In short
Teacher back pay is the difference between your old and new salary for every day from the agreement's operative date until the new rate reaches your pay. For a Victorian teacher at the top step, VGSA 2026 back pay to 30 November 2026 would be about $3,076, plus a $2,000 lump sum, once the Fair Work Commission approves it.
How to use the back pay & pay rise calculator
- 1
Choose your state and step
Pick your state and current step. The calculator loads your old salary and the new rate from the agreement, scheduled or proposed.
- 2
Check the operative dates
Each rise has a date it applies from. The calculator fills these in from the agreement, and you can change them if your rise applies from a different pay period.
- 3
Set the date the new rate is paid
Enter when you expect the new rate to land in your pay. Back pay covers the gap between the operative date and that date.
- 4
See the rise and the tax on the lump sum
You'll see your new salary, the rise per fortnight, the total back pay and roughly how much tax comes out of it at your marginal rate.
How back pay is calculated
When a new agreement is approved after the date its pay rise was meant to start, you're owed the difference for the days in between. The calculation is simple: (new annual salary − old annual salary) × days in the period ÷ 365, added up for each rise. If two rises apply in the same back-pay period, each is worked out over its own dates. Any one-off sign-on or cost-of-living payment is added on top.
Payroll systems usually work in pay periods rather than days, and most agreements say a rise applies from "the first full pay period on or after" a date. That can shift the start by up to a fortnight, so your actual back pay may differ by a few days' worth.
Victoria's VGSA 2026: the big back-pay case in 2026
Victorian government teachers voted 93.1% yes to the VGSA 2026 in a ballot that closed on 17 September 2026. As of mid-October it was waiting for Fair Work Commission approval, and it starts 7 days after approval is published. When it starts, two rises are paid back to their dates: the first pay period on or after 10 August 2026, and 1 October 2026. Staff also get a $2,000 lump sum, pro rata for part-timers.
Source: VGSA 2026 Schedule 1 as lodged. Some sites still say back pay runs from 15 May 2026: that date was in the rejected May deal, not the lodged agreement.
Back pay for a Victorian teacher at CT 2-6, if the new rate starts 1 December 2026
- 10 Aug to 30 Sep 2026 (52 days at +$3,537 a year)
- about $504
- 1 Oct to 30 Nov 2026 (61 days at +$15,393 a year)
- about $2,573
- Back pay on salary
- about $3,076
- One-off lump sum
- $2,000
- Total before tax
- about $5,076
- Extra tax and Medicare if your 2026–27 income is otherwise $125,000
- about $1,624
Tax figures from the site's 2026–27 engine: total tax on $125,000 is $30,520 and on $130,076 is $32,144. The start date is an assumption; the real date depends on when Fair Work approves the agreement.
How back pay is taxed
Back pay is ordinary income, taxed in the year you receive it. What matters is your marginal rate: for most teachers that's 32% (30% plus the 2% Medicare levy), so about a third of a back-pay lump sum goes in tax. If the extra income pushes your taxable income over $135,000 in 2026–27, the part above that is taxed at 39%. If you have a HECS-HELP debt, the extra income also raises your compulsory repayment.
The amount withheld when the lump sum is paid can look high, because payroll uses special withholding rules for back payments. That's withholding, not your final tax: it's settled when you lodge your return. Our guide to tax on teacher back pay explains the rules for back pay that relates to an earlier financial year.
Where else back pay is coming in 2026
- Queensland: a 4.75% award rise for classroom Bands 1–3, Senior Teacher and EST from 1 September 2026 was due in the fortnight ending 18 October 2026, with back pay. Coaches, HATs, Lead Teachers and leaders got the QIRC's interim 3% from 7 September 2026. The full arbitrated outcome is still to come. See the Queensland pay rise page.
- NSW: the 9 October 2026 rise is in the award, so it should arrive without back pay, though a fortnightly cycle may mean you see it one pay later. See the NSW pay rise page.
- ACT, WA and SA: no deal yet. If a new agreement is backdated, the calculator will show what's owed. Track them on the pay rise tracker.
For Victoria's deal in full, read the Victorian pay rise page.