After receiving a whopping $2 Million pay increment for the year up-to September 2009, Westpac's Chief Executive Gail Kelly has managed to make a place for herself in the elite list of Australia's 10 highest paid executives. Last year, Kelly earned as much as $10.6 Million in the form of cash, stocks and other benefits, a substantial rise from the $8.6 Million she earned in 2008.

Thanks to her salary figures for the year, Kelly is currently the country's highest paid woman, and has taken over CBA Chief Ralph Norris, who took home $9.2 Million the previous year, by a large margin.

"Given our strong strategic position and operational momentum, the Westpac group is, we believe, well positioned leading into the new financial year", Kelly shared. "We believe it is likely impairment charges have peaked".

It has been confirmed that if Westpac hits the performance targets the company is chasing, Kelly's pay will rise even further in the coming years.

Most of the bank's other top level executives have taken heavier pay check for the year, including Chief Financial Officer Phil Coffey who scored $3.7 Million, Peter Hanlon, Personal Banking Chief with $2.5 Million and Institutional Banking Boss Rob Whitfield took home $2.9 Million.