Salary & pay, explained
Australian healthcare pay has a published national floor and a lot of room above it. Here is how both halves work, so you can read any offer properly.
Nobody earns the minimum, but everyone should know it
Australia answers what you will earn in three parts, and most salary guides only show you one.
The first part is public and precise. A national modern award sets a legal minimum for your profession, the same in every state, published by the Fair Work Ombudsman and updated each July. Anyone can read it. The second part is where real offers live: state enterprise agreements and private-market rates that sit above that floor, often well above it.
So the award is not a forecast of your salary. It is the number below which an offer cannot legally go, which makes it the most useful reference point you have when you are new to a country and cannot yet tell a good offer from a poor one.
Read it as a floor, not a target. If an offer is anywhere near the award minimum for your level, that tells you something. Knowing the floor is what lets you ask the right question about everything above it.
The three layers of Australian pay
Australia has no single national pay scale. It has a national safety net with state and private layers on top, and which one applies depends on who employs you.
The national modern award
A single federal instrument per profession group, setting minimum rates, penalties, allowances and conditions. It applies everywhere in Australia and is reviewed every July by the Fair Work Commission. For most allied health and medical-imaging roles this is the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020.
State & territory enterprise agreements
Public hospitals and health services are covered by enterprise agreements negotiated in each state and territory, usually with the relevant union. These sit above the award and are where most public-sector clinicians are paid. Because they are negotiated separately, the same job pays differently in different states.
Private and individual arrangements
Australia has one of the world’s largest private healthcare and imaging markets. Private employers must meet the award floor but are otherwise free to build their own packages, and for in-demand skills those packages compete hard.
It means "what does a radiographer earn in Australia" has no single answer, and anyone who gives you one figure is guessing. The answerable questions are: what is the floor for my level, which agreement or contract would cover this specific role, and what does that role pay. We answer those three for every role we discuss.
The national floor, in real numbers
These are the current national minimum rates for health professional employees under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (award code MA000027), the award covering allied health and medical-imaging professionals in the private sector.
| Level | Weekly minimum | Hourly | Casual hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1Graduate and early-career. Entry pay point set by your qualification on entry | A$1,174.00about $61,000 a year | $30.89 | $38.61incl. 25% loading |
| Level 2Experienced practitioner working independently with professional judgment | $1,493.90about $77,700 a year | $39.31 | $49.14incl. 25% loading |
| Level 3Senior or advanced practitioner, complex work, greater professional responsibility | $1,743.90about $90,700 a year | $45.89 | $57.36incl. 25% loading |
| Level 4The award’s most senior health professional classification | Sits above Level 3. Because Level 4 roles vary so much in scope, we confirm the current rate and pay point against the live pay guide for the specific role rather than publish one figure here. | ||
| Pay point 1 shown. Each level contains several pay points that step up with years of service, Level 1 alone has six, so an experienced clinician entering at Level 2 does not start at the figure above. Annual equivalents are the weekly minimum over 52 weeks, before penalties, allowances or superannuation. | |||
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide for MA000027, effective the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. The 2026–27 Annual Wage Review lifted all modern award minimum rates by 4.75%, and the national minimum wage to $26.44 an hour. Rates change every July, check the current Fair Work pay guide or the Pay and Conditions Tool before relying on any figure.
These are minimums for the private sector, at the first pay point, before anything is added. A public-hospital offer under a state enterprise agreement will normally sit above them, and a private offer for a skill in short supply can sit well above them.
We publish the floor because it is verifiable and stable enough to be useful. We do not publish "typical" or "average" salaries, because the version of that number depends on your state, your employer, your pay point and your roster, and a made-up average helps nobody make a decision this big.
What decides your level and pay point
Two clinicians doing the same job can sit on different pay points, by design. Classification follows duties, qualifications and responsibility rather than job title.
Qualifications on entry
Your registration and the highest qualification you hold when you start set your entry point within Level 1, and can affect which levels you are eligible for at all.
Relevant experience
Years in your profession, including experience earned overseas, count towards your pay point. Documenting the full history matters, because paying someone at too low a pay point is one of the most common underpayments in this award.
Scope & responsibility
Complexity of work, supervision of others and specialist scope move you up levels rather than pay points. Senior, lead and advanced-practice roles sit higher on the scale.
Progression over time
You typically move up a pay point each year of service, so pay grows steadily without renegotiating. Pay points should be reviewed annually. It is worth checking yours has moved.
Document every year of practice
Your pay point rests on evidenced experience. Gaps or vagueness in your history cost you money, quietly and permanently.
