Average Family Support Specialist Salary in New Zealand for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Family Support Specialist salary for 2024 in New Zealand and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the New Zealand dollar. To keep things simple, we are using the NZD currency code instead of the currency symbol $.

How Much Does a Family Support Specialist Make in New Zealand?

A Family Support Specialist working in New Zealand will typically earn around 117,100 NZD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 57,800 NZD to the highest average salary of 184,700 NZD.

Average Annual Salary
117,100 NZD
Average Monthly Salary
9,758 NZD

Lowest Annual Salary
57,800 NZD
Lowest Monthly Salary
4,816 NZD

Highest Annual Salary
184,700 NZD
Highest Monthly Salary
15,391 NZD

These are average salaries for a Family Support Specialist in New Zealand and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Family Support Specialist to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Family Support Specialist salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Family Support Specialist Salaries in New Zealand

So we've looked at the average salaries a Family Support Specialist will earn in New Zealand. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Family Support Specialist can earn between 57,800 NZD and 184,700 NZD on average in New Zealand. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Family Support Specialist in New Zealand is 119,700 NZD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 119,700 NZD, and 50% of the population earn more than 119,700 NZD.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Family Support Specialist salary in New Zealand, 25% of the population are earning less than 79,000 NZD while 75% of the population earn more than 79,000 NZD.

75% of the population earn less than 153,700 NZD, and 25% of the population earn more than 153,700 NZD.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Family Support Specialist Salary by Experience Level in New Zealand

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average family support specialist salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Family Support Specialist in New Zealand that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 69,700 NZD.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Family Support Specialist salary would increase to 86,100 NZD.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Family Support Specialist, the average salary would be 121,800 NZD.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 151,800 NZD.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Family Support Specialist with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 160,600 NZD.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Family Support Specialist with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 171,300 NZD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
69,700 NZD
2-5 Years +29%
86,100 NZD
5-10 Years +38%
121,800 NZD
10-15 Years +24%
151,800 NZD
15-20 Years +7%
160,600 NZD
20+ Years +7%
171,300 NZD

Family Support Specialist Salary by Education Level in New Zealand

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Family Support Specialist in New Zealand based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • Bachelor's Degree. A Family Support Specialist in New Zealand with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 80,900 NZD.

  • Master's Degree. A Family Support Specialist in New Zealand with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 108,200 NZD.

  • PhD. A Family Support Specialist in New Zealand with a phd education can earn an average salary of 182,400 NZD.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Bachelor's Degree
80,900 NZD
Master's Degree +38%
108,200 NZD
PhD +64%
182,400 NZD

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in New Zealand is around 40,500 to 122,000 NZD and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Family Support Specialist Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In New Zealand, a male family support specialist will earn an average of 116,400 NZD, while a female family support specialist will earn around 119,700 NZD.

This means that a male family support specialist earns approximately 3% less than a female family support specialist for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in New Zealand

Male
116,400 NZD
Female +3%
119,700 NZD

Family Support Specialist Average Pay Raise in New Zealand

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Family Support Specialist in New Zealand is around 12% every 17 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in New Zealand is around 8% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 12 ÷ 17 ) × 12  = 8%

What this means is that a Family Support Specialist in New Zealand can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 8% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in New Zealand for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in New Zealand.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
2%
Energy
4%
Information Technology
6%
Healthcare
8%
Travel
1%
Construction
3%
Education
5%

Family Support Specialist Bonus and Incentive Rates in New Zealand

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Family Support Specialist is a moderate bonus based job, with 58% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

42% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 3% to 6%.

Received Bonus
58%
No Bonus
42%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in New Zealand earn approximately 5% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
97,900 NZD
Private Sector -5%
93,100 NZD

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Family Support Specialist

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Family Support Specialist in New Zealand.

Job Title Category Salary
Adoption Services Director Counseling 128,400 NZD
Alcohol and Drug Counselor Counseling 107,300 NZD
Assistant Instructor Counseling 43,100 NZD
Career Counselor Counseling 115,600 NZD
Consultant Counseling 116,400 NZD
Director of Rehabilitation Services Counseling 148,300 NZD
Disability Consultant Counseling 92,100 NZD
Employment Counselor Counseling 117,100 NZD
Family Advocate Counseling 80,800 NZD
Family Services Specialist Counseling 86,100 NZD
Family Youth Worker Counseling 38,000 NZD
Guidance Counselor Counseling 119,700 NZD
Guidance Director Counseling 134,100 NZD
Mental Health Counselor Counseling 134,100 NZD
Mental Health Therapist Counseling 118,900 NZD
Programs Coordinator Counseling 66,000 NZD
Psychologist Counseling 158,700 NZD
Supervising Counselor Counseling 130,500 NZD
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Counseling 119,700 NZD
Youth Advocate Counseling 65,900 NZD
Youth Care Counselor Counseling 119,700 NZD
Youth Care Specialist Counseling 72,400 NZD
Youth Development Manager Counseling 151,800 NZD

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in New Zealand, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Auckland 141,000 NZD
Christchurch 127,700 NZD
Hamilton 112,700 NZD
Rotorua 107,300 NZD
Wellington 127,700 NZD

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