🇦🇺 Updated 16 October 2026 · all 8 states and territories
What Australian teachers really take home.
Every state's pay scale, checked against the agreement it comes from. Take-home pay, casual relief rates, super, back pay and pay rises, with 23 free tools.
- Graduates from
- $79,589
- Classroom up to
- $147,077
- Pages of guidance
- 300+
Top of the classroom scale, today
All states →- NT $136,997
- NSW $133,422
- ACT $129,106
- WA $127,737
- SA $123,236
- TAS $122,393
- QLD $119,357
- VIC $118,063
Government school rates in force on 16 October 2026. VIC has higher rates agreed but not yet approved.
Free calculator
Your take-home pay, on your state's real scale
Pick your state and step. We do the tax, Medicare, HECS-HELP and super with the 2026–27 rules.
⚙Your details
Salary
Pre-tax. Taxed at 15% in your fund instead of your marginal rate.
E.g. novated lease or a Catholic/independent school package. Leave at 0 if unsure.
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Take-home pay fortnightly
$2,794
Gross pay
$3,572
Income tax
$707
After the low income tax offset
Medicare levy
$71
Employer super
$429
12.0% paid on top
Where each dollar goes
- Take-home$72,640 (78%)
- Income tax$18,385 (20%)
- Medicare levy$1,858 (2%)
- HECS-HELP$0 (0%)
- Salary sacrifice & packaging$0 (0%)
What your payslip should show
PAYG withheld each fortnight should be about $780 (ATO Scale 2, tax-free threshold claimed). Small differences come from rounding and 27-pay years. Your marginal rate is 32% including Medicare, so each extra $1,000 of salary adds about $680 to take-home.
Estimates for an Australian resident for 2026–27 who claims the tax-free threshold, with no other income, no dependants and private hospital cover not required. Medicare levy uses the 2025–26 low-income thresholds (2026–27 not yet published). Pay data: Crown Employees (Teachers in Schools and Related Employees) Salaries and Conditions Award 2024, verified 16 October 2026.
Pay by state
Where every state's pay deal stands
New South Wales
- Graduate
- $92,882
- Top step
- $133,422
Final 3% rise paid from Oct 2026; award expires 8 Oct 2027 with no further rise scheduled.
NSW pay scale →Victoria
- Graduate
- $79,589
- Top step
- $118,063
VGSA 2026 approved by staff (93.1%), awaiting Fair Work approval; back pay to 10 Aug 2026
VIC pay scale →Queensland
- Graduate
- $90,164
- Top step
- $119,357
In QIRC arbitration: 3% interim rise from 7 Sep 2026 (or the higher 4.75% award rate from 1 Sep 2026); final decision expected late 2026 or 2027
QLD pay scale →Western Australia
- Graduate
- $88,178
- Top step
- $127,737
2023 GA expires 5 Dec 2026; last rise 3% (Dec 2025); successor agreement being bargained, no offer yet
WA pay scale →South Australia
- Graduate
- $84,971
- Top step
- $123,236
EA 2024 nominally expires about March 2027; final 3% paid May 2026; AEU EA27 campaign under way, no offer yet
SA pay scale →Tasmania
- Graduate
- $85,313
- Top step
- $122,393
Teachers Agreement 2025 in force to Sep 2028; next rise 3% in March 2027
TAS pay scale →Australian Capital Territory
- Graduate
- $91,396
- Top step
- $129,106
Agreement expired 31 Mar 2026; 9% over 3 years offer rejected 11 Sep 2026; strikes continuing
ACT pay scale →Northern Territory
- Graduate
- $96,180
- Top step
- $136,997
Agreement in force to 31 Dec 2027; final 4.3% rise due January 2027; no bargaining under way
NT pay scale →Calculators
Tools that know how teacher pay actually works
Steps, accreditation gates, casual loadings, back pay and leave rules, state by state.
Take-Home Pay Calculator
Fortnightly pay after tax, HECS and super, on your state's real scale.
⚡Pay Scale Explorer
Every step in every state, before and after tax, with the next rise.
⚡Casual Relief Teacher Pay Calculator
Day rates, tax, super and what a year of relief work really pays.
⚡Back Pay & Pay Rise Calculator
What a new agreement is worth to you, including back pay and its tax.
⚡Teacher Pay by State Comparison
Your career stage in all 8 states, side by side and after tax.
⚡Teacher Super Calculator
Your super at 60 and 67, with salary sacrifice and fees.
AI coaches · first answer free
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Selection criteria, interviews and HALT evidence reviewed the way an Australian panel reads them, mapped to the AITSL Standards. It never invents experience you don't have.
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AI Selection Criteria Coach
Panel-style score and a STAR rewrite of your criteria.
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AI Teacher Interview Coach
Practise panel questions and get feedback on every answer.
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AI HALT Evidence Planner
Test HALT annotations against the descriptors.
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Move to Australia Planner
Your personal registration, visa and pay checklist.
Guides
Answers for every stage of a teaching career
Pay & agreements
Pay scales, roles, rises and back pay in every state and territory.
12 guides + 8 state hubs
Money, tax & super
Take-home pay, tax deductions, super, HECS-HELP, packaging and mortgages.
14 guides
Career & HALT
Accreditation, HALT, leadership roles and what promotion is really worth.
7 guides
Leave & entitlements
Long service leave, parental leave, sick leave and school holidays.
7 guides
Rural & remote teaching
Incentives, allowances, housing and HELP debt relief for country teaching.
5 guides
Becoming a teacher
Degrees, scholarships, prac payments, registration and your first year.
12 guides
Moving to Australia
For UK, Irish, NZ and other overseas teachers: skills assessment, visas, registration and pay.
13 guides
Jobs & applications
Selection criteria, interviews, resumes and getting a permanent job.
8 guides
Why trust these numbers
Salary sites guess. We read the agreement.
Survey sites put the average Australian primary teacher below every state's graduate rate. We don't average anything: we publish the actual rates, with the clause they come from.
How we calculate →- 1
We read the source
Every pay figure comes from the enterprise agreement, award or official pay table it's set in, not from salary surveys.
- 2
We date every number
Each rate shows the date it took effect and whether it's official, proposed or our calculation from a published percentage.
- 3
We run it through the 2026–27 rules
Take-home figures use the ATO's 2026–27 rates, Medicare, HELP thresholds and PAYG withholding scales.
- 4
We update the week it changes
When a state's pay changes, its pages, the ranking and every calculator update together.
Teacher pay in Australia: quick answers
How much do teachers earn in Australia?
Which state pays teachers the most?
How much does a teacher take home a fortnight?
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