Get qualifications recognised
Post-graduate study and specialist training should be reflected in your application. They can lift both your classification and your options.
Ask which instrument applies
Award, enterprise agreement or individual contract? It changes everything about how the number was arrived at. Always a fair question to ask.
Ask for level and pay point in writing
Not just the salary, the classification behind it. An employer who cannot explain the placement plainly is worth a second look.
Beyond the base rate
The figure at the top of an offer is rarely what lands in your account, and shift work changes the total substantially.
Saturday & Sunday
Both weekend days are paid at one and a half times the ordinary rate for full-time and part-time staff. Casuals receive 175%.
Public holidays
Two and a half times the ordinary rate, plus a substitute day off for permanent staff. Casuals receive 275%.
Superannuation
Your employer contributes 12% of ordinary earnings into a retirement fund on top of your salary. It is compulsory, and it is yours.
Overtime
Time and a half for the first hours, then double time, depending on the day. Rostered overtime can lift earnings well above base.
On-call, per 24 hours
Monday to Saturday, rising to $52.56 on Sundays and public holidays. If you are called in, ordinary or overtime rates apply for the hours worked.
Shift loadings
Afternoon, night and permanent-night shifts attract loadings separate from weekend penalties, with a higher loading for permanent nights. The exact percentage depends on the shift pattern.
Leave
Four weeks of paid annual leave is the national minimum, plus personal and carer’s leave, public holidays and long service leave. Shift workers are often entitled to a fifth week.
Practical allowances
Meal allowance of about $17.30 where overtime runs long, plus uniform and laundry allowances. Small individually, but they are yours by right.
Relocation support
Not an award entitlement, but many employers recruiting internationally offer it. Where it exists, we will make sure you know exactly what is on the table.
Which award covers your profession
There is no single healthcare award. Professions are split across several, and the figures above only apply to one of them.
Health Professionals & Support Services Award
Covers allied health professionals in the private sector: radiographers, sonographers, radiation therapists, nuclear medicine technologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, podiatrists, audiologists and medical scientists. Health professional Levels 1–4, each with pay points. This is the award the rates above come from.
Medical practitioners are excluded
Medical practitioners were removed from MA000027 coverage by Fair Work Commission determination from 1 July 2021. Consultant and specialist pay is set by state enterprise agreements, private practice arrangements or individual contracts, nowhere near an award minimum, and always confirmed role by role.
Then the award is only your safety net. Your actual pay, hours, leave and progression come from the enterprise agreement covering that state or territory’s public health service. Those agreements are public documents, and we will tell you which one applies and what it says for your classification before you consider a role.
Coverage is worth confirming rather than assuming, Fair Work’s Pay and Conditions Tool will tell you which instrument applies to a given role.
Tax, super & take-home pay
Australian salaries are quoted before tax, and often separately from superannuation, so check which you are being shown.
Income tax is deducted from each pay by your employer under PAYG withholding. You will need a tax file number soon after arriving. Giving it to your employer promptly means you are taxed at the correct rate rather than the top one. There is also a Medicare levy, a percentage of taxable income that helps fund the public health system, and higher earners without private hospital cover can pay an additional surcharge.
On top of your salary, your employer pays superannuation at 12% of ordinary earnings into a retirement fund. It is not deducted from your pay and it is not optional. When you compare an Australian offer with what you earn now, count it, it is real money, even though you cannot spend it yet. Watch for the difference between a salary quoted as base and one quoted as "package including super": the same role can look several thousand dollars apart depending on which convention the advert used.
There is no separate National Insurance-style contribution as in the UK, and GST is already included in displayed prices. Our living & thriving guide walks through setting up the everyday money side, bank account, tax file number and choosing a super fund, step by step.
Tax rates, thresholds and Medicare levy rules depend on your circumstances and visa, and they change. Always confirm the current position with the Australian Taxation Office or a registered tax agent. Ethicare is a recruitment specialist, not financial advisers, but we are glad to introduce you to advisers we trust.
Pay in the context of life here
Where you live changes everything
Housing is the cost that surprises newcomers most, and it varies enormously. A regional city can stretch the same salary far further than a capital. Because pay is set state by state rather than nationally, both halves of the equation move when you move.
Regional roles often pay more
Workforce shortages are sharpest outside the big cities, so regional and remote roles frequently carry incentives, accommodation support or higher rates, alongside lower living costs and, for many, a better daily life.
