Reports have emerged that some aid workers in Papua New Guinea can earn more in a year than Kevin Rudd.

These consultants are paid for by Australian taxpayers through the government’s overseas aid agency, AusAID.

They can earn up to 360, 000 dollars a year.

Experts say that aid money often finds its way back to Australia in the form of consultancy fees or company profits.

AusAID says the rates paid to consultants in PNG are comparable to rates paid for the same kind of work around the world.

Tim Anderson is a senior politics lecturer at Sydney University and a member of the board of Aid Watch, an independent organisation that monitors aid and trade issues.

2ser’s Tim Roxburgh asked him whether AusAID follows any guidelines when deciding how to pay consultants.