What other people earn is an irresistible curiosity, partly because it helps us work out if we’re well paid or copping a raw deal.

But looking at the numbers it’s clear that some people are overpaid while others are underpaid. Ambulance workers, nurses and teachers do important, sometimes life-saving work, and argue their pay does not reflect its social value.

Meanwhile, Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney recently signed a deal that will earn him almost $580,000 a week. Sandra Bullock reportedly earned $70 million for her role in Gravity.

So how do the salaries of the top brass in Australia compare? Are there public figures with major responsibilities who are underpaid?

The New Daily looks at the salaries of the famous and mostly rich and finds that while some VIPs are on astronomical sums, others are on Struggle Street.

University Vice-Chancellors: OVERPAID

Some university heads are earning wages close to some CEOs, and Australian university heads are outpacing their global counterparts.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the previous Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University Professor Steven Schwartz was earning $1.185 million before he retired in late 2012, while his counterpart at the Australian Catholic University Professor Greg Craven is reportedly on $1.035 million.*

The VCs of the University of Melbourne ($1.005 million), Monash University ($965,000), and the University of Western Australia ($950,000) are also reportedly on large annual salaries.

These wages are the highest of any universities in the world, according to a recent essay in Quadrant. The Guardian has reported that Vice-Chancellor Andrew Hamilton of Oxford University is the highest paid in the UK at a low $512,000.

What the expert says: According to executive director of Guerdon Associates Michael Robinson, an expert in executive pay, Australian VCs are “more readily interchangeable with the private sector”, and can thus demand high wages.

Gaily Kelly: Laughing all the way to the bank. Photo: AAP

CEOs: OVERPAID

There’s only way to say this: CEOs look grossly overpaid compared with the army of workers they oversee.

Each year, the salaries of our bank bosses make headlines for their size. A case in point – Westpac’s CEO Gail Kelly, who takes home a modest $2.96 million base salary.

Her salary is on par with the $2.11 million earned by the CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce. The average wage of a chief executive or a managing director is only $206,000.

Mr Joyce’s total remuneration of $3.33 million, including bonuses, is only marginally higher than his base salary.

What the expert says: Mr Robinson says there are many factors to consider when calculating CEO salaries: the amount must be adequate to attract and retain the best candidates, be comparable to the going market rate for similar positions, and match the CEO’s performance.

This last factor – performance – could explain why the CEO of Westpac is getting so much more than Alan Joyce.

“There’s a lot of competing factors here that directors have to balance in their judgment in setting a level of pay. Sometimes they go a bit off, one way or the other. But I think over the years it’s certainly been improving.”

Politicians: UNDERPAID

Sure, it’s a lot more than most of us earn, but Prime Minister Tony Abbott has a fairly modest base salary of $507,338 per annum, which is offset by generous allowances for accommodation, food, travel and other benefits.

He commands a $1.5 trillion dollar economy and employs 160,000 staff in the Australian Public Service. Compare that with BHP boss Andrew Mackenzie, who could take home as much as $12 million a year, and his business is only worth $200 billion. So he could earn more than 20 times the Australian PM to run a business that is only a fraction the size.

What the expert says: Nicholas Jackson, a consultant at Godfrey Remuneration Group, is confident that Tony Abbott is underpaid compared with the private sector, but said he didn’t see “a compelling reason” politicians should be paid more.

“I’m not convinced that money is the prime motivator for seeking such a role,” he said.

But Mr Robinson said the stellar results being achieved in Singapore, where public officials are highly paid, could be an argument for higher-paid pollies.

Reserve Bank: OVERPAID

The Governor of the Reserve Bank Glenn Stevens would have raked in around $3000 for his day’s work on Friday when he fronted a public hearing on the state of the economy. Mr Stevens’ base salary is $986,773, while his Deputy Philip Lowe earns $700,000.

The Governor earns significantly more than the US Chairman of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen, who despite being responsible for a far larger economy earns only $220,000.

What the expert says: While Mr Stevens’ salary seems ludicrously high, according to Mr Jackson, paying the Governor almost a million dollars is necessary to attract good candidates away from the lucrative banking and financial sectors.

“The pool of recruits includes people who are at the very senior level in private sector companies,” he said.

Tony Abbott: Arguably Australia’s most underpaid worker

So is Tony Abbott the most underpaid person in Australia?

On a rough comparison, it sure looks like our Prime Minister is getting a raw deal. Even the chairmen of ASIC and the ACCC earn close to him on $501,760 apiece.

Surprisingly, he does earn more than two other political heavyweights. President Barack Obama is paid the equivalent of $444,000. Don’t feel too sorry for him – it was rumoured he could earn up to $17 million for his memoirs. And then there are the lucrative speakers fees. British Prime Minister David Cameron gets around $264,000.

What the experts say: The problem with paying our Prime Minister and other public officials more is one of perception, as Mr Robinson sums up perfectly.

“It’s a vexing question. On the one hand, you want your public servants and elected officials to be competent to do their jobs,” he said. “On the other hand, the average voter on a median income of $75,000 will think that [a higher wage] looks like an awful lot of money.”

* CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported an incorrect salary for Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University Bruce Dowton. That reference has been removed from the story.