Australian Capital Territory public hospital pay guide · 2025–26
ACT Junior Doctor Salary & Take-Home Pay | 2025–26
Estimate ACT junior doctor pay (Intern → Registrar) for 2025–26. Adjust your after-hours and overtime to match your roster, and use the ACT agreement links below if you want to verify entitlements or edge cases.
Includes quick answers, worked examples, calculator shortcuts, and direct links to the underlying award or agreement sources.
Estimate my pay (ACT)On this page
Levels and base rates (ACT)
| Level | Base salary | After-tax + HECS (take-home) |
|---|---|---|
| Intern | $88,485 | $66,159 |
| Resident - Year 1 | $102,486 | $73,580 |
| Resident - Year 2 | $111,826 | $78,530 |
| Resident - Year 3 | $125,473 | $85,753 |
| Resident - Year 4 | $135,446 | $90,808 |
| Registrar - Year 1 | $125,473 | $85,753 |
| Registrar - Year 2 | $135,446 | $90,808 |
| Registrar - Year 3 | $145,460 | $95,214 |
| Registrar - Year 4 | $155,223 | $99,510 |
| Senior Registrar - Year 1 | $173,760 | $107,666 |
See how this state compares
Want the national picture? See how this state compares across base pay, take-home estimates, leave and penalties.
ACT EBA high-yield summary
This section adds the highest-yield ACT agreement points for roster, leave and payroll questions.
Instrument referenced: ACT Public Sector Medical Practitioners Enterprise Agreement 2023–2026.
Who this applies to
- Applies to ACT public sector medical practitioners covered by the ACT Public Sector Medical Practitioners Enterprise Agreement 2023–2026.
- The agreement includes Junior Medical Officers such as interns, RMOs, junior registrars, registrars, senior registrars and senior resident medical officers.
- Junior Medical Officer progression and classification are set out in clause 15 of the agreement.
Ordinary hours and roster protections
- Ordinary hours are 38 per week, worked as 76 hours in up to 14 consecutive days or 152 hours in up to 28 consecutive days (Agreement cl 17.2).
- Full-time rosters can accrue an ADO where hours above the 38-hour average are credited rather than paid (Agreement cl 17.3, cl 20).
- Medical Officers should receive at least 4 weeks' notice of ordinary-hour rosters, with late changes reserved for emergent situations (Agreement cl 19.1-19.2).
- A minimum 9-hour break between shifts including travel time should be rostered, or 10 hours where practicable; if recalled without that break, overtime applies until the break is achieved (Agreement cl 19.5-19.7).
- The maximum shift length is 14 hours including meal breaks, and all time worked above 10 hours in a shift is overtime (Agreement cl 19.9-19.11).
Penalty rates and key allowances
| Item | Rate / rule | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Evening ordinary hours | +12.5% for 6:00pm to midnight Monday to Friday | Agreement cl 33.1.1 |
| Night ordinary hours | +25% for midnight to 8:00am Monday to Friday | Agreement cl 33.1.2 |
| Saturday ordinary hours | +50% | Agreement cl 33.1.3 |
| Sunday ordinary hours | +75% | Agreement cl 33.1.4 |
| Public holiday ordinary hours | +150% (total 2.5× ordinary pay) | Agreement cl 33.1.5 |
| On-call allowance | Paid at the rate of the first hour of overtime for each on-call period, once per 24 hours | Agreement cl 42.4 |
| Recall / call-back | Digital recall minimum 1 hour at overtime rates; workplace recall minimum 4 hours at overtime rates | Agreement cl 42.5, cl 42.7 |
| Education allowance (JMOs) | $1,150 p.a. for interns, $3,319 p.a. for RMO1/SRMO1/Junior Registrar, $4,558 p.a. for SRMO2+ and registrars | Agreement cl 116.1 |
| Overtime meal allowance | Meal or allowance if unnotified overtime extends across breakfast, lunch or dinner thresholds | Agreement cl 39.1 |
Leave and study entitlements used most by trainees
- Annual leave: 152 hours per year for 38-hour workers, plus up to 5 extra days if you work at least 10 Sundays in a year (Agreement cl 89.6.1, cl 89.7-89.8).
- Personal leave: 136.8 hours (3.6 weeks) per year for 38-hour workers (Agreement cl 86.17.2).
- Study leave: RMOs, registrars and senior registrars can access up to 4 hours study time per week under the agreement's study leave clause (Agreement cl 113.1-113.3).
- Junior Medical Officers can access up to 80 hours conference leave per annum with approval (Agreement cl 115.1).
- Interns and PGY1/PGY2 RMOs must have 2 hours of protected teaching time each week, free from clinical duties and pagers (Agreement cl 117.1-117.2).
Worked examples (ACT)
Intern
- Roster: 38h/wk, some evenings, one weekend shift/month, some public holidays.
- Includes: penalties for nights/weekends; occasional overtime, four weeks of leave.
RMO
- Roster: ~40–44h/wk, some evenings/nights, 2–3 weekend shifts/month, some public holidays.
- Includes: penalties for nights/weekends; occasional overtime, four weeks of leave.
Year 3 Registrar
- Roster: 45–55h/wk, every second weekend, some public holidays, overtime most weeks.
- Includes: mix of nights/afternoons and ~5 weeks of leave (annual + study).
* After tax and HECs repayments have been deducted
FAQ
What is the difference between Gross and Net?
Gross pay is your total earnings before anything is taken out (base pay + penalties + overtime + allowances). Net pay (take-home) is what you actually receive after deductions like tax and HECS/HELP withholding.
How is HECS/HELP calculated?
From the 2025–26 income year, compulsory HECS/HELP repayments use marginal rates — meaning you only pay the higher rate on the part of your income above each threshold.
- $0 – $67,000: Nil
- $67,001 – $125,000: 15c for each $1 over $67,000
- $125,001 – $179,285: $8,700 + 17c for each $1 over $125,000
- $179,286 and over: 10% of your total repayment income
How do I increase my income?
The biggest levers for junior doctor pay are:
- Roster mix: more nights/weekends/public holidays usually increases penalties.
- Overtime: paid at higher rates (but comes with fatigue risk).
- Allowances: if your role attracts them (on-call/call-back, specific units/sites).
- Salary packaging: can improve take-home without changing hours (if eligible).
- Progression: moving up levels (intern → RMO → registrar) increases base rates over time.
What is salary packaging?
Normally: you get paid → tax gets taken out → you spend what’s left. Salary packaging lets you use some of your pay before tax for approved expenses, so less of your income is taxed. It’s not “free money” — it’s a tax benefit available to many healthcare workers because of special rules.
How much can you salary package?
Typical caps (varies by employer/provider):
- Living expenses cap: about $9,010 per FBT year (FBT year runs 1 April to 31 March)
- Meal entertainment cap: up to $2,650 per FBT year (often via a meal/entertainment card)
A common “headline” maximum is ~$11,660 per FBT year packaged if you’re eligible for both and your employer allows both.
Sources and disclaimer
Estimates only; confirm with the state/territory award/EBA and your employer’s HR/payroll.