What does a software developer do?
A software developer designs, builds, tests, and maintains software that helps a business run its operations or serve its customers. They write code for websites, mobile apps, and business systems, fix bugs, and improve existing features as the company’s needs change.
What is a software developer? All you know is you should’ve, a long time ago.
I mean, your old system was fine. The website’s clunky, and the system bugs down at least twice a day, but you all got used to it after some time.
Now, your business is finally on an upward trajectory, and you’re more aware of how things can’t stay the same. This is it. You need the professional to fix things from the inside out.
Your move? You check online, and salaries don’t make sense. They’re all different. Higher than what you thought was the average, even. Then leave entitlements, training, etc.
Without even tweaking the formula or the sum, you already know it’s way more than what your hiring strategy and long-term budget plans allow.
But you also read that Australian SMBs are hiring this role like hot chips at the local footy.
How are your competitors doing it?
In This Blog:
- ➤What does a software developer do?
- ➤What Is the Role of a Software Developer
- ➤What Is A Dedicated Software Developer?
- ➤How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Software Developer in Australia?
- ➤Are Software Developers in Demand in Australia?
- ➤How Do You Hire Dedicated Software Developers?
- ➤What Should A Dedicated Developer Contract Cover In Australia?
- ➤Hiring a Software Development Team Needs Expert Vetting
- ➤FAQs
- ➤How Much Longer Will Your Business Wait for the Developer It Needs?
What Is the Role of a Software Developer
A software developer is a specialist who works on one client’s software for an agreed period. You set the priorities and review the work. The provider recruits and pays the developer.
The managed provider, also known as an “outsourcing agency,” recruits and vets the developer, runs payroll, supplies equipment and licences, and arranges a replacement if the developer leaves.
It’s up to you to decide what the developer works on and explain what your business needs from each feature. You’ll also need someone in your Australian office who can clarify requirements and approve the developer’s work within one business day.
What is a Software Developer Team?
A dedicated software development team is a group of specialists, such as front-end and back-end developers, QA engineers and a technical lead, who work full-time on your software for an agreed period.
The provider recruits and pays the team, while you decide what needs to be built and review the work as it progresses.
Software Developer Team Size and Developer Continuity
If what you have is a simple customer portal, you may only need a back-end developer to handle its data and functionality. A part-time tester to check for bugs as well.
Rebuilding a booking platform is a bigger job – front-end and back-end developers take center stage, if this is the case. A QA engineer to test the booking process, and a technical lead to guide the team’s technical decisions.
What Is A Dedicated Software Developer?
Whether it’s a full-time or part-time developer, both professionals are deemed “dedicated,” because the same people stay on your code week after week.
After six months, a developer knows the quirks of your software and where to look when a new billing rule throws things off.
Someone brought in for a short job has to spend time getting familiar with the code before they can get much done. So does every replacement.
Dedicated Team vs Staff Augmentation vs Freelancer vs In-house Developer
eSparks IT’s CTO guide on DEV Community separates the first two models by structure:
Augmentation places individual developers inside squads you already run, while a dedicated team arrives as a stable unit that can include QA engineers and a delivery manager.
In practical terms, it’s management load. With augmentation, it’s your engineering lead. With a dedicated team, it’s the provider’s technical lead, working beside you.
Can you mix the two?
Sure you can, and many businesses do. They’re keeping one in house lead who knows the product and handing most of the building to a dedicated offshore developer team.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Software Developer in Australia?
Software developer salary estimates in Australia vary widely across job sites, even when they refer to the same role. The table below was compiled using the latest data each source lists.
Why Are There Different Software Developer Salaries?
The Jobs and Skills Australia median comes from the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, which uses a different method and a different year. The first three sources compile salaries submitted to their own sites.
Software developer pay varies with experience, location and specialisation.
- Experience: Indeed AU lists entry-level software engineers at $72,511 a year, compared with $171,512 for principal engineers.
