NSW Catholic teacher pay scale 2026: every diocese, including Parramatta and Broken Bay

Which agreement covers your diocese

There are 11 Catholic dioceses across NSW and the ACT, but they are not all on the same agreement. Nine employers share the NSW and ACT Catholic Systemic Schools Enterprise Agreement 2025 (agreement AE531578, approved 17 December 2025, nominal expiry 9 October 2027). Parramatta and Broken Bay each bargained their own. Service with any of them counts towards your step placement if you move between dioceses.

The NSW Catholic pay scale (nine dioceses and Parramatta)

This is Schedule A, Table A1 of the 2025 systemic agreement. Parramatta's agreement (AE531390, approved 4 December 2025) carries the same step rates, coordinator allowances and AP salaries, without the conditionally accredited rows. Rises apply from the first full pay period on or after each date.

Broken Bay: the best-paid NSW diocese

The Catholic Schools Broken Bay Enterprise Agreement 2024 operates from 29 January 2025 and runs to 29 January 2029. It uses bands and levels instead of steps, and pays about 2.8% more than the other dioceses at each point. Its rises fall on 1 October, and it has one more rise already fixed: 3% from 1 October 2027.

Take-home pay on the NSW Catholic scales

Here is what the main steps are worth after 2026-27 income tax and the Medicare levy, for a full-time teacher with no packaging. The gap between Broken Bay and the other dioceses is about $1,570 a year after tax for a graduate and about $2,140 at the top step.

How NSW Catholic pay compares with public schools

For the nine dioceses and Parramatta, the comparison is simple: the classroom scale is identical to the NSW public school scale, with the same 3% rises each October from 2024 to 2026. A Catholic graduate earns $92,882, exactly what a public school graduate earns. Broken Bay sits above both sectors at every point, and is the only NSW Catholic employer with a pay rise already set beyond 2026.

NSW independent schools on the AISNSW cooperative agreement are close but on a February cycle: $94,155 to $133,009 from 1 February 2026, rising 4% to $97,921 to $138,329 from 1 February 2027. That means an independent school graduate is ahead of a Catholic graduate now, and an experienced independent teacher will move ahead at the top in February 2027. See independent school teacher pay in NSW.

Allowances: coordinators, assistant principals and country loadings

Casual rates, super and salary packaging

Casual teachers on the systemic agreement are paid $480.42 a day at CT1, $538.74 at CT2 and $599.86 at CT3 from 9 October 2026, with a half-day rate of $240.21 at CT1. The daily rate is the annual salary divided by 203, plus a 5% loading. Our NSW casual teacher levels guide explains how you move up.

Super is the 12% Superannuation Guarantee only, with NGS Super named as a fund option. The agreement allows salary packaging (clause 18.3) but says nothing about FBT status. Catholic school employers are usually FBT-rebatable, which means a 47% FBT rebate on up to $30,000 of grossed-up benefits a year. Our salary packaging guide shows what that is worth on a teacher's salary.

What happens next

The nine dioceses and Parramatta have no rise scheduled before their agreements reach nominal expiry on 9 October 2027. Bargaining for a replacement would usually start in 2027, and the NSW public outcome will set the benchmark. Broken Bay staff already know their next rise: 3% from 1 October 2027. Follow changes on our teacher pay rise tracker.