Townsville clinic offers $1 million salary for a radiologist

The Townsville Bulletin on Wednesday reports North Queensland X-Ray Services is offering a salary of between $800,000 and $1 million in an advertisement placed nationally and in New Zealand.

Director John Gibb told the newspaper it was proving a difficult position to fill.

"We've got a locum at the moment but yes, they're in short supply worldwide," Gibb said.

The average salary for a radiologist - a specialist who does the reporting and interpreting of an x-ray, CT scan, MRI or ultrasound - is $600,000.

Townsville Hospital has also reported problems attracting radiologists, with three positions vacant.

In the public health system, the specialists can earn up to $500,000.

A north Queensland recruitment agency said there was huge pay growth across the whole spectrum of professions in the region, not just the mining and engineering sectors.

Recruitment branch manager Siobhan McCabe said a personal assistant recruited in the mining sector recently started on a salary of $83,000.

"The mines are competing with each other to get the resources and that's pushing salaries up in North Queensland, although I've never come across a position with a $1 million salary," McCabe told the newspaper.