How to Read Your Teacher Payslip in 2026, State by State

On this page (8 sections)

Where to find your payslip in each state
Every line on a teacher payslip, explained
How annual salary becomes a fortnightly payslip
Worked example: a five-minute payslip check
How much tax should be withheld
How a pay rise or back pay shows up
When something looks wrong
FAQs

The short answer

Read a teacher payslip top to bottom in five checks: the pay period, your step and FTE, gross pay for the fortnight, deductions (PAYG tax, HELP, salary sacrifice, union fees) and employer super. Gross should be close to your annual salary ÷ 26. A full-time NSW Step 5 teacher ($115,972 from 9 October 2026) should see about $4,460 gross and about $1,064 tax withheld.

NSW payslips are in SAP Employee Self Service, Victorian ones in eduPay, Queensland ones in MyHR Self Service.
Every public school teacher in Australia is paid fortnightly.
Super is paid on top of your salary: 12% in most states, 12.75% for QLD state schools, 12.5% in ACT public schools.
Back pay from VIC's VGSA 2026 and QLD's award rise will appear as separate lines.

Where to find your payslip in each state

Government teachers get electronic payslips through their department's self-service system. The name of the system is what you'll see on login pages and in payroll emails, so it's worth knowing. Catholic and independent schools use their own payroll providers; ask your business manager.

Public school payroll systems and pay days (checked 20 October 2026)

State	Where your payslip is	Pay frequency and pay day	State guide
NSW	SAP Employee Self Service (ESS), available within one day of payday	Fortnightly, on a Thursday	NSW payslip explained
VIC	eduPay Employee Self Service: My Pay, then View Payslips (PDF)	Fortnightly; pay days are in the Department's HR calendars	VIC payslip explained
QLD	MyHR Self Service through OnePortal; also emailed	Fortnightly, every second Wednesday	QLD payslip explained
WA	The Department's staff self-service system (check with your school's corporate services)	Fortnightly; fortnightly pay = annual × 12 ÷ 313	WA payslip explained
SA	Department for Education staff use an Employee Kiosk portal, run with Shared Services SA	Fortnightly; a day is a tenth of a fortnight	SA pay scale
TAS	Tasmanian State Service payroll (check with your school)	Fortnightly	TAS pay scale
ACT	ACT Government payroll (check with your school)	Fortnightly in arrears; annual × 12 ÷ 313	ACT pay scale
NT	NT Government payroll (check with your school)	Fortnightly; annual × 12 ÷ 313	NT pay scale

Sources: NSW DoE Pay and benefits policy (PD-2024-0483-04); Vic Department eduPay guidance; Qld DoE induction page; SA Shared Services; state agreements for pay formulas. We haven't confirmed the self-service system names for WA, TAS, ACT and NT.

Is your payslip right? Check your base pay, tax, super and back pay against the agreement. Your first check is free. Check my payslip →

Every line on a teacher payslip, explained

Layouts differ, but every public school payslip has the same building blocks. Read them in this order, because each line depends on the ones above it.

Teacher payslip lines in reading order

Line	What it is	What to check
Pay period and pay date	The fortnight you're being paid for and when it's paid	Rises start from the first full pay period on or after the start date
Classification / step	Your place on the scale, e.g. NSW Step 5, VIC CT 2-1, QLD B2201, WA Level 2.3	Moved on your increment date or after accreditation?
FTE / time fraction	1.0 full-time, 0.6 for three days, and so on	Matches your agreed days
Ordinary pay / salary	Annual salary × FTE for one fortnight	Close to annual ÷ 26 (see formulas below)
Allowances	Rural, locality, higher duties, Year Adviser, Senior Teacher and so on	Each listed separately at the current rate
Back pay / arrears / adjustment	Money owed for earlier periods	Covers the right dates and the right step
Pre-tax deductions	Salary sacrifice to super, salary packaging	The amount you asked for
PAYG tax withheld	Income tax and Medicare levy, from ATO tables	Roughly the figure for your gross (table below)
HELP / study loan	Extra withholding if you told payroll you have a debt	Present only if you have a debt
After-tax deductions	Union fees, health fund, donations	Each one you authorised
Net pay	What reaches your bank	Gross minus all deductions
Employer super	Contribution to your fund, on top of salary	Your state's rate × ordinary pay
Year to date (YTD)	Running totals since 1 July	Handy for tax and loan applications

How annual salary becomes a fortnightly payslip

Your agreement sets an annual salary, but your payslip shows a fortnight. A year is slightly more than 26 fortnights, so some agreements use a formula rather than dividing by 26. The difference is small, a few dollars a fortnight, but it matters if you're checking to the cent.

Fortnightly pay formulas, public school teachers

State	Formula	Example
WA, ACT, NT	Annual × 12 ÷ 313	WA Level 2.1 $88,178 → about $3,380.63
QLD	Annual is about fortnightly × 26.089	Band 2 Step 1 $90,164 → about $3,456.02
SA	Rates published per fortnight	Check the DfE rate sheet for your step
NSW, VIC, TAS	Formula not stated in the agreement summaries we hold	Annual ÷ 26 is a close check: NSW Step 5 $115,972 → about $4,460.46

Sources: WA Award cl 23(1); ACT EA cl C3.1; NT EA cl 33.2; QLD DoE salary schedule; SA DfE rate sheet.

Worked example: a five-minute payslip check

Here's the check for a full-time NSW teacher on Step 5 in their first fortnight after the 9 October 2026 rise. The same steps work in any state; only the scale and super rate change.

