FBD,
Regardless of the figures (and I do believe you are correct), $100K now IMHO opinion is so far off the mark, I'm surprised they got any applications to be honest.
Sydney is VERY expensive and if you're on $100K or similar, have a family, you're not living in Sydney - you're living in an outer suburb of Sydney with all of the drawbacks and few of the benefits. Given that, you might as well be living in one of the regional areas where the quality of life would be far greater.
I suspect that many of the EMS positions these days are taken up by ex-mil types with pensions to draw on to help supplement their pay. Once these guys dry up (the mil no longer offers pension plans on joining), it'll be interesting to see if the salaries remain as is.
P68
