Are traffic controllers really earning $200k per year? The ABC crunches the numbers
Australian news outlets and politicians have repeatedly claimed that traffic controllers are earning more than $200,000 per year for turning a stop sign.
The coverage focuses on concerns that taxpayers are having to foot the bill for $206,832 entry-level salaries at unionised government construction sites.
These figures have been repeated by The Herald Sun, SBS, 7News, 9News, Today, Yahoo, The Australian, Sunrise, News.com.au, Yahoo News, Daily Mail, and other news outlets.
No media outlet or politician disclosed where they got this figure, with a few merely citing “industry modelling” as a source.
However, state government pay rates are publicly available, so it is possible to reverse-engineer the numbers to see how these figures were calculated.
The ABC has crunched the numbers to see how plausible it would be for a traffic controller to actually earn $200,000 in a year.
Built on big assumptions
A Herald Sun report claims that entry-level lollipop men and women in Victoria are earning $206,832 per year, over 48 weeks.
The article claims this figure was provided to them by “industry insiders”, with a limited breakdown of how the number was calculated.
Looking at the numbers provided, we can see they are based on the CFMEU Victoria 2023 Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).
The EBA covers subcontractors working on major Victorian government construction sites, paid on an hourly basis.
The CFMEU has been accused of driving up construction worker wages. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
The EBA shows that traffic controllers are paid a base rate of $48.93 per hour, based on a 7.2-hour day, 36-hour week, 48-week year, with no annual leave pay.
Therefore, in order to reach $206,832, the industry insider makes a number of assumptions.
They assume each traffic controller works 56 hours per week while claiming every possible travel allowance, meal allowance and site allowance every day for 288 shifts.
They claim each traffic controller earns $315 per week in travel allowance, $186 per week in meal allowance, and $280 in site allowance.
For this to be true, they would need to exclusively work on projects worth between $5.7 million and $289.1 million in Melbourne’s inner suburbs for a $5-per-hour increase.
Each entry-level traffic controller would also need to be offered at least 90 minutes of overtime every single shift to qualify for a meal allowance six days per week.
Throughout the year, they would each clock up 1,920 hours of ordinary shifts and 768 hours of double-time penalty rates, averaging 2 hours and 40 minutes every day.
Penalty rates can be paid for scenarios including night shifts, working through the rain and being asked to skip breaks.
Traffic controllers are often required to work around the clock and in all weather. (ABC News: Paige Cockburn)
‘Extreme scenarios’
A Brisbane Cross River Rail traffic controller, who did not want to be named, told the ABC he had never heard of anyone pulling such numbers.
The ABC was unable to obtain permission from the traffic controller’s supervisor to name him.
He said it was dangerous, highly variable work, with some 60-hour weeks and some 16-hour weeks depending on shift availability.
“The most I’ve ever heard someone making was $150,000, but they were doing 10 hours a day, six to seven days per week, a lot of night shifts and penalty rates,” he said.
“If you do get paid that … you’re working ridiculous hours to make it.
Matthew Bereni says the claims focus on implausible scenarios. (Supplied: TMAA)
Traffic Management Association of Australia chief executive Matthew Bereni said these articles focused on extreme scenarios that were implausible for the vast majority of workers.
The association is the national peak body that represents traffic controllers and the traffic management industry.
Mr Bereni said it was hypothetically possible to earn high salaries working long hours during night shifts and public holidays, but these scenarios were “in no way the norm”.
He said a more “realistic” salary for traffic controllers was around $55,000 to $75,000 per year.
“These articles sensationalise outlier scenarios and do a disservice to the vast majority of hardworking and dedicated traffic controllers in Australia,” Mr Bereni said.
“Traffic control is an important and dangerous profession that plays a vital role in road safety.”
The Herald Sun was contacted for comment.
The scene where a 48-year-old traffic controller died after being hit by a motorist at road works north of Brisbane in 2009. (ABC News)
An exercise in accounting
A similar accounting exercise could apply these same claims to casual workers in other industries.
As an example, it is possible for a Woolworths worker to earn more than $200,000 per year by working 60.5-hour weeks, over 48 weeks.
Under the 2024 Woolworths Australian Food Group Agreement, a casual level 6 store team member earns a base rate of $29.31 per hour.
