Academic salaries are public record in Australia , no secret really.
Stick to my viewpoint that is quiet unusual for academics to skip "grades" not to say it doesn't ever happen, but I would suggest really very rarely. The Unis & academics really very hierarchical in Australia, imagine something like an established uni faculty say Syd Uni Law school & they hired a senior Lecturer from WA and appointed them a full professor. There would pretty much be a rebellion by staff.
Imagine the huffing & puffing at Qantas if they appointed a SO as a Capt
"my gosh we just couldn't possibly do something outside of seniority ..... could we now"
No agenda my friend , really quite ambivalent about it all.
Just asking some questions about Griffith aviation & how it is all going, as it would appear that just perhaps some unusual goings on.