How teacher pay steps work in every Australian state

What a pay step is

A pay step (also called a level, increment or subdivision) is one row on your state's salary scale. Each step has a fixed annual salary. You do not negotiate it. Your employer places you on a step when you start, based on your qualifications, accreditation and past teaching, and then moves you up as you gain service.

Two separate things make your pay go up. Step progression moves you to the next row. Pay rises in a new award or agreement lift every row at once, such as NSW's 3% on 9 October 2026. In your early years you get both, which is why early-career pay grows fast. Once you reach the top step, only across-the-board rises, promotion, HALT certification or allowances will lift your pay.

Steps and time to the top, state by state

NSW: eight pay points and two accreditation gates

NSW has the shortest classroom scale. Graduates start at Step 1 ($92,882 from 9 October 2026) and move to Step 2 after one year (203 days) of full-time service and a satisfactory annual performance and development process. To move from Step 2 to Step 3 you need confirmed Proficient accreditation from NESA plus a year at Step 2. From Step 3 to Step 7 you move every 203 days while you keep your accreditation. Above Step 7, the HA/Lead rate ($141,997) needs Highly Accomplished or Lead accreditation plus at least a year at Step 7.

Victoria: 11 subdivisions and an annual cycle

Victorian classroom teachers move through 11 subdivisions: 1-1 to 1-5 (Range 1) and 2-1 to 2-6 (Range 2). Progression runs on a 1 May to 30 April cycle and depends on a successful performance and development assessment. It is not automatic, but there is no quota. If you have less than six months' eligible service at a subdivision in a cycle, you are not eligible that cycle. Moving from Range 1 to Range 2 requires meeting the Range 2 standards, not just another year of service.

• Graduate start: 1-1, currently $79,589 (due to rise to $92,882 from 1 October 2026 once the new agreement is approved).
• Top classroom step: 2-6, currently $118,063 (due to become $133,456).
• New from May 2027 (pending approval): a 1% top-of-range allowance each year for teachers who have spent 12 months at 2-6 (or 3-2 for leading teachers and learning specialists).
• Late-year starters: graduates who start at 1-1 before 1 May and progress the next year get a small pro-rata lump sum under the new agreement, once it is approved.

Queensland, WA, SA, Tasmania, ACT and NT

Queensland. A four-year-trained graduate starts at Band 2 Step 1 ($90,164) and moves up annually through Band 2 and Band 3. Senior Teacher ($124,601) needs a year at Band 3 Step 4 plus an annual performance review and action plan. Experienced Senior Teacher 1 needs two years as a Senior Teacher, and EST2 needs three years at EST1 plus a review against the Highly Accomplished focus areas. These upper steps are opt-in, and you apply about three months before you become eligible.

WA moves teachers from Level 2.1 ($88,178) to 2.9 ($127,737) with an annual increment on their anniversary date. Senior Teacher 1 ($132,557) is by application and needs full registration, 12 months at 2.9 and recent professional learning; Level 3 Classroom Teacher is reached through a competency portfolio. WA casuals move up a step every 200 days worked. South Australia moves teachers from Step 1 ($84,971) to Step 8 by annual increments; Step 9 ($123,236) is by application with a Professional Development Plan after 207 duty days on Step 8, with no quota, and relief teachers can apply too. Tasmania's usual graduate start is Level 5 ($85,313), or Level 4 for four-year-trained graduates, and Level 8 in isolated schools. Level 13 ($122,393) needs full registration and 12 months at Level 12. The ACT moves everyone up one level on the common increment date of 27 January, from TL1 ($91,396) to TL8 ($129,106).

The NT moves teachers one CT level for each 12 months' service, and only withholds a step for discipline or inability processes. Its Rapid Incremental Progression lets an early-career teacher jump to CT4 at the start of year three if they have completed two years in NT schools and two postgraduate units. That skips CT3 and is worth $109,962 instead of $105,369 at 2026 rates.

Starting above Step 1: how past service counts

If you have taught before, you may start several steps up. The rules differ, but the principle is the same: employers count your full-time-equivalent years of teaching, and you need to show evidence such as service statements.

Part-time and casual teachers: slower steps

Step progression is based on full-time-equivalent service in almost every system. A 0.6 FTE teacher accrues 0.6 of a year's service each year, so moving one step takes about 20 months instead of 12. Casual relief teachers often have a separate daily scale (for example NSW's CT1, CT2 and CT3 casual rates), but casual days usually count towards your step if you later take a permanent or temporary job. Keep a record of every day you work.

Above the top step: HALT, promotion and allowances

Once you reach the top of the classroom scale, your pay only moves with across-the-board rises unless you take on more. The main routes are HALT certification (NSW $141,997; QLD Highly Accomplished Teacher $134,694 and Lead Teacher $147,050; NT allowances of $13,938 or $29,184 a year; ACT $7,495 a year at the top of the scale), promotion to head teacher, leading teacher or assistant principal, and allowances for rural or remote service. See HALT certification and is promotion worth it.