Worked example

NSW Step 5, full-time, no HELP, no salary sacrifice

1. Step and FTE: Step 5, 1.0
2. Expected gross ($115,972 ÷ 26): About $4,460.46
3. Expected PAYG (ATO 2026–27, tax-free threshold claimed): About $1,064
4. Expected net before union fees: About $3,396
5. Expected employer super at 12%: About $535

Before the rise (Step 5 at $112,594) About $4,330.54 gross, $1,022 PAYG

PAYG from our 2026–27 tax engine. If gross still shows about $4,330 after the rise should have started, the rise hasn't been applied.

Free calculator

AI Teacher Payslip & Back Pay Checker

Enter the lines from your payslip and get a line-by-line check of step, base pay, allowances, tax, super and back pay against your state's agreement. Your first check is free.

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How much tax should be withheld

PAYG withholding is worked out from ATO tables as if you earned this fortnight's pay every fortnight. On steady pay it lands close to your real tax bill. These figures assume you claim the tax-free threshold with this employer and have no HELP debt.

Approximate PAYG withheld per fortnight, 2026–27 (full-time)

Teacher	Annual salary	Gross a fortnight	PAYG withheld
WA Level 2.1 (graduate)	$88,178	About $3,381	About $718
QLD Band 2 Step 1 (graduate)	$90,164	About $3,456	About $744
NSW Step 1 (graduate)	$92,882	About $3,572	About $780
NSW Step 5	$115,972	About $4,460	About $1,064
QLD Band 3 Step 4	$119,357	About $4,575	About $1,100
WA Level 2.9	$127,737	About $4,897	About $1,204
VIC CT 2-6 (VGSA 2026 rate from 1 Oct 2026)	$133,456	About $5,133	About $1,280

From our 2026–27 tax engine, using each state's fortnightly formula where it has one. A HELP debt adds withholding; NSW Step 5 with HELP is roughly $268 a fortnight more.

How a pay rise or back pay shows up

A rise usually appears as a new ordinary pay rate from a set pay period. When it's back-dated, the difference for earlier fortnights arrives as a separate line, often called arrears, back pay or retro adjustment. Tax on that pay can look high. It's settled at tax time; see tax on teacher back pay.

Pay changes hitting payslips in late 2026

State	Change	How it should appear
NSW	3% from the first full pay period on or after 9 Oct 2026	New ordinary rate; no back pay if it started on time
VIC	VGSA 2026: new rates from 10 Aug and 1 Oct 2026, plus a $2,000 lump sum	Approved 16 Oct 2026: new rate, then arrears lines and a lump sum (payroll date not yet published)
QLD	4.75% award rise from 1 Sep 2026 (Bands 1–3, Senior Teacher, EST)	Processed in the fortnight ending 18 Oct 2026 with back pay
QLD	3% interim rise from 7 Sep 2026 (Coach, HAT, Lead Teacher, leaders)	Paid in the fortnight ending 4 Oct 2026 with back pay
WA	No rise scheduled; agreement expires 5 Dec 2026	Any successor rise could be back-dated, as the 2023 agreement was

See the teacher pay rise tracker for every state.

When something looks wrong

What to do about a payslip error

1

Write down the line and the gap

Which line, what it shows, what you expected and the source: your scale, the rise date or your FTE agreement.
2

Check the simple explanations

A rise that started a pay later than you expected, an FTE change, leave without pay or a one-off deduction often explain the difference.
3

Email payroll

Put it in writing with the payslip attached (cover your TFN and bank details). NSW pay queries go through the Department's staff service channels; in Victoria start with your school's business manager; in Queensland, Payroll Services.
4

Keep a record and follow up

Note the date and the reply. Underpayments are usually fixed in a later pay.
5

Ask your union

If it isn't resolved, your union can raise it. That's NSWTF, AEU Vic, QTU or SSTUWA for government teachers, or the IEU in Catholic and independent schools.

If payroll tells you you've been paid too much, don't ignore it. Read what happens with a teacher overpayment before you agree a repayment plan. For missing or short back pay, read teacher back pay wrong or missing.

Frequently asked questions

How do I read my teacher payslip?

Start with the pay period, then your step and FTE, which set your gross pay. Then check allowances, deductions (PAYG tax, HELP, salary sacrifice, union fees), net pay and the employer super paid to your fund.

Where do I find my payslip as a NSW teacher?

In SAP Employee Self Service (ESS). The Department says payslips are available there within one day of each payday, and pay day is a Thursday every fortnight.

Where do Victorian teachers get their payslips?

In eduPay Employee Self Service. Choose My Pay, then View Payslips, to see your recent pay advices as PDFs.

How do Queensland teachers see their payslip?

Through MyHR Self Service, reached by logging in to OnePortal. The Department also emails pay advices. Pay day is every second Wednesday.

Why is my teacher pay less than the pay scale divided by 26?

Usually because of tax, HELP, salary sacrifice or union fees, which come off gross pay. If gross itself is lower, check your FTE, your step and whether a rise has started.

Is super taken out of my teacher salary?

No. Employer super is paid on top of your salary and shown separately. Only salary sacrifice or personal contributions you choose come out of your pay.

Why does my back pay look so heavily taxed?

Withholding on a large one-off amount can look high or low, but your actual tax is settled at tax time at your marginal rate, usually 32c in the dollar for teachers including Medicare.

How long should I keep my payslips?

At least until you've checked your income statement and lodged your tax return. Keeping them for five years helps if back pay, leave or overpayment questions come up later.

Sources we checked · last verified 2026-10-28

About this page

Written and fact-checked by the TeacherPay AU Editorial Team against the enterprise agreements, awards and official pages listed in the sources. It is general information, not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it, usually within a day. See our editorial policy and how we calculate.

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