The Australian National University has refused to say how much Nobel Prize-winning vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt is paid, as its latest annual report reveals its top-earning executive takes home more than $600,000.
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Former vice-chancellor Ian Young was paid between $970,000 and $984,999 in 2014 and 2015 and Professor Schmidt was predicted to earn a similar figure - if not more.
But the salary range for the ANU's top executive last year was between $610,000 and $624,999, considerably less than Professor Schmidt's predecessor and less than University of Canberra vice-chancellor Deep Saini, who earned between $810,000 and $819,000.
The heads of the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and the Australian Catholic University each earned more than $1 million in 2016.
The ANU, recently rated Australia's top university in the the QS World University Rankings, had 23,600 students in 2016. The University of Canberra had 11,771 students, the University of Sydney more than 50,000, UNSW 56,085, the ACU 33,629 and the University of Melbourne 48,088 full-time student enrolments.
The University of Tasmania, which has 33,478 students, paid its top executive between $870,000 and $884,999 in 2015.
An ANU spokesman would not comment on Professor Schmidt's salary and did not respond when asked whether his pay was included in the report.
"The package of remuneration received by the vice-chancellor is benchmarked against the practices of other higher education institutions," the annual report said.
"The remuneration committee is supported by the university's director, human resources and receives external advice on remuneration benchmarking for the position from a major remuneration advisory firm."
The annual report's remuneration table describes 16 pay ranges, matching the university's organisational chart, which includes Professor Schmidt.
The second highest-paid executive at the ANU earned between $580,000 and $594,999. At the University of Canberra, the second highest salary range was $560,000 to $569,999.
Professor Schmidt, an America-born astrophysicist, has worked in academic roles at the ANU since 1995 and took the reins in January 2016.
He received the Nobel Prize for physics in 2011 after leading a team that discovered the expansion rate of the universe was accelerating.
