75k-90k
retail / laser chain: base plus commission (Seek company estimate + PayScale)
Top of market
$100k-120k +
premium / doctor-led; experienced or multi-site higher (TalentMed 2026)
Annual: The number moves more by the kind of clinic than by the title. A retail or laser-chain manager (Laser Clinics, Australian Skin Clinics and the like) sits around $75k to $90k plus super on a base-plus-commission model, so a good part of the top end comes from treatment-sale reward rather than guaranteed base. An experienced manager in a premium or doctor-led clinic sits around $100k to $120k plus super, and $120k+ for a senior or multi-site manager running a busy room. General clinic-manager averages you may see published (often $100k+) fold in hospital, day-surgery and specialist-rooms managers, which are the highest-paying settings in healthcare, so they overstate what an aesthetics clinic actually pays.
Worth stating plainly: there is no aesthetics-only clinic-manager salary series in Australia. The chain figures are solid because they are named-employer data (Seek's company estimate for Australian Skin Clinics is $80k to $100k, PayScale has the base nearer $59k, and the gap between them is commission). The doctor-led band leans on TalentMed's 2026 practice-manager guide by clinic type rather than a large aesthetics ad sample, so read it as a well-supported benchmark. Anyone quoting "$100k-plus is normal for a clinic manager" to an aesthetics clinic is quoting a blended healthcare number that includes hospital and day-surgery managers. We place these occasionally, so treat it as a market read.
What moves the number
Employer type drives it more than anything. A retail or laser chain pays a lower guaranteed base ($75k to $90k plus super) with commission carrying the top end; a premium or doctor-led clinic pays a higher base ($100k to $120k plus super), and a senior or multi-site manager running a busy doctor-led room goes above that, often with a bonus tied to clinic revenue. Titles vary a lot here (clinic manager, coordinator, operations manager), so compare on duties and on like clinic types: a premium doctor-led manager sits well above a retail laser-chain manager, so match the setting before the number.
Commercial and brand roles
The roles brands and distributors hire to carry revenue. Base is only the start; the total package, plus commission and incentives, is what lands someone who pairs aesthetics credibility with commercial skill. Per role:
Seek + PayScale + ARA
Seek + market data, indicative
Seek + PayScale + ARA, indicative
thin public data (ARA)
what the market pays (ARA); no public series for this role
Bands show base, then the on-target package (OTE: base plus super, car or allowance, and commission). They are Seek and PayScale advertised figures plus ARA's market read, and are indicative; super inclusion varies. The clinical trainer band has no public salary series behind it, so it is our read of the roles we see, not an advertised-ad average.
What moves the number
The total package is what lands someone who can carry a brand's revenue, and the people who pair real aesthetics credibility with commercial skill are a small, contested pool. Clinical trainers sit in this layer too, a package role bridging clinical knowledge and field time. Brief on the package and the credibility, not the base alone.
Regenerative and longevity medicine
EmergingA new and fast-growing category in Australia: doctor-led longevity and regenerative-medicine clinics, hiring nurse practitioners and doctors who can prescribe, alongside the nurses who run the IV, peptide and regenerative therapies. It is early and the market is still forming, so we flag these as emerging and indicative rather than settled bands.
Regenerative / longevity doctor
~$220-400k+
Seek + ATO + market read, emerging
Regenerative, functional and longevity doctors are paid roughly $220k to $300k a year salaried, and a high-billing or specialist-credentialled doctor on a percentage of billings clears $300k to $400k+. Most are GP or physician credentialled, so the pay tracks GP and specialist norms rather than a separate longevity scale. The category is real and funded: Everlab, one of Australia's longevity clinics, raised $65m in 2026.
Nurse practitioner / prescriber
~$100-130/hr, some ask $150-180
what the market pays (ARA), emerging
Because these clinics prescribe (peptides, hormones, NAD and related therapies), they hire nurse practitioners as well as doctors. From the roles we see, prescribers command around $100 to $130 an hour, and some ask $150 to $180. On a full-time load the middle of that range lines up with the salaried doctor band above, so read the hourly rate and the salary as two shapes of the same market.
Longevity / IV-therapy nurse
~$50-55/hr ($40-45 low, $60+ high)
what the market pays (ARA), emerging
Longevity and IV-therapy nurses (non-prescribing): the registered nurses running the drips and programs at clinics like Everlab, Super Young and The NAD Clinic. They normally sit around $50 to $55 an hour, with the lower end around $40 to $45 and the higher end $60 plus. That is similar territory to a cosmetic nurse's base rate, without the commission an injector earns on a patient book. There is no public salary series for the role, so this is our read of the market.
The legal floor: which award applies
Most aesthetics pay debates are really award debates. Which one applies comes down to the qualification, and it explains why two people with the same job title can be paid very differently.
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards, rates effective 1 July 2026 (the 2026 Annual Wage Review, +4.75%). These are minimums; the market pays above them.
