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Free calculator 2026–27 rates

Part-time teacher pay calculator

Turn a part-time fraction or days per week into your real salary, fortnightly take-home and super, and see how dropping a day changes your pay after tax.

⚙Your details

Salary

Part-time load as

3 days · 0.6 FTE

Take-home pay per fortnight at 0.6 FTE

$1,828

$55,729 a year (60% of $92,882) · New South Wales

Gross salary

$55,729

per year

Take-home

$47,540

per year

Employer super

$6,688

12% of your part-time salary

Take-home per day

$305

per day you work

LoadGross / yearTake-home / fortnightTake-home / yearSuper / yearTake-home per day
0.4 FTE · 2 days$37,153$1,318$34,267$4,458$329
0.6 FTE · 3 days$55,729$1,828$47,540$6,688$305
0.8 FTE · 4 days$74,306$2,308$60,008$8,917$288
1 FTE · 5 days$92,882$2,794$72,640$11,146$279

What dropping a day costs (0.6 → 0.4 FTE)

You give up $18,576 of salary, but only $13,273 of take-home (71%), because tax falls too. Super drops by $2,229 a year.

−$511 /fortnight

Leave and progression when you work part-time

  • School holidays and annual leave are paid at your part-time rate: you still get paid every fortnight of the year, at 60%.
  • Sick and personal leave accrue pro rata to your load.
  • Long service leave: 8.8 weeks after 10 years in NSW. Part-time service counts, but leave is paid at your average load over the period, so years at 60% build LSL worth 60% of full pay. Called extended leave: 44 working days (about 2 months) after 10 years, then 11 working days for each further year. Pro rata access after 7 years. Can be taken at double pay for half the time.
  • Paid parental leave: 14 weeks from your employer, paid at your part-time rate (about $15,004 at 0.6 FTE). Some agreements average your hours over the previous year. Up to 14 weeks paid parental leave for eligible birth and non-birth parents after 40 weeks' continuous service, plus 2 bonus weeks when leave is shared more equally (automatic for single parents), so up to 16 weeks. Up to 52 weeks unpaid. Commonwealth PPL can be claimed on top.
  • Pay steps: in most states part-time teachers progress on the same annual cycle as full-time; NSW counts 203 days of service per step, so a smaller load can take longer. Check your increment date.
  • Super: your employer pays 12% of your part-time salary only. Salary sacrifice or a spouse contribution can close the gap.

Estimates for an Australian resident claiming the tax-free threshold with no other income, 2026–27 tax rates. Days convert to FTE at 5 days = 1.0; take-home per day uses 260 working days a year. Pay data: Crown Employees (Teachers in Schools and Related Employees) Salaries and Conditions Award 2024, verified 16 October 2026.

In short

Part-time teachers are paid their step's full-time salary multiplied by their FTE. A NSW teacher at Step 7 ($133,422) on 0.6 FTE (three days) earns $80,053 and takes home about $2,458 a fortnight. On 0.8 FTE they earn $106,738, about $3,156 a fortnight. Dropping from four days to three costs about $698 a fortnight after tax.

How to use the part-time teacher pay calculator

  1. 1

    Pick your state and step

    Choose your state and current step. The calculator uses the full-time salary for that step from the current scale.

  2. 2

    Enter your FTE or days

    Type an FTE such as 0.6, or pick a number of days per week. One day is usually 0.2 FTE in a five-day week.

  3. 3

    Add HELP and salary sacrifice

    Switch on HECS-HELP and add any salary sacrifice so the take-home is accurate.

  4. 4

    Compare fractions

    See your salary, fortnightly take-home and employer super, and how much each extra or fewer day changes your pay after tax.

How part-time teacher pay is calculated

Australian teacher agreements pay part-time teachers pro rata: the full-time salary for your step × your full-time equivalent (FTE). A teacher on 0.6 FTE is paid 60% of the step's salary, gets 60% of the employer super and accrues most leave pro rata. Your step doesn't change because you go part-time, but your progression can slow in states that count full-time days of service.

NSW Step 7 ($133,422 from October 2026) at different FTEs, 2026–27
FTEDays a weekSalaryTake-home a yearTake-home a fortnight
1.05$133,422$100,207$3,854
0.84$106,738$82,062$3,156
0.63$80,053$63,916$2,458

Site tax engine, 2026–27 rates, no HECS-HELP or salary sacrifice. Employer super is 12% of the part-time salary, paid on top.

Why dropping a day costs less than you think

Going from five days to four cuts your gross salary by 20%, but your take-home falls by less because you were paying 32 cents in tax and Medicare on each of those dollars. In the example above, dropping from 1.0 to 0.8 FTE cuts gross pay by $26,684 but take-home by $18,145, about $698 a fortnight.

Worked example

Going from four days to three at NSW Step 7

0.8 FTE salary
$106,738
0.8 FTE take-home
$82,062
0.6 FTE salary
$80,053
0.6 FTE take-home
$63,916
Gross pay given up
$26,685
Take-home given up $18,146 a year (about $698 a fortnight)

If you have a HELP debt, the gap is smaller again, because your compulsory repayment falls from about $5,582 at 0.8 FTE to about $1,579 at 0.6 FTE.

Part-time, job share and returning from leave

Most state departments allow part-time work by agreement with your principal, and many teachers use it when they return from parental leave. In SA, for example, staff can return part-time until their child turns two. Victorian teachers can take their 16 weeks of paid primary-caregiver leave at half pay. Our guides to part-time teaching and job share and returning to teaching after parental leave explain how to ask and what's usually agreed.

What the calculator assumes

  • Your FTE is applied to the full-time salary of your step. Allowances paid as flat amounts may not scale the same way.
  • Tax is worked out on your annual part-time salary using 2026–27 rates. If you also do relief work or a second job, add that income in the take-home calculator.
  • HECS-HELP is worked out on the marginal 2026–27 system, so a lower salary can reduce your repayment sharply or remove it below $69,528.
  • Employer super is 12% (ACT 12.5%) of your part-time salary.

Free calculator

Planning leave first?

Combine your employer's paid parental leave with 26 weeks of government Parental Leave Pay, week by week.

Open the parental leave calculator

Frequently asked questions

How is part-time teacher pay calculated?
Your step's full-time salary is multiplied by your FTE. A teacher on 0.6 FTE at NSW Step 7 ($133,422) earns $80,053 a year, or 60% of the full-time rate.
What is 0.8 FTE in days for a teacher?
0.8 FTE is four days a week in a five-day school week. Each day is usually 0.2 FTE, though some schools set part-time loads by teaching periods rather than whole days.
How much less do I take home if I drop a day?
Less than the gross cut, because of tax. At NSW Step 7, going from 0.8 to 0.6 FTE cuts gross pay by $26,685 but take-home by about $18,146 a year, or $698 a fortnight, on 2026–27 rates.
Do part-time teachers still move up pay steps?
Yes, but it can take longer. NSW counts 203 days of full-time service for each step, so part-time years may not count as a full year. Other states have their own rules; check with payroll.
Do part-time teachers get paid in the school holidays?
Yes. Permanent and temporary part-time teachers are paid through school holidays at their part-time rate, just like full-time staff. Only casual relief teachers are unpaid in holidays.
Does going part-time reduce my HECS repayment?
Yes, often by a lot. Under the 2026–27 marginal system, repayments are 15 cents for each dollar above $69,528. At 0.6 FTE on NSW Step 7 ($80,053) the repayment is about $1,579, compared with about $9,658 full-time.

Guides that go with this tool