- City: Indeed’s averages show the disparity from city to city:
- Sydney: $120,947
- Melbourne: $113,074
- Brisbane: $103,823
- Perth: $102,939
An $18,008 difference between Sydney and Perth!
- Job ads: Data compiled from SEEK listings tell of typical salary midpoints at $153,000 for software engineers (506 ads), $158,000 for full stack engineers and $173,000 for AI and DevOps engineers.
You’ll have to do a lot of comparing between advertised salaries and averages on salary websites, then again against your hiring budget.
Don’t stick to the first rate you see. Even if the website’s popular or reputable.
What Will a $109,700 Software Developer Really Cost Your Business?
Before anything else, let’s start with the add-ons for a change (and also to remind you that these aren’t counted in “base salary”). Superannuation’s at 12% (here’s a breakdown of Payday Super Employers Guide); the rate since 1 July 2025.
If base is $109,700, that’s $13,164 and brings the total to $122,864.
Payroll tax, workers’ compensation, leave entitlements, equipment and a recruiter’s fee come next, and all of them vary by state and employer. A planning range of 25% to 35% above base puts the full first year at $137,125 to $148,095, or about $11,400 to $12,300 a month for one developer.
What is the Hourly Rate of Software Developers, Locally?
Clutch data quoted by Qubit Labs puts most Australian software development companies at $100 to $149 an hour. $16,000 to $23,840 for one developer’s time. Full-time – 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
These are averages, and again, rates vary depending on what you need, as well as the developer’s experience, or the provider’s offer. Always get the total in writing.
Are Software Developers in Demand in Australia?
Yes, to answer that simply. The less simplistic lens is more “binoculars” than “telescope.” Two things that explain why and what’s happening to the role and the demand for it in Oz.
The workforce is shrinking while the work grows. By the way, it’s the same in other Australian industries – there’s an ongoing worker shortage that’s predicted to go on into the next decade.
ACS Digital Pulse 2026, prepared by Deloitte Access Economics, shows us that Australia’s technology workforce was 967,000 in 2025, down 0.3% from the previous year. Meanwhile, the tech sector added 5% to its real economic contribution, bringing it to $142 billion.
State figures
New South Wales had 38,800 programming and software roles in demand in 2025. ACS forecasts the state will need another 75,500 technology professionals by 2035.
National outlook
Australia will need an estimated 1.48 million technology workers by 2035, according to the 2025 edition of ACS Digital Pulse. Jobs and Skills Australia puts the current number of software and applications programmers at around 203,200.
What Does the Occupation Shortage List Say?
The 2025 Occupation Shortage List shows a decline in the number of Australian occupations facing shortages:
- 29% of occupations were in shortage in 2025, down from 36% in 2023.
- 69 occupations (7%) moved off the shortage list between 2024 and 2025.
- 29 occupations (3%) were newly classified as being in shortage over the same period.
Software development is a different story depending on the skills you need and how much experience the job calls for. Jobs and Skills Australia publishes shortage ratings by occupation, so check the listing for the role you intend to fill.
Why do software developer job ads stall?
ACS Digital Pulse 2025 found that 88% of Australian tech job ads asked for a degree. That requirement can leave employers with fewer people to consider before the first interview has even been scheduled.
Other delays include developers serving their notice periods or accepting counteroffers from their current employers.
A dedicated team lets you work with a provider that already recruits software developers, rather than going back to the starting line.
How Do You Hire Dedicated Software Developers?
- Write the brief. One page covering the product, its users, the stack, existing integrations, and the person who approves work. Developers price and plan against that page.
- Pick the model. The comparison table above settles it by who will direct the work day-to-day.
- Set a paid test. Give each shortlisted developer a small piece of real work, such as fixing a bug in a sample repository, then read the code and how they explain their choices.
- Interview on past work. A developer who walks you through a feature they built, including what broke along the way, has done the job.
- Agree an overlap window. Pick a daily period when the developer and your product owner are both online, long enough for a standup and a few questions.