However, the EBA also offers meal allowances, paid rest breaks, overtime, cold work allowance, first aid allowances, liquor licence allowance and Broken Hill allowance.
If they claim all these allowances and work 60.5 hours of 11pm shifts from Sunday to Thursday, they could earn $200,579.64 after 48 weeks.
They could possibly earn more if they also cashed in transport allowance, special clothing allowance and other reimbursements.
This is a highly unrealistic scenario but is mathematically possible within the conditions of the EBA.
A Woolworths worker would need to work extremely long hours to earn $200k. (AAP: Dave Hunt)
Not mathematically possible
An SBS article claimed that Victorians could earn $120,000 per year for “turning a stop sign” without allowances or overtime, which is mathematically impossible.
SBS did not say how it came up with the $120,000 figure.
The article referred to the CFMEU’s Enterprise Bargaining Agreement for the 2024 financial year, based on a 36-hour week.
Under the EBA, it is impossible for a traffic controller to earn above six figures at base rate without allowances or overtime.
Even working 52 weeks a year at the highest classification level, the maximum a traffic controller could earn is $98,978.75 without allowances or overtime.
SBS was contacted for comment.
The Australian Traffic Management Association says traffic controllers can realistically earn $55,000 to $75,000 per year. (ABC News: Pamela Medlen)
A similar claim was made by the Civil Contractors Federation, which said all construction workers earned $200,000 as a base rate, without allowances or overtime.
In a statement published last June, the federation claimed “every single person” on government construction sites was raking in these figures.
“It is just not sustainable to have a base rate of $200,000 for every single person from traffic controllers up on a construction site,” it said.
Living the luxe life
The Courier Mail claimed Queensland traffic controllers were living the “luxe life”, earning $215,000 per year after finishing a two-day training course.
The article claimed civil labourers earned $217,000 per year after undertaking a 10-week course.
The newspaper did not explain its calculations but said it was based on “industry modelling” of Queensland’s Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC).
This “industry modelling” was repeated by 7News and 9News with no source.
BPIC covers subcontractors working on existing Queensland government worksites but has been paused for any new contracts.
Publicly available BPIC documents show as of the 2024 financial year, traffic controllers are paid a base hourly rate of $51.96, or a base annual salary of $89,786.88.
The Courier Mail claimed traffic controllers were living the “luxe life”. (ABC News: Harriet Tatham)
A Queensland traffic controller could earn about $215,000 per year if they worked 12 hours and 12 minutes every weekday with five of those hours being paid at double time for 48 weeks.
Under BPIC, workers can be paid at double time under certain conditions.
Those conditions include night shifts, working out in the rain, with insufficient breaks, or when performing weekend overtime.
So, for example, if a traffic controller was asked to work a split 7.2-hour day shift followed by a 5-hour night shift every weekday without exception, they could earn nearly $215,000 in a year.
It is therefore theoretically possible for a traffic controller to earn $215,000 in a year, but almost impossible in practice.
The Courier Mail was contacted for comment.
A CFMEU spokesperson said traffic controllers worked long hours in often difficult and dangerous conditions, with highly variable hours.
“Like most construction workers, traffic controllers have very little job security and their employment can be terminated at a moment’s notice,” the spokesperson said.
“They deserve a decent wage that allows them to keep up with the cost of living.”
Do they get paid more?
The claim that entry-level traffic controllers regularly earn more than $200,000 is a wild exaggeration that would not apply to the vast majority of workers.
However, it is true that traffic controllers are generally paid higher on major government construction projects than in the private sector.
Minimum wages for traffic controllers on construction sites are laid out in the Fair Work Ombudsman Building and Construction General On-site Award.
For example, casual traffic controllers on non-residential construction sites are paid a minimum rate of $35.04 per hour plus penalty rates.
Penalty rates include $63.07 per hour on Sundays and $77.08 per hour on public holidays, as well as various overtime perks.
At the time of writing, the vast majority of private traffic management companies such as Avada, Utilities Traffic Management, Traffic Qld and NSW paid at the award rate.
The hourly rate could be even lower for permanent part-time or daily-hire workers, varying by industry and classification level.
Andrea, who asked for her last name to be omitted, said she earned $27.81 per hour working for Altus Traffic on the Cross River Rail construction project.
She said the public perception about how much traffic controllers earned was wildly skewed in the media and by politicians.