How to use these numbers
Treat the typical-market figure as the market, not a number to negotiate down from. Meet it and your search is shorter. Sit under it and you buy yourself a longer, harder one, because the few people who fit a tight brief have other options and they take them.
Pay is only half of it. Candidates are more brand-conscious than ever, and they are choosing you as much as you are choosing them. Who you are, how you treat your team, and how fast you move all decide whether the strong ones say yes, on top of what you pay.
Common questions about aesthetics pay
How much does a cosmetic injector earn in Australia in 2026?
Cosmetic nurse injectors generally earn $35 to $60 an hour plus commission, typically 5 to 15% and never above 20% in our six years of placements. That is roughly $70,000 to $118,000 full-time before commission, and a senior injector pushes toward $120,000 to $140,000 once commission is added. Pay above $60 an hour is rare: across six years we have met one candidate on $80. Clinics often advertise above what they actually pay, so Seek's advertised figures (Sydney around $110,000, Gold Coast around $88,000) read as the ceiling rather than the offer. The legal floor (the Nurses Award) is about $32 an hour from 1 July 2026.
What is the award minimum for a cosmetic nurse?
An AHPRA-registered nurse sits under the Nurses Award 2020. From 1 July 2026 the minimum is about $32.09 an hour for a Registered Nurse, rising to around $39.59 into the next level. That is the legal floor. Clinics pay above it to attract experienced injectors, especially those with a patient book.
What does a senior cosmetic injector earn?
In practice the top of the market is about $60 an hour plus commission; a senior injector with a strong patient book earns $120,000 to $140,000 or more a year once commission is added. Rates above $60 an hour are rare: in six years of placements we have met one candidate on $80 an hour. Experience and an existing client book are the biggest levers on injector pay, which is why the commission, typically 5 to 15% and sometimes uncapped, can matter more than the base rate. Worth knowing: clinics may advertise a higher rate than they actually pay to attract applicants.
Do cosmetic injectors do regenerative treatments like PRP and polynucleotides?
Yes, increasingly. Regenerative aesthetics (PRP and PRF, polynucleotides, exosomes, collagen biostimulators and skin boosters) is delivered within existing cosmetic-nurse and doctor scope in Australia, under medical oversight. It is a skill set rather than a separate role, and nurses trained in it are in stronger demand.
What do regenerative or longevity medicine roles pay in Australia?
It is an emerging market, so treat any figure as indicative. Doctor roles in functional and longevity medicine have been advertised around $220,000 to $300,000 a year, though that rests on early single-employer ads rather than a settled median. Because these clinics prescribe, they also hire nurse practitioners as well as doctors on hourly rates: prescribers command around $100 to $130 an hour, and some ask $150 to $180. Non-prescribing longevity and IV-therapy nurses normally sit around $50 to $55 an hour, with the lower end around $40 to $45 and the higher end $60 plus, similar to a cosmetic nurse's base rate without the injector's commission.
Why do dermal therapist rates vary so much?
Mostly qualification and setting. A beauty-qualified therapist in a salon sits under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award, about $30 an hour from 1 July 2026. A degree-qualified dermal clinician in a medical or doctor-led clinic sits under the Health Professionals Award (about $31 an hour at entry, more with experience) and the market above that again, often $35 to $60 an hour. Same broad job title, very different pay.
What does a clinic manager in an aesthetics clinic earn?
It depends heavily on the type of clinic. A retail or laser-chain manager sits around $75,000 to $90,000 plus super on a base-plus-commission model, so part of the top end comes from treatment-sale reward rather than guaranteed base. An experienced manager in a premium or doctor-led clinic sits around $100,000 to $120,000 plus super, and $120,000 or more for a senior or multi-site manager. General clinic-manager averages you may see published (often $100,000-plus) fold in hospital, day-surgery and specialist-rooms managers and overstate what an aesthetics clinic pays.
Do cosmetic injectors earn commission as well as an hourly rate?
Yes. Injectors usually earn commission on top of their hourly pay, typically 5 to 15%, and in six years of placements we have never seen above 20%. For strong candidates the commission and upside often matter more than the base rate, because it reflects the patient book they bring and build.
What do commercial aesthetics roles (BDM, key account, sales) pay?
Business development managers run $100,000 to $130,000 base, with an on-target package of $130,000 to $170,000 and senior national roles $180,000 to $220,000 or more. Key account managers sit around $105,000 to $120,000 base, $120,000 to $160,000 on-target. Aesthetic or medical sales reps earn $75,000 to $95,000 base, around $120,000 to $150,000 on-target, and $160,000 to $180,000 or more for a senior rep with a territory. Clinical trainers and educators sit around $100,000 to $120,000 and range up to about $160,000, with clinical-director level roles reaching $180,000; there is no public salary series for the role, so that is our read of the market. The package, not the base, is what lands the person.
Benchmarking an offer, or briefing a role?
Tell us the role and we will tell you what it takes to land the person, for your city and your kind of clinic. The full market picture is in our State of Aesthetics Hiring 2026 report.
Talk to us about a role