On this page (8 sections)
The short answer
A WA public school education assistant (EA) starts on $34.75 an hour at level 1.1 from 1 January 2026. Special needs EAs start at 2.1 on $36.87 an hour, and specialist EAs earn $43.28. Full time for an EA is 32.5 hours a week, so level 1.1 works out at about $58,929 a year.
- Rates come from the Education Assistants' (Government) General Agreement 2025.
- WA publishes EA pay as hourly rates only; annual figures are our calculation.
- EAs are paid for student vacation days, earned in proportion to days worked.
- The EA agreement expires on 31 December 2026.
Who is covered: EAs, AIEOs and school support officers
WA public schools have two main support staff agreements. Education assistants and Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers (AIEOs) are on the Education Assistants' (Government) General Agreement 2025, negotiated by the United Workers Union. It operates from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026. School support officers (school officers, registrars, managers corporate services, library and lab officers) are on the Department of Education (School Support Officers) CSA Agreement 2024, which runs to 12 June 2027.
WA education assistant pay rates for 2026
Schedule 2 of the agreement gives hourly rates only. To show a full-time annual figure, we multiply by 32.5 hours a week (full time under cl 22.1) and 52.1786 weeks. Every annual figure here is derived, not published.
Source: Education Assistants' (Government) General Agreement 2025, Schedule 2. Full-time hours can be up to 38 by agreement, or 42 where bus and classroom duties are combined.
Casual EAs get a 25% loading on top of the hourly rate, paid instead of personal leave and student vacation pay (cl 13.2). At level 1.1 that is about $43.44 an hour (our calculation).
How WA EAs are paid over the school holidays
EAs don't have to attend when the school is closed, and they are paid ordinary wages for student vacation days. The amount is earned in proportion to the days you work (cl 47):
WA vacation pay formula
- Days you worked (including paid leave)
- A
- Total student vacation days in the year
- B
- Total working days in the school year
- C
If you work every school day, you are paid for every vacation day. If you start mid-year, you earn a proportion. Part-timers accrue pro rata. Working on a school holiday is paid at double time and a half.
School support officers are different. They work 41 weeks a year: the 40-week school year plus 5 days before students start (cl 22.6). Their student vacation leave builds up with the same days-worked formula (cl 34.2), and they can agree to work up to 10 days in the vacations in return for time off in lieu (cl 24). Compare other states in are teacher aides paid in school holidays.
What a part-time EA takes home
EA 1.1 working 25 hours a week
- Hourly rate
- $34.75
- Annual pay ($34.75 x 25 x 52.1786)
- $45,330
- Income tax after low income tax offset
- $3,799
- Medicare levy
- $907
2026–27 tax rates, no HELP debt, assumes a full year of service so vacation pay is earned in full. At full time (32.5 hours) EA 1.1 is about $58,929, which leaves about $49,668 a year, or $1,910 a fortnight, after tax.
Free calculator
Work out your EA pay
Choose WA, your EA level and your weekly hours to see your pay after tax.
Open the support staff pay calculatorProgression: mainstream, special needs and specialist EAs
- 1
Mainstream EAs start at 1.1
You move through 1.1 and 1.2, then 2.1 to 2.4. The top mainstream rate is $39.05 an hour.
- 2
Special needs EAs start at 2.1
In mainstream schools, special needs EAs move through 2.1 to 2.3, then on to 3.1 to 3.3. That tops out at $41.37 an hour.
- 3
Education support schools start at 3.1
Special needs EAs in education support schools and centres, and AIEOs, are on the 3.1 to 3.3 scale.
- 4
Specialist roles pay $43.28
Auslan, Braille, Engagement Centre, Advanced EA (Special Needs), Advanced AIEO and Lead EA roles share a single rate.
Pay is set by the classification of the job, so to get a specialist rate you need to be appointed to a specialist position. The skills for Auslan or Braille roles are part of the job requirements. Every role needs a WA Working with Children Check. See how to become a teacher aide.
School support officer pay in WA
School support officers have annual salaries in Schedule 2 of the CSA agreement, based on 75 hours a fortnight (37.5 a week). The rates below apply from 13 June 2026. The hourly figures are our calculation.
Pay rises under the CSA agreement: 5% from 13 June 2024, 4% from 13 June 2025 and about 3.5% from 13 June 2026. Registrar and manager corporate services levels depend on the school; Level 3 to 6 is typical for managers corporate services, but that is not confirmed.
Bargaining status
The EA agreement reaches its nominal expiry on 31 December 2026. A replacement should be under negotiation by the United Workers Union, but we have not found any public 2026 bargaining news yet. The school support officers' CSA agreement runs to 12 June 2027. Teachers' pay is a separate agreement: see WA teacher pay and the pay rise tracker.
Frequently asked questions
How much do education assistants get paid in WA?
What is the full-time EA salary in WA?
Do education assistants get paid in the school holidays in WA?
What do casual EAs earn in WA?
What is an AIEO paid in WA?
When does the WA EA agreement expire?
Sources we checked · last verified 2026-10-17
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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