Membership of the million-dollar-a-year club is 2.4% closer for Blair Comley.
Blair Comley, secretary of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, is 2.4% closer to joining the exclusive club of department secretaries paid $1 million or more a year, after the independent Remuneration Tribunal approved a pay rise for public office holders.
Mr Comley, who took over as health secretary in July 2023 on the retirement of Professor Brendan Murphy, gets a $21,846 pay rise, taking his total remuneration for 2025-26 to $932,116.
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The two newest department secretaries – Jenny Wilkinson at Treasury and Dr Steven Kennedy at Prime Minister and Cabinet, both appointed this week – are also the only ones paid more than a million dollars a year.
Mr Kennedy will take home $1.035 million next financial year – and increase of about $24,000 on his predecessor Glyn Davis – while Ms Wilkinson takes home $1.009 million.
The secretaries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Home Affairs, and Infrastructure are on the next tier down, pocketing $983,900 each per annum.
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Mr Comley is on the third tier, along with the secretaries of Agriculture, Climate Change, Education, Employment, Finance, the Attorney-General, and Social Sciences.
The secretary of Industry, Science and Resources is paid $880,333 annually, and the secretary of Veterans’ Affairs takes home $828,549.
The Remuneration Tribunal said the 2.4% pay bump for public office holders, including secretaries, was “appropriate” in the current economy.
“This adjustment reflects a measured approach, balancing the need for restraint given economic conditions with the recognition of the upward pressure on household costs since the Tribunal’s 2024 review,” its statement reads.