The lifestyle dividend
Shorter commutes, the outdoors on your doorstep and a cultural respect for time off mean many clinicians feel better off here even where the headline figure is comparable to home. Our destination guides help you weigh this up properly.
How pay is structured: Australia, New Zealand & the UK
| Australia | New Zealand | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How pay is set | National award floor, then state enterprise agreements above it | National collective agreements; published steps | National pay bands |
| Is there one national scale? | No, minimums are national, actual pay is state by state | Yes. The same role pays the same nationwide | Broadly yes |
| Negotiation | Collective in the public system; negotiable in private | Collective, not individual | Collective banding |
| On top of base | Penalties, shift loadings, 12% superannuation | Penal rates, allowances, KiwiSaver | Unsocial-hours pay, NHS pension |
| Tax admin | PAYG; Medicare levy; no NI equivalent | Simple PAYE; no NI; small ACC levy | PAYE plus National Insurance |
| Variation by location | Substantial, by state, and metro versus regional | Base is national; cost of living varies | Limited (London weighting) |
Exchange rates, tax differences and cost of living make raw salary comparisons misleading. A figure that looks like a pay cut can be a substantial rise in practice, and occasionally the reverse. The useful question is monthly take-home against local costs, which is exactly the conversation we will have with you about your specific role.
Knowing your exact rate, before you decide
For any role we discuss, we will tell you which instrument sets the pay, award, enterprise agreement or contract, confirm the current rate against that document, tell you the level and pay point you would be placed on and why, and walk through the full package: base, penalties, shift loadings, superannuation and leave. Where pay is individually negotiated, we will say so plainly and tell you what the market is doing.
A move this big deserves clear numbers, straight answers and the time to think them over.
Money is rarely the first reason people move, but it has to add up, and it is the thing clinicians feel most awkward asking about. I would rather you ask us everything. Australia is harder to read than New Zealand, because there is no single national scale to point at, and I think that is exactly why so many salary guides end up quoting one number and hoping. We show you the floor, tell you which agreement governs the role in front of you, and then talk about what sits above it. You will know your real take-home, against the cost of living where you are headed, long before you have to decide anything.
SophieFounder, Ethicare Resourcing
The questions we’re asked about pay
Is the award rate what I’ll be paid?
Almost certainly not, it is the legal minimum, not the going rate. Public-hospital pay comes from the enterprise agreement for that state or territory and normally sits above the award. Private employers must meet the award floor but compete above it, sometimes well above it for skills in short supply. Use the award to sanity-check an offer, not to predict one.
Why does the same job pay differently in different states?
Because public-sector pay is negotiated state by state rather than nationally. Each state and territory health service has its own enterprise agreement with its own scales, progression and allowances. It is one of the biggest differences from New Zealand or the NHS, and it means the state you choose is a financial decision as well as a lifestyle one.
Will my overseas experience count towards my pay point?
Generally yes. Relevant experience earned abroad normally counts towards your pay point within a classification level. The key is documenting it clearly and completely, because being placed at too low a pay point is one of the most common underpayments under this award, and once it is set, it is easy to leave uncorrected for years. We will help you present your history so nothing is overlooked.
Can I negotiate my salary in Australia?
It depends which layer you are in. In the public system, base pay follows the enterprise agreement’s published scale, so the negotiation that matters is about your classification and pay point, not the rate itself. In the private sector there is real room to negotiate, on base, and often on hours, on-call arrangements, professional development and relocation support.
What is superannuation, and does it really count as pay?
Superannuation is Australia’s compulsory retirement savings system. Your employer must pay 12% of your ordinary earnings into a super fund on top of your salary, it is not deducted from what you earn. It is yours, though you cannot access it until retirement, and there are specific rules about what happens to it if you later leave Australia permanently. When comparing offers, check whether a figure is base salary or a package including super.
Do you publish typical or average salaries?
No, we publish the verifiable floor and then confirm the figure per role. An "average" for a profession across eight states, public and private, metro and regional, is a number with no one behind it. It cannot tell you whether an offer in front of you is fair, which is the only thing you need to know.
How often do these figures change?
Award minimums are reviewed every year by the Fair Work Commission and take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. The rates on this page are the current 2026–27 figures, which rose 4.75% from 1 July 2026. Enterprise agreements run on their own multi-year cycles, so those change on different dates again, another reason we confirm against the live document rather than relying on a page.
Related guides
Want the number for your role?
Tell us your profession and experience, and we will confirm which agreement would cover you, where you would sit within it, what the full package looks like, and what it means for your take-home in the state you are considering.
Ethicare Resourcing · your guide to a life and career in Australia.