A British expat working as a traffic controller in Perth has ignited a fierce online debate after posting a detailed breakdown of his weekly pay, with his take-home earnings of nearly $2,000 for a single week drawing reactions ranging from outright disbelief to grudging admiration.

Will Spires, who moved from the United Kingdom and is currently working in traffic management in Perth on a working holiday visa, shared the payslip breakdown in a TikTok video that has since been watched more than 380,000 times. His aim, he said, was simply to give people a realistic picture of what the job pays.

How the weekly traffic controller payslip breaks down

Spires walked his audience through a Wednesday-to-Wednesday working week covering the period of August 17 to 23, stressing upfront that earnings vary from week to week depending on the type of road and hours worked.

His base hourly rate sits at $37.99 per hour for work on smaller roads, with higher rates applying to major roads and highways. Over that particular week, his gross pay came to $2,281.26, broken down as follows:

  • 32 hours at $38 per hour, earning $1,215.68 in standard pay
  • 8.25 hours at double pay ($68.38 per hour), adding $564.14
  • 8 hours at time-and-a-half ($53.18 per hour), contributing $425.44
  • Four hours of meal allowances at $19 per hour, totalling $76

Because he is on a working holiday visa, Spires said his tax rate differs from that of permanent residents. He explained that he is currently taxed at a flat rate of 15 per cent at the start of the Australian financial year, which increases as the year progresses. For that week, his tax came to $331.

His employer also contributed $145.88 into superannuation, leaving him with a total net pay of $1,950.26 for the week.

"Anything for me over $1,500 a week, I'm happy with," Spires said in the video.

Social media erupts over the figures

The response in the comments section was swift and polarising. Many viewers expressed shock at the size of the payslip for what is broadly considered a physically straightforward job, with one commenter calling it "insane, overpaid nonsense."

Others were more measured, acknowledging that while the pay is strong, the work itself comes with real drawbacks. "It's actually amazing pay. But I'm sure it's tedious work, I don't think I could do it, I would go crazy," one viewer wrote.

Perhaps the most pointed comment came from someone in the education sector: "My pay as a teacher is lower." The remark landed heavily with many observers, reigniting a broader conversation about wage disparities across different industries in Australia. Debate around pay equity across professions has been a recurring topic nationally in recent times.

What the traffic controller pay rates reflect

Spires was careful to note that his payslip for that week was not necessarily typical. Pay can fluctuate significantly depending on whether workers are stationed on local suburban streets or on highways and main roads, with the latter attracting higher base rates and more frequent penalty loading for overtime, weekend or extended-shift work.

He anticipated pushback about consistency of work, directly addressing critics in the video by noting that some weeks produce higher earnings and others lower, and that the breakdown was intended as a general guide rather than a guaranteed weekly income.

The video has continued to generate discussion, with many viewers in trades and service industries weighing in to compare their own wages against those on display in Spires' payslip, reflecting ongoing public interest in what different jobs actually pay in Australia's current labour market.