{"id":16201,"date":"2025-07-30T06:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T06:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/?p=16201"},"modified":"2025-07-30T07:03:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T07:03:29","slug":"whats-driving-the-inconsistency-in-administration-pay-across-our-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/whats-driving-the-inconsistency-in-administration-pay-across-our-region\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Driving the Inconsistency in Administration Pay Across Our Region?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>What\u2019s Driving the Inconsistency in Administration Pay Across Our Region?<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Administration and office support roles are the backbone of most businesses &#8211; whether it&#8217;s a receptionist holding the fort at a mining services firm in Muswellbrook, or a Project Administrator juggling timelines for a civil contractor in Newcastle. But if you\u2019ve been recruiting (or job hunting) in this space recently, you\u2019ve probably noticed one thing: the pay doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re seeing Receptionists in Newcastle on $55K in one role and $70K in another. Office Coordinators on the Central Coast managing everything from HR to payroll to logistics &#8211; all while being paid under market. Meanwhile, in the Hunter, some Executive Assistants in construction are pulling over $100K, while others doing almost the same job sit closer to $75K.<\/p>\n<p>So, why the inconsistency?<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Job Titles Don\u2019t Match the Job<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s common in regional businesses for one admin person to wear five different hats. You\u2019ll see someone running reception, doing invoicing, helping with HR, booking trucks, and ordering uniforms &#8211; all under a generic \u201cAdministration Assistant\u201d title. Without clear job descriptions or benchmarking, the pay scale is all over the place.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Different Industries, Different Priorities<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Admin isn\u2019t valued equally across every sector. We\u2019re lucky to have a diverse economy here &#8211; but that\u2019s part of the challenge.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mining &amp; construction<\/strong> &#8211; admin roles in the Hunter usually pay more due to compliance requirements and project pressure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Healthcare and community services<\/strong>, which employ a lot of people across all three regions, are often budget-constrained and can\u2019t match the pay on offer in private industry.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Professional services<\/strong> and <strong>engineering<\/strong> firms in Newcastle are starting to pay more competitively, especially in project-focused admin roles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Location Still Matters (Even Regionally)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019d expect Newcastle to lead the way on administration pay, and in some sectors it does &#8211; particularly for senior EA\/PA or project support roles. But over on the Central Coast, we\u2019re still seeing lower salaries despite business growth and rising living costs. In the Hunter, proximity to big projects or DIDO work can mean higher rates, but that doesn\u2019t always apply across the board.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Temp vs. Perm Pay Confuses Things<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s a big temporary workforce across the region &#8211; especially in administration. Temps often get paid more hourly, which makes sense for short-term roles. But it creates confusion when candidates expect similar rates for permanent jobs. Businesses aren\u2019t always prepared to explain the gap, and that leads to mismatched expectations.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>No Clear Career Path = Stagnant Pay<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Administration doesn\u2019t have a formal ladder like trades or technical roles do. People tend to grow into Office Manager or EA roles without a structured pathway &#8211; and the salary often doesn\u2019t reflect the extra responsibility. Without qualifications as a benchmark, many employers don\u2019t reassess pay as people grow into the role.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Historic Bias is Still Hanging Around<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Let\u2019s be honest &#8211; admin is still a female-dominated space, and in a lot of regional businesses, it\u2019s seen as \u201cnon-core.\u201d That mindset leads to outdated pay structures and fewer pay reviews. It\u2019s not intentional most of the time &#8211; but it\u2019s definitely holding things back.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>So, What Can Employers Do?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you&#8217;re hiring administration staff anywhere from the Upper Hunter to the Central Coast, here are some simple steps to get it right:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Check in with the market<\/strong> &#8211; Real-time salary data matters more than old salary bands.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Look at your internal equity<\/strong> &#8211; Administration is often overlooked in pay reviews.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be upfront about salary<\/strong> &#8211; Transparency attracts better talent and saves time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Create a growth plan<\/strong> &#8211; Even if it\u2019s informal, show staff how they can move up and what that looks like pay-wise.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Challenge the old thinking<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cThis is what we\u2019ve always paid\u201d is not a hiring strategy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Administration professionals keep everything running &#8211; across operations, finance, projects, logistics, and HR. They&#8217;re often the first face of your business and the glue behind the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>ARE YOU CURRENTLY LOOKING TO HIRE?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">ASR Recruitment is a boutique\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/\">recruitment agency\u00a0<\/a>specialising in Technology &amp; Digital, Marketing and Communications, Accounting &amp; Finance, Construction, Human Resources, Engineering, Safety, Procurement, Transport &amp; Logistics, Manufacturing, Legal &amp; Risk, Administration &amp; Customer Service.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Find out more by visiting our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/clients\/\">Clients<\/a>\u00a0page!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Looking for a new role? Search Jobs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/jobs\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s Driving the Inconsistency in Administration Pay Across Our Region? Administration and office support roles are the backbone of most businesses &#8211; whether it&#8217;s a receptionist holding the fort at a mining services firm in Muswellbrook, or a Project Administrator juggling timelines for a civil contractor in Newcastle. But if you\u2019ve been recruiting (or job&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":16209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-office-support"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16201"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16211,"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16201\/revisions\/16211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/16209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asr.com.au\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}