"South Island New Zealand - spectacular"
Dr Ray, UK

"What a wonderful service..."
Dr Toby, USA

"The warmth, friendliness and peacefulness of the 'Kiwis' make the transition to New Zealand a very simple and enjoyable process."
Dr Whitehead, USA

"Probably the best year of my whole clinical career!"
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Home / Salaries in New Zealand

Salaries in New Zealand

At all stages, doctors placed through IMR, will remain employees of the hospitals or clinics they work for.

Salaries for doctors in New Zealand are set by the Government and so doctors are paid the same salaries for a particular job throughout all of New Zealand. The rate a doctor will be paid at depends only on the number of hours they will be working per week and the number of postgraduate years they have worked for.

Seniority Approximate Basic Salary (NZ $) Estimated Salary after Average Overtime (NZ $)
Resident/ SHO 70,000 85,000
Registrar 85,000 100,000
General Practitioner 100,000 - 150,000 130,000 - 180,000
Consultant (Specialist) 150,000 - 230,000 180,000 - 260,000

In addition to the above all doctors are paid an on call allowance for days that they are on call. This is calculated based on the frequency of the on call and this is paid weekly for the whole year in addition to the above salary.

Additional On call Allowance (NZ$) per week
House Officers/ SHOs Registrars
1 in 1 on call 119 122
1 in 2 on call 68 74
1 in 3 on call 53 56
1 in 4 on call 45 48
1 in 5 on call 34 39
1 in 6 on call 31 36
  • 1 NZ$ = 0.7 US $ (USA)
  • 1 NZ$ = 0.4 UK £ (UK)
  • 1 NZ$ = 4.5 ZAR (South Africa)
  • 1 NZ$ = 0.8 CAD (Canada)
  • 1 NZ$ = 0.6 Euro (EU)

Tax Rates in New Zealand

Taxable Income (NZ$) Tax Payable (NZ$)
0$ - $14,000 10.5%
$14001 - $48,000 $1,470 + 17.5% of excess over $14,000
$48,001 - $70,000 $7,420 + 30% of excess over $48,001
$70,001 + $14,020 + 33% of excess over $70,000

All income is also subject to a 2.04% ACC levy (Accident Compensation Commission).

Other Benefits

Most hospitals will give all doctors working in New Zealand the following benefits:

  1. Sick Leave - up to 10 paid days per year
  2. Annual Leave - 5 weeks paid leave per year
  3. Doctors appointed as 'relievers' are paid at a rate above their qualifying award.
  4. Many hospitals will also provide subsidised meals, free or cheap accommodation and other perks.