- Run a one month trial. Write acceptance criteria and set a review date before it starts.
How Should You Score Candidates?
Score each candidate from 1 to 5 on code quality, testing habits, written communication, follow-through, time zone overlap, and documentation. Watch for no tests in the paid task, vague updates, silent delays, a developer who is “flexible” without naming hours, and knowledge that has no SOPs.
Give written communication points. Most of your daily contact with the team will happen in writing.
What Should A Dedicated Developer Contract Cover In Australia?
A lawyer should review the final agreement, and these are the clauses to raise first.
Intellectual property
Write into the contract that all code and designs created for your project transfer to your business at the moment of creation, and that the developers assign any rights they hold.
Privacy and cross border data
Under Australian Privacy Principle 8 and section 16C of the Privacy Act, a business that discloses personal information to an overseas recipient stays accountable for the recipient’s breaches unless an exception applies.
That is the OAIC’s reading in its APP Guidelines (version 1.3, October 2025).
Development environments should hold masked test data in place of real customer records, and the provider should report any breach to you.
Security, access and exit
Keep repositories and deployment keys under your own organisation’s accounts, and require multi-factor authentication on every login. Cut access the day an engagement ends. Agree a notice period and a written handover, with full repository access throughout.
Extra Read: Here’s something about the Limitations of No Code Platforms.
Hiring a Software Development Team Needs Expert Vetting
It should be handled by those who are knowledgable in screening not only resumes but candidates – yes, there’s a difference.
Leave it to trusted managed providers like Remote Staff. We have been pairing Australian business with software developer of every kind for any kind of business type and size, and industry.
We ensure that resumes match actual experiences. That the developres aren’t only experts in their fields, but are the ideal ones for how your team operates specifically.
Engagements run full time or part time, with project based work available, and Remote Staff handles payroll and onboarding.
The lower cost comes from where the developers live, since living costs in their markets are lower. That’s it. Quality talent is the same as what you come across locally.
FAQs
How much does a dedicated software developer cost in Australia?
A local developer’s base salary averages between $90,041 and $109,800 depending on the source, and 12% superannuation goes on top. A dedicated offshore developer is billed as a monthly fee that already covers recruitment and payroll. Get the total in writing from every provider and compare it with your first year employment cost.
What is the difference between a dedicated team and staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation adds individual developers to a squad you already manage. A dedicated team arrives as a unit, often with QA and a technical lead, and the provider manages the people while you set priorities.
Can a dedicated team work Australian business hours?
Yes, with an agreed overlap. Manila runs two hours behind Sydney and Melbourne during AEST and three hours behind during daylight saving, and level with Perth. A shifted start covers most of an Australian working day, and the contract should name the overlap hours.
Who holds the intellectual property in the code?
The contract decides. Include a written assignment of all code and designs to your business, and have a lawyer review it before work begins.
Is it safe to give an offshore developer access to customer data?
Limit it. Under APP 8, you stay accountable for an overseas recipient’s breaches unless an exception applies, so use masked test data in development and keep production access to the few people who need it.
Extra Read: Here’s a short read on Why All Types of Businesses Can Benefit from Web Development.
How Much Longer Will Your Business Wait for the Developer It Needs?
You might have the kind of developer in mind already, or a piece of software your business has needed for years. Then the salary figures come in, followed by Super and the other costs of hiring in Australia, and the whole idea starts looking harder to afford.
An offshore dedicated developer could bring that project within reach, with a monthly fee agreed upfront.
Your software shouldn’t have to wait another year because the numbers looked too daunting. Request a Callback today.
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Vaune Everis Cura has always been a writer in the truest sense, drawn to the art both as a personal creative pursuit and as a profession. Her experience penning content across digital marketing spaces and collaborating with business owners and market shapers has broadened her craft to include strategic direction and SEO insight. Having spent years with the InterContinental Hotels Group before stepping boldly into freelancing, she understands that at the centre of it all are genuine, meaningful brand–customer relationships built on purposeful, human content.
