Top end charity executives are taking home on average half a million dollars a year.

The Herald business investigations reporter Matt Nippert has been crunching the numbers.

Waipareira's John Tamihere is up there - followed by the Vice Chancellors from Auckland and Victoria Universities.

Childfund chief executive, Josie Pagani, didn't make the list.

She told Heather du-Plessis Allan that a bit of a double standard applies.

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