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Are you on the right pay step? AI checker for teachers

Check whether your overseas, Catholic, independent, casual or industry experience should put you on a higher pay step, what it's worth a year, and get a letter to HR drafted.

Your experience

0 words

Your employer decides recognition under its own policy. This helps you prepare a well-evidenced request.

What you'll get

  • 1The step your experience could support
  • 2What the gap is worth each year
  • 3The evidence to gather
  • 4A letter to HR, ready to send

Worked out against your state's verified pay data from TeacherPay AU, not the AI's memory.

In short

Your employer sets your pay step from your qualifications, accreditation and recognised service, and mistakes are common. Overseas, interstate, Catholic, casual and part-time service often count, and Queensland, NSW and the ACT credit some industry work. The checker applies your state's rules, shows the step you may be owed and the yearly gap, and drafts your request to HR.

How to use the ai pay step & prior service checker

  1. 1

    Choose your state and employer

    Pick the state and whether you work for a government, Catholic or independent school. Each employer applies its own placement rules, so this decides which rules the checker uses.

  2. 2

    Enter your current step and your history

    Add each period of teaching or work: where, when, full-time, part-time or casual, and roughly how many days. Include overseas schools, Catholic and independent schools, relief teaching and any industry work before you qualified.

  3. 3

    Tell it what evidence you have

    Say whether you hold statements of service, your accreditation or registration level and your qualifications. The checker flags anything a payroll team is likely to reject.

  4. 4

    Read your result and send the letter

    You'll see the step you may be entitled to, the pay gap per year on your state's real scale, an evidence checklist and a drafted email or letter to HR asking for a review.

What the checker looks at

Every state employer places teachers on a step when they start, then moves them up with service. The starting decision is where most money is lost, because it depends on paperwork. If a statement of service is missing a date or doesn't state your FTE, payroll will usually count only what it can verify, and you start lower than you should. Many teachers never ask again.

  • Teaching service: government, Catholic and independent schools in your state, interstate and overseas, counted the way your employer counts it (whole years, terms of 50 days, 203-day years, or completed years).
  • Casual and relief days: whether your state counts them, and how many days make a year (for example 180 in the NT, 200 under the national award and 203 in NSW Catholic systemic schools).
  • Part-time service: converted to full-time equivalent, so two years at 0.5 counts as one.
  • Industry experience: for career changers, where a policy exists, such as Queensland's 33% category, NSW's 1 year for every 2 years of prior work, and the ACT's full-year rule.
  • Accreditation gates: for example NSW, where accreditation sets your minimum step and Proficient (Pending) pay may apply.
  • Deadlines: time limits that decide whether a correction is back-paid, such as Queensland's one month and NSW's six months.

Worked example: 6 years' UK teaching, placed on the graduate step

Take a teacher with six full-time years in UK schools who starts in a Northern Territory government school. Under the NT agreement, teachers with more than 12 months' post-qualification experience are placed by completed years of service (one year = CT2), so six completed years points to CT7. If the statements of service aren't lodged, or are rejected, the teacher stays on CT1.

Worked example

NT government school, 2026 rates (from the first full pay period on or after 1 January 2026)

Placed on CT1 (graduate step)
$96,180 a year
Entitled step with 6 completed years: CT7
$126,755 a year
Gap before tax
$30,575 a year
Take-home on CT1
$74,882 a year ($2,880 a fortnight)
Take-home on CT7
$95,673 a year ($3,680 a fortnight)
Take-home difference $20,791 a year, about $800 a fortnight

Take-home from our 2026-27 tax engine: Australian resident, no HELP debt, before salary packaging. Illustrative: the NT employer makes the actual salary assessment from your statements of service.

The same teacher would be treated differently elsewhere. In NSW government schools, accreditation sets the floor: overseas teachers start with Conditional or Provisional accreditation (Step 1), but may be paid as Proficient (Pending), somewhere between Step 3 and Step 7 depending on experience, for up to 203 days while they gain Proficient. In Victoria it's 1-1 plus one subdivision per equivalent full-time year of approved experience, up to 2-6. That's why the checker asks for your state first.

What you get

Free check vs full access
Free checkFull access (A$19.99, 12 months)
Likely entitled stepOne checkUnlimited checks and scenarios
Yearly gap on your state's scaleYesYes, plus take-home difference
Evidence checklistSummaryItemised, by employer and period of service
Letter or email to HRNoDrafted from your details, ready to edit and send
Follow-up if HR says noNoSuggested reply and what to ask your union

The checker gives general information based on published policies and agreements. It can't see your employer's file, and the final decision is your employer's. If your claim is refused, your union can help you challenge it. For the rules in full, read recognition of prior service for teachers and how to fix a wrong pay step.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if I'm on the wrong teacher pay step?
Compare the step on your payslip with your state's scale and the rules for your employer. If you've taught before, anywhere, and you're on the graduate step, or your step hasn't moved after a full year, it's worth checking. The checker does this from your service history.
Does overseas teaching experience count towards my pay step?
Usually yes, with statements of service. Victoria, the NT and the ACT credit full years, Queensland gives full recognition to qualified teaching in approved schools, and NSW counts complete overseas years but sets your minimum step by accreditation.
Does casual relief teaching count?
It depends on the employer. NSW government and Catholic systemic schools count casual days, Victoria counts CRT work in Victorian registered schools since 2005, and the NT counts 180 relief days as a year. WA's higher-salary process and Victorian Catholic schools exclude casual relief work.
Will my previous career increase my teacher salary?
Sometimes. Queensland can recognise relevant industry work at 33%, NSW gives recently qualified career changers one year for every two years of prior work (up to six), and the ACT recognises other work experience in full years. Victoria doesn't count experience before you qualified.
Can I get back pay if my step was wrong?
Often, but only within time limits. NSW backdates if you apply within six months of approval to teach, Queensland within one month of starting, and NSW and ACT Catholic systemic schools within one school term. Late claims usually apply from the date your complete evidence arrives.
Does the checker work for Catholic and independent schools?
Yes. Choose your employer and it uses that sector's rules where we have them, such as the NSW and ACT Catholic systemic agreement and the Victorian Catholic agreement, or the national teachers award as the floor for independent schools.
Is the pay step checker free?
Your first check is free and shows your likely step and yearly gap. Full access, with unlimited checks, the evidence checklist and a drafted letter to HR, is a one-off A$19.99 for 12 months.
Is the result guaranteed?
No. It's an estimate based on published rules and the details you enter. Your employer decides your step from your evidence, so use the result to make a clear, documented request, and ask your union if the answer doesn't add up.

Guides that go with this tool

Pay steps

Recognition of prior service for teachers: how every state sets your pay step

State-by-state rules for crediting prior teaching, casual, part-time and industry service to your starting step, the evidence employers want and the deadlines that decide back pay.

Pay steps

On the wrong pay step? How to check it, challenge it and get back pay

How to tell if you're on the wrong step, the mistakes payroll most often makes, a letter outline for HR, the time limits for back pay and how your union can help.

Pay

Will your overseas teaching experience count? How Australian states set your salary step

State-by-state rules for crediting overseas and interstate teaching experience to your starting salary, the paperwork that makes it stick, and what it's worth in dollars.