Australia’s richest postcode is in Perth not Sydney or Melbourne, tax office data for 2019-20 shows

Australia’s richest postcode isn’t in Sydney or Melbourne but Perth where a $200,000 salary would be well below average, new tax office data shows.

Half of the top-paying jobs by taxable income also require a degree in medicine plus postgraduate study, with surgeons having the highest average taxable salary of $406,068.

But when it came to postcodes, Sydney’s eastern suburbs on the harbour was beaten on the elite list of the highest taxable incomes by mining rich Western Australia.

Peppermint Grove and Cottesloe in Perth, stretching from the Swan River to the beach, was No. 1 in 2019-20, with an average individual taxable income of $325,343, the Australian Taxation Office has revealed.

The 6011 postcode, the home of mining billionaires Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest and media mogul Kerry Stokes, was well ahead of Point Piper in Sydney’s east, with Australia’s richest individuals benefiting from China’s insatiable demand for iron ore, needed to make steel.

The 2027 postcode on Sydney Harbour, covering Darling Point and Edgecliff, came second with an average taxable income of $205,957.

This area of waterfront mansions is the home of former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and retired Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond. 

Sydney had eight spots on the top 10 list, with five of them in the eastern suburbs and three on the north shore or the northern side of Sydney Harbour.  

Melbourne had one spot in the top 10 with Toorak in the city’s inner-east in fifth place.

None of Australia’s richest postcodes now has a federal Liberal MP, with teal members Kate Chaney, Allegra Spender and Kylea Tink respectively representing Curtin in Perth, Wentworth in Sydney, and North Sydney, while Labor for the first time ever holds the Melbourne based seat of Higgins, with new MP Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah.

Five postcodes on the list have an average, taxable income that is more than double Australia’s average, full-time salary of $90,917. 

Bellevue Hill, in Sydney’s east, has an average taxable income of $195,204, followed by nearby Vaucluse and Dover Heights, the clifftop home of missing conwoman Melissa Caddick, on $186,025.

Toorak in Melbourne was fifth with an average taxable income of $184,939.

Sydney’s lower north shore entered the list in sixth place with Mosman and Spit Junction having an average taxable income of $177,645.

The 6011 postcode, the home of mining billionaires Gina Rinehart (pictured) and Andrew Forrest and media mogul Kerry Stokes, was well ahead of Point Piper in Sydney’s east

A little further west on the northern side of the harbour, Hunters Hill and Woolwich came seventh with an average taxable income of $175,907.

Woollahra, near Paddington in Sydney’s east, was eighth with a taxable income of $172,600.

Northbridge on Sydney’s lower north shore, where former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke lived until his death in 2019, was ninth with a taxable income of $170,619. 

Double Bay in Sydney’s eastern suburbs rounded out the list with an average salary of $170,051.

When it came to broadly-defined careers with the highest average salaries, half of those in the top 10 require a degree in medicine.

The tax list was based on occupations with at least several thousand people, which explained why members of parliaments, with a base salary of $211,250 in 2019-20, weren’t in this top ten.

Surgeons topped the list at $406,068 with 4,159 listing this occupation on their tax return.

Anaesthetists were next on $388,814 with 3,509 individuals who administer strong pain killers before operations listing this occupation.

Internal medicine specialists were third on $310,848 with 9,906 people doing this job.

Financial dealers, who buy and sell shares on behalf of clients, were fourth on 279,790 with 4,754 individuals listing this occupation.

Psychiatrists, who must have a Bachelor of Medicine and can administer drugs, was fifth with an average salary of $252,691 with 3,030 in Australia. 

The other medical practitioners category was sixth with an average salary of $232,903 covering 28,696 people.

The 2027 postcode on Sydney Harbour, covering Point Piper (pictured) Darling Point and Edgecliff, came second with an average taxable income of $205,957

Judges and lawyers were seventh on the list, with an average taxable income of $189,538 in a profession with 3,940 practitioners. 

The resources sector entered the list in eighth place with mining engineers having average salaries of $188,083 with 9,120 listing this occupation.

They earned more than engineering managers on $161,514 with 25,728 people associated with the structural integrity of buildings, bridges or machinery.

Financial investment advisers and managers rounded out the top ten list with average taxable incomes of $155,882 with 20,679 people doing this job.