DevOps Engineer salary guide Australia 2026
The typical DevOps Engineer salary in Australia is $145,000, with pay ranging from $83,000 at entry level to $174,000 for senior professionals.
Overview
What does a DevOps Engineer earn?
The median salary of Software Developers – DevOps in Australia is $145,000. Early-career roles start near $83,000, while seasoned engineers commanding multi-cloud environments can reach $174,000. Most professionals fall within the typical range of $120,000–$174,000, depending on technical specialisation and industry experience.
Optional — pick a state first
Median for DevOps Engineer, nationally across Australia.
10th $120,000
25th $145,000
50th (median) $174,000
75th $198,000
90th
Figures above update by state/city. For a full breakdown by seniority, see the table below.
Location
DevOps Engineer salary by city
Sydney offers the highest DevOps Engineer salaries among Australia's major cities, with a median of $149,000. Professionals in Perth also see competitive rates, recording a median of $137,000.
What drives salary
Factors that affect DevOps Engineer pay
Building modern cloud infrastructure requires specialised know-how that commands solid pay. Several key technical strengths and background factors shape what you can earn in the Australian market.
Fluency across multiple cloud platforms gives you strong bargaining power. Employers value engineers who can design and maintain distributed environments without vendor lock-in.
Adopting Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) fundamentals helps teams protect uptime. Demonstrating proven incident response and observability skills pushes compensation towards the higher band.
Holding credentials like AWS Certified Solutions Architect or Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert validates advanced capability. These qualifications confirm you can handle complex architecture from day one.
Building clean Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines directly reduces development friction. Teams reward engineers who automate repetitive workflows and standardise release cycles.
Consulting backgrounds help you translate complex infrastructure needs to non-technical leaders. Bridging this gap often unlocks higher-paying lead or advisory positions.
Comparison
How DevOps Engineers compare to related roles
Specialising in deployment pipelines commands a premium over traditional infrastructure paths, with a DevOps Engineer typically outearning a Systems Engineer or Network Engineer due to the software automation skills required. Against a Data Engineer or Full Stack Software Developer, salaries align closely at mid-level, though senior DevOps specialists pull ahead when managing mission-critical delivery platforms.
| Role | Range | Relative | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| DevOps Engineer You are here | $120,000–$174,000 | $145,000 | |
| Data Engineer | $110,000–$160,000 | $137,000 | |
| Full Stack Software Developer | $103,000–$143,000 | $122,000 | |
| Network Engineer | $100,000–$151,000 | $121,000 | |
| Systems Engineer | $91,000–$142,000 | $114,000 |
Employment Hero Job Data
Salary figures are derived from Employment Hero proprietary data. All figures represent base salary only and exclude bonuses, superannuation and other benefits. Last updated October 2026.
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