ACT learning support assistant and school assistant pay 2026

Who is covered: school assistants and local titles

ACT public school support staff are not on the teachers' agreement. They are covered by the ACT Public Sector Administrative and Related Classifications Enterprise Agreement 2023–2026, approved by the Fair Work Commission on 13 September 2023 ([2023] FWCA 2928). Section R of the agreement deals with the Education Directorate. It sorts school support jobs into four School Assistant classifications, each aligned to an administrative services officer (ASO) level for pay.

ACT school assistant pay rates

School assistant salaries are a fixed share of the matching ASO salary, because full time for a school assistant is shorter than the standard 36.75-hour public service week. School Assistant 1 to 3 salaries are the ASO salary x 62.5/73.5 (31.25 hours a week), and School Assistant 4 is the ASO4 salary x 67.5/73.5 (33.75 hours a week) (cl R16.6). The hourly figures below are our calculation from the published annual salaries.

How ACT school assistants are paid over the holidays

ACT school assistants are paid through every school holiday, and the agreement says there is no reduction in annual salary for the paid stand-down periods (cl R16.7). The year breaks down like this:

Casual school assistants are paid a 25% loading on the hourly rate instead of paid leave and public holidays, with a minimum payment of 3 hours each time they are called in (cl B14). At SA 2/3 point 1 that is about $45.79 an hour (our calculation). See are teacher aides paid in school holidays for other states.

What a part-time learning support assistant takes home

Progression and qualifications

You start on the first pay point of your classification (cl C5.1), unless the head of service approves a higher starting point after considering your qualifications and experience (cl C5.2, C5.7). You then get an annual increment on each anniversary in the classification, as long as no underperformance or discipline action is under way (cl C5.5). Since the 2023 agreement, School Assistant 2 and 3 were merged into one broadband (SA 2/3) and the competency barrier in the middle was removed (cl R17), so a learning support assistant can now progress through all nine points, from $59,725 to $71,670. That is $11,945 a year more at the top, without changing jobs.

• Temporary staff progress an increment after 12 months' continuous service, or after 200 days' work if service isn't continuous (1,250 hours full time for a 6.25-hour day) (cl R15.1).
• Prior service as a school assistant, including casual work, counts towards increments in whole years of 200 school days (cl R15.2).
• Professional learning: school assistants must do at least four days (25 hours, pro rata for part-timers) of approved PL a year, preferably during stand-down (cl R13.5).
• Required qualifications: where the directorate requires you to gain or upgrade a qualification, the school pays the cost (cl R12.7). Preschool assistants must have, or be working towards, the qualification set by the Education and Care Services National Law (cl R19).

Casual school assistants must apply to the directorate for approval and receive a casual school assistant ID card, and need to keep a current Working with Vulnerable People registration (cl R14.2 to R14.4). See how to become a teacher aide.

Business managers in ACT schools

School business managers are on the same agreement but on general ASO and Senior Officer pay, on the standard public service week. New business manager positions are recruited at at least ASO6 (cl R27.3).

Pay rises and bargaining status

The 2023–2026 agreement gave a mix of flat-dollar and percentage rises: $1,750 in January 2023, 1% in June 2023, $1,750 in December 2023, 1.5% in June 2024, 1% plus $1,500 in December 2024, 1% in June 2025, and 1% plus $1,000 from the first full pay period on or after 1 December 2025 (cl C2.2). That last rise produced the rates on this page.

The agreement reached its nominal expiry on 31 March 2026, and its rates keep applying until a replacement is approved. The government's third offer for a 2026–2029 agreement (reported as 9% over three years, paid as 1.5% rises in July and February) was voted down in the ballot that closed on 8 September 2026: PS News reported that 63% of the 5,928 voters said no. Unions are continuing protected industrial action. We will update this page when a new agreement is reached. Teachers have a separate dispute: see ACT teacher pay.