Higher duties allowance for teachers: the rules in every state

What higher duties allowance is

When you temporarily do the job of someone on a higher classification, such as acting as Head Teacher while they're on leave, relieving as Assistant Principal for a term, or running the school while the principal is away, you're on higher duties. Some states call it relieving, others acting. The extra pay for it is the higher duties allowance (HDA).

In every jurisdiction where we could read the rule, the allowance works the same way: it tops your salary up to the salary of the higher position for the period you act. If your salary is $129,106 and the role you act in pays $145,938, the allowance is worth $16,832 a year, paid only for the days you're entitled to it. What differs between states is when it starts, which pay point of the higher role is used, and what happens if you only do some of the job.

Higher duties rules by state

ACT: the clearest rule, and a worked example

The ACT teaching staff agreement spells it out. Under cl Y4.1 you're paid higher duties allowance once you've completed more than 5 consecutive days of higher duty work, and the first 5 days don't count. There are two exceptions. Under Y4.2, once you've done a counted period in a position, later higher duties in the same position count straight away. Under Y4.3, if the placement is for a school term or longer, the allowance is paid for the whole period, including the first 5 days.

Under Y4.4 the allowance is the difference between your salary and the salary of the higher duty position. Placements shouldn't normally run past 12 months (Y4.5), and a role still vacant after a year is advertised. The agreement passed its nominal expiry on 31 March 2026 but still applies until it's replaced. Pay rates are those from 4 December 2025.

The lesson: if you're offered a run of relief that adds up to a term, ask whether it can be written as one placement for the term rather than a series of short ones. That's the difference between losing the first week's allowance and getting all of it.

Victoria: more than 5 days, half the duties, and the summer rule

Under VGSA 2026 cl 20(11) you get higher duties allowance when you do at least half the duties of a higher-paid position for longer than five working days. The allowance raises your salary to the assigned position's salary, pro rata if you're doing only part (at least half) of the duties. Department policy says you get the position's minimum salary, or what you'd have got on promotion, whichever is higher. The allowance rises with salary increases.

• Summer holidays: if you've been on higher duties for at least a month before the last day of the school year, it's paid through to 31 December, and from 1 January if you're reassigned on the first day of the new year (cl 20(11)(b)(iii)).
• Sick or personal leave: the allowance keeps being paid for up to a month, or longer if you've been on it continuously for more than 12 months (cl 20(11)(c)).
• Length: department policy allows assignments of up to 12 months. Anything over 3 months needs a merit process with expressions of interest.
• Defined benefit super: for executive and principal class staff in a defined benefit scheme, the allowance is paid at 91.3% of the difference.

Queensland: the 75% rule

Queensland's teacher agreement (CA2022) doesn't set out its own higher duties rule. Cl 5.5.9.2 says certified HAT and Lead teachers on higher duties are paid for the position they relieve in, "in line with departmental policies". The general public sector rule is Ministerial Directive 16/24 Higher Duties (in effect from 30 September 2024). The agreement applies other public sector directives to teachers, so we take this one to cover state school teachers too. That's our inference: we couldn't find a department page that says so outright.

Under cl 7.1 of the directive, the minimum depends on how much of the role you take on. Do 75% or more of the higher role's duties and you're paid once you've relieved for more than 3 consecutive working days. Below 75%, the minimum is 3 consecutive weeks. The allowance is your percentage times the gap between your salary and the first pay point of the higher level (cl 9). If you already earn more than that first pay point, the next pay point up is used (cl 10).

• Leave at the higher rate: recreation leave, long service leave and paid parental leave during a relieving period are paid at the higher duties amount (cl 11). Other paid leave gets it until the relieving period ends (cl 12).
• Moving up a pay point: after 12 months of relieving, continuous or added up within 24 months, you move to the next pay point of the higher level (cl 13).
• School holidays: the QTU reported in 2018 that the Director-General approved higher duties pay over school vacations that fall inside a relieving period.

Northern Territory: 1 day or 6 days

Under the NTPS Educators' 2024-2027 EA cl 45.1, higher duties allowance starts after 1 day if the higher classification's maximum salary is no more than the AO6 maximum, and after 6 days if it's higher. AO6 is a public service classification; its maximum was $107,721 in August 2024. Most school leadership roles pay well above that, so for teachers the 6-day rule is the one you're most likely to meet. Confirm with payroll.

The allowance is the gap between your substantive salary and the minimum pay point of the higher designation (cl 45.2(b)). If you take on only part of the duties, the CEO sets a percentage (cl 45.4). For Executive Contract Principal roles, you must do all or part of the duties for at least 6 consecutive working days, and you're paid from the start of that period at the ongoing principal rates (cl 45.6). If the principal role's minimum is at or below your salary, you move to the first pay point that's an increase.

NSW: 5 days, a 4-week qualifying period, and old policy

The NSW teachers' award doesn't set higher duties rules for permanent teachers. Those sit in the Department's Teachers Handbook, chapter 1, section 1.5, a 2003 "interim" chapter that's still linked as current; the department says its salaries and allowances chapter is being revised. Treat these as departmental policy rather than award terms, and confirm them with Teacher Services before you rely on them.

Casual and temporary teachers are covered by the award. Under cl 24, a casual relieving as Teaching Principal 1, Assistant Principal 1 or EEC/Hospital School Grade 1 principal for more than 10 days is paid the Schedule 4 daily rate, $794.12 a day from 9 October 2026 (it was $770.99). A temporary teacher gets the position's salary pro rata. Compare that with the standard casual rates on our NSW casual teacher levels guide.

WA, SA and Tasmania: what we couldn't confirm

We haven't been able to read the higher duties clause for these three, so we're not giving a number. In WA, the acting rules should be in the School Education Act Employees' (Teachers and Administrators) General Agreement 2023 or the Teachers Award 1993, but the WAIRC PDFs wouldn't load when we checked on 17 October 2026. South Australia's 2024 enterprise agreement has no general higher duties clause for teachers; it only says higher duties allowances are left out of paid primary carer leave pay. The rule is probably in the Teachers Award (SA) or a department determination. In Tasmania, the Teaching Service Award and Teachers Agreement 2025 would hold it.

If you're in one of these states, ask your principal or the department's payroll team for the clause or policy in writing before you start, and check with your union: the SSTUWA in WA, AEU SA or AEU Tasmania. Then use the higher duties calculator for the dollar figure.

Before you start acting: what to sort out

Tax and super on higher duties

Higher duties allowance is ordinary salary. It's taxed at your marginal rate through PAYG, so a fortnight on higher duties has more tax withheld. Near the top of the classroom scale part of it can fall above the $135,000 threshold, where the rate including Medicare rises from 32% to 39%. In the ACT example above, all the extra stays under that threshold, so the teacher keeps about 68 cents in each dollar. The take-home pay calculator shows your own figure.

Because it's paid for ordinary hours, employer super normally applies on top: 12% in most states, 12.5% in the ACT and 12.75% in Queensland. If you're in a defined benefit scheme, whether higher duties counts towards your final salary depends on the fund's rules, so ask the fund. Our super guide covers the basics.