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

TAS vs NT 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 Northern Territory

The NT pays Australia's highest classroom salaries ($96,180 for a graduate, $136,997 at CT9 in 2026, both rising 4.3% in January 2027) under an agreement that runs to the end of 2027. Remote teachers add a Remote Incentive Allowance of up to $10,319 a year ($12,345 with dependants), rent-free housing and free flights, and HALT allowances of $13,938 and $29,184 are the most generous in the country. The trade-offs are only the 12% minimum super and fewer paid parental leave weeks than the ACT.

Graduates start at CT1. Teachers with more than 12 months' post-qualification experience are placed by completed years of service (1 year = CT2). You move up one CT level after each 12 months' service, continuous or broken (cl. 39.2); increments are withheld only through inability or discipline processes, so CT1 to CT9 takes about 8 years. Under Rapid Incremental Progression (cl. 39.3) an early-career teacher can jump to CT4 at the start of year 3 after 2 years in NT government schools within 4 years plus 2 semester units of postgraduate study. 180 days of relief teaching count as 1 year of service (cl. 30.3). Senior Teacher (ST1-ST8) and Principal (PLO1-PLO7) levels are promotion positions set by job evaluation.

Full details: NT pay scale, NT salary after tax and NT 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.