TAS vs ACT teacher pay: which state pays more in 2026?

TAS vs ACT at a glance

Pay and take-home at every career stage

Steps don't line up exactly between states, so we compare like-for-like career stages: the usual graduate entry step, about five years in, the top of the incremental classroom scale, and the highest classroom step (reached through HALT, Senior Teacher or a similar classification).

What's different about teaching in Tasmania

Tasmania's headline pay is among the lowest, $85,313 for a Level 5 graduate and $122,393 at the top of Band 1, but its Teachers Agreement 2025 locks in 3% in March 2027 and 2.75% in March 2028. Isolated schools add a Level 8 start ($99,010), a $5,000 settling-in payment and retention payments, and TRB registration costs $121.32 a year.

One Band 1 scale of 13 levels with annual increments. Your starting level depends on your training: 4-year trained teachers start at Level 4 and 5-year trained at Level 5, and DECYP says the usual beginning salary is Level 5 (Level 8 in isolated schools). Moving to Level 13 needs full TRB registration and 12 months at Level 12. In the 3-year trained and transition streams, Levels 9 and 10 each take two years.

Full details: TAS pay scale, TAS salary after tax and TAS pay rise tracker.

What's different about teaching in Australian Capital Territory

The ACT pays well at the start ($91,396 at TL1) and has some of the best super of any public system: 12.5%, or 13.5% if you contribute 3% (only Queensland's 12.75% beats the base rate). It also gives new teachers a lighter load for three years and 24 weeks of paid birth leave. The catch in 2026 is that pay has been frozen since 4 December 2025 while teachers and the government fight over a new deal, and there is almost no rural incentive system because there is barely any rural ACT.

All classroom teachers share one increment date, 27 January, and move up one Teacher Level a year from TL1 to TL8, subject to the Teacher Performance and Development Guidelines. Your starting level recognises qualifications and prior teaching and other work experience in full years. Leave without pay can push your increment date back. TL1-TL3 are New Educator levels with a reduced face-to-face load; TL4-TL8 are Experienced Teacher levels. HALT certification earns an extra increment, or a $7,495 a year HALT payment if you are already at TL8 or SLC2.

Full details: ACT pay scale, ACT salary after tax and ACT pay rise tracker.

Country incentives, leave and the things salary tables miss

Headline salary is only part of the deal. Country and remote postings can add thousands a year, and leave rules change what a career is worth.