Andrea said traffic control was difficult and low-paid but important work.
“Traffic controllers are proud of the work we do,” she said.
“We work in all weather conditions and we are the ones responsible for keeping pedestrians, motorists and workers safe as concrete trucks and cranes come in and out of construction sites.”
The Australian Workers Union and the Transport Workers Union were contacted for comment.
Are traffic controllers really earning $200k per year? The ABC crunches the numbers
Are traffic controllers really earning $200k per year? The ABC crunches the numbers
Australian news outlets and politicians have repeatedly claimed that traffic controllers are earning more than $200,000 per year for turning a stop sign.
The coverage focuses on concerns that taxpayers are having to foot the bill for $206,832 entry-level salaries at unionised government construction sites.
These figures have been repeated by The Herald Sun, SBS, 7News, 9News, Today, Yahoo, The Australian, Sunrise, News.com.au, Yahoo News, Daily Mail, and other news outlets.
No media outlet or politician disclosed where they got this figure, with a few merely citing “industry modelling” as a source.
However, state government pay rates are publicly available, so it is possible to reverse-engineer the numbers to see how these figures were calculated.
The ABC has crunched the numbers to see how plausible it would be for a traffic controller to actually earn $200,000 in a year.
Built on big assumptions
A Herald Sun report claims that entry-level lollipop men and women in Victoria are earning $206,832 per year, over 48 weeks.
The article claims this figure was provided to them by “industry insiders”, with a limited breakdown of how the number was calculated.
Looking at the numbers provided, we can see they are based on the CFMEU Victoria 2023 Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).
The EBA covers subcontractors working on major Victorian government construction sites, paid on an hourly basis.
The EBA shows that traffic controllers are paid a base rate of $48.93 per hour, based on a 7.2-hour day, 36-hour week, 48-week year, with no annual leave pay.
Therefore, in order to reach $206,832, the industry insider makes a number of assumptions.
They assume each traffic controller works 56 hours per week while claiming every possible travel allowance, meal allowance and site allowance every day for 288 shifts.
They claim each traffic controller earns $315 per week in travel allowance, $186 per week in meal allowance, and $280 in site allowance.
For this to be true, they would need to exclusively work on projects worth between $5.7 million and $289.1 million in Melbourne’s inner suburbs for a $5-per-hour increase.
Each entry-level traffic controller would also need to be offered at least 90 minutes of overtime every single shift to qualify for a meal allowance six days per week.
Throughout the year, they would each clock up 1,920 hours of ordinary shifts and 768 hours of double-time penalty rates, averaging 2 hours and 40 minutes every day.
Penalty rates can be paid for scenarios including night shifts, working through the rain and being asked to skip breaks.
‘Extreme scenarios’
A Brisbane Cross River Rail traffic controller, who did not want to be named, told the ABC he had never heard of anyone pulling such numbers.
The ABC was unable to obtain permission from the traffic controller’s supervisor to name him.
He said it was dangerous, highly variable work, with some 60-hour weeks and some 16-hour weeks depending on shift availability.
“The most I’ve ever heard someone making was $150,000, but they were doing 10 hours a day, six to seven days per week, a lot of night shifts and penalty rates,” he said.
“If you do get paid that … you’re working ridiculous hours to make it.
Traffic Management Association of Australia chief executive Matthew Bereni said these articles focused on extreme scenarios that were implausible for the vast majority of workers.
The association is the national peak body that represents traffic controllers and the traffic management industry.
Mr Bereni said it was hypothetically possible to earn high salaries working long hours during night shifts and public holidays, but these scenarios were “in no way the norm”.
He said a more “realistic” salary for traffic controllers was around $55,000 to $75,000 per year.
“These articles sensationalise outlier scenarios and do a disservice to the vast majority of hardworking and dedicated traffic controllers in Australia,” Mr Bereni said.
“Traffic control is an important and dangerous profession that plays a vital role in road safety.”
The Herald Sun was contacted for comment.
An exercise in accounting
A similar accounting exercise could apply these same claims to casual workers in other industries.
As an example, it is possible for a Woolworths worker to earn more than $200,000 per year by working 60.5-hour weeks, over 48 weeks.
Under the 2024 Woolworths Australian Food Group Agreement, a casual level 6 store team member earns a base rate of $29.31 per hour.
