Workers in the insurance, banking and finance industries recorded pay increases below the Australian average in 2010/11, the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) national salary survey has found.

The survey reveals that the average Australian salary increase over the past year was 4%, while finance sector workers achieved an average increase of only 3.62%.

This was one of the lowest average pay increases across all sectors, and was lower than the increases recorded by finance sector workers in previous years.

Finance sector workers are forecast to record pay increases averaging 3.79% in the 2011/12 financial year, AIM says – “which will make it middle of the pack compared to all industry sectors”.

The survey was based on the responses of 506 companies throughout Australia, covering more than 250 job roles.