However, the EBA also offers meal allowances, paid rest breaks, overtime, cold work allowance, first aid allowances, liquor licence allowance and Broken Hill allowance.
If they claim all these allowances and work 60.5 hours of 11pm shifts from Sunday to Thursday, they could earn $200,579.64 after 48 weeks.
They could possibly earn more if they also cashed in transport allowance, special clothing allowance and other reimbursements.
This is a highly unrealistic scenario but is mathematically possible within the conditions of the EBA.
Not mathematically possible
An SBS article claimed that Victorians could earn $120,000 per year for “turning a stop sign” without allowances or overtime, which is mathematically impossible.
SBS did not say how it came up with the $120,000 figure.
The article referred to the CFMEU’s Enterprise Bargaining Agreement for the 2024 financial year, based on a 36-hour week.
Under the EBA, it is impossible for a traffic controller to earn above six figures at base rate without allowances or overtime.
Even working 52 weeks a year at the highest classification level, the maximum a traffic controller could earn is $98,978.75 without allowances or overtime.
SBS was contacted for comment.
A similar claim was made by the Civil Contractors Federation, which said all construction workers earned $200,000 as a base rate, without allowances or overtime.
In a statement published last June, the federation claimed “every single person” on government construction sites was raking in these figures.
“It is just not sustainable to have a base rate of $200,000 for every single person from traffic controllers up on a construction site,” it said.
Living the luxe life
The Courier Mail claimed Queensland traffic controllers were living the “luxe life”, earning $215,000 per year after finishing a two-day training course.
The article claimed civil labourers earned $217,000 per year after undertaking a 10-week course.
The newspaper did not explain its calculations but said it was based on “industry modelling” of Queensland’s Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC).
This “industry modelling” was repeated by 7News and 9News with no source.
BPIC covers subcontractors working on existing Queensland government worksites but has been paused for any new contracts.
Publicly available BPIC documents show as of the 2024 financial year, traffic controllers are paid a base hourly rate of $51.96, or a base annual salary of $89,786.88.
A Queensland traffic controller could earn about $215,000 per year if they worked 12 hours and 12 minutes every weekday with five of those hours being paid at double time for 48 weeks.
Under BPIC, workers can be paid at double time under certain conditions.
Those conditions include night shifts, working out in the rain, with insufficient breaks, or when performing weekend overtime.
So, for example, if a traffic controller was asked to work a split 7.2-hour day shift followed by a 5-hour night shift every weekday without exception, they could earn nearly $215,000 in a year.
It is therefore theoretically possible for a traffic controller to earn $215,000 in a year, but almost impossible in practice.
The Courier Mail was contacted for comment.
A CFMEU spokesperson said traffic controllers worked long hours in often difficult and dangerous conditions, with highly variable hours.
“Like most construction workers, traffic controllers have very little job security and their employment can be terminated at a moment’s notice,” the spokesperson said.
“They deserve a decent wage that allows them to keep up with the cost of living.”
Do they get paid more?
The claim that entry-level traffic controllers regularly earn more than $200,000 is a wild exaggeration that would not apply to the vast majority of workers.
However, it is true that traffic controllers are generally paid higher on major government construction projects than in the private sector.
Minimum wages for traffic controllers on construction sites are laid out in the Fair Work Ombudsman Building and Construction General On-site Award.
For example, casual traffic controllers on non-residential construction sites are paid a minimum rate of $35.04 per hour plus penalty rates.
Penalty rates include $63.07 per hour on Sundays and $77.08 per hour on public holidays, as well as various overtime perks.
At the time of writing, the vast majority of private traffic management companies such as Avada, Utilities Traffic Management, Traffic Qld and NSW paid at the award rate.
The hourly rate could be even lower for permanent part-time or daily-hire workers, varying by industry and classification level.
Andrea, who asked for her last name to be omitted, said she earned $27.81 per hour working for Altus Traffic on the Cross River Rail construction project.
She said the public perception about how much traffic controllers earned was wildly skewed in the media and by politicians.
Andrea said traffic control was difficult and low-paid but important work.
“Traffic controllers are proud of the work we do,” she said.
“We work in all weather conditions and we are the ones responsible for keeping pedestrians, motorists and workers safe as concrete trucks and cranes come in and out of construction sites.”
The Australian Workers Union and the Transport Workers Union were contacted for comment.
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