Home › Guides › GP registrar pay

GP Registrar Pay in Australia: NTCER Base Rates & the Billings Percentage

GP registrars aren't paid like hospital registrars. Instead of a straight award salary, they're paid under the NTCER — the National Terms and Conditions for the Employment of Registrars — which sets a minimum base salary and a minimum percentage of billings, and pays you whichever is higher. Here's how that actually works, and what it means for your pay.

The short version

The NTCER sets two floors: a minimum base salary by training level, and a minimum 44.79% of your gross billings/receipts.
You're paid the higher of the two each pay period — it is not base salary plus 44.79%.
12% superannuation is added on top of whichever is higher, never counted inside the percentage.
These are minimums only. Practices can and do negotiate higher base rates and/or a higher percentage — but the real-world market percentages are not published anywhere centrally, so be wary of any quoted "average".
The current instrument is NTCER v2026.2, with base rates effective from the first full pay period after 1 July 2026.

What is the NTCER?

The National Terms and Conditions for the Employment of Registrars (NTCER) is the agreement that sets the minimum employment terms for GP registrars. It's jointly owned and updated by General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) and GP Supervision Australia (GPSA), and it covers base salary, the percentage-of-billings floor, superannuation, leave, and on-call/after-hours arrangements.

It applies to GP registrars training on the AGPT (Australian General Practice Training) pathway. For non-AGPT pathways such as the RVTS, the NTCER is recommended as a template rather than being automatically binding on every employer, so check what your specific contract adopts. The current version is NTCER v2026.2, which supersedes all earlier versions.

NTCER minimum base rates (v2026.2)

These are the minimum full-time base salaries by training level, effective from the first full pay period after 1 July 2026 under NTCER v2026.2. Full-time is a 38-hour week. Superannuation of 12% is paid on top; the equivalent weekly and hourly figures are shown for reference.

Training level	Per annum (min)	Per 38-hour week	Per hour
GPT1 / CGT1 / PRRT1 (first stage)	$99,847.28	$1,920.14	$50.53
GPT2 / CGT2 / PRRT2	$112,058.96	$2,154.98	$56.71
GPT3 / CGT3 and above (incl. GPT4 / PRRT4)	$119,646.80	$2,300.90	$60.55

Minimum full-time base salaries, NTCER v2026.2, effective from the first full pay period after 1 July 2026 (GPRA base rates). There is no separate higher GPT4 rate — GPT4/PRRT4 sit at the "GPT3 and above" level ($119,646.80). Older figures still circulate online (for example the superseded 1 July 2025 GPT1 rate) — always check the figure is quoted against the current v2026.2 effective date before relying on it.

The 44.79% of-billings floor ("the percentage")

The base rate is only one of the two floors. The NTCER also guarantees a minimum 44.79% of your in-hours, after-hours and on-call gross billings or receipts — known simply as "the percentage". Each pay period, you receive whichever is higher: the applicable base rate, or 44.79% of your billings.

It's the higher of, not the sum. You do not get your base salary plus 44.79% of billings — you get the greater of the two. Framing it as "base plus 44.79%" overstates the pay.
Super is on top. The 12% superannuation is applied to whichever is higher and is added on top of the percentage — it is never bundled into the 44.79%. Watch for any offer quoting a percentage "inclusive of super".
Reconciled at least monthly. The practice must reconcile your percentage-of-billings against your base rate and pay any shortfall no less frequently than once each month. (This tightened from a longer quarterly cycle in the recent review — a monthly cycle favours the registrar.)

Early in a term your billings are still ramping up, so the base rate usually does the work. As your billings build through the year, the percentage increasingly overtakes the base — which is why most registrars end up earning more than the headline base figure.

A floor, not a ceiling — and why "the average percentage" doesn't exist

This is the part that trips people up. 44.79% is the legal minimum, not the going rate. The NTCER explicitly permits individual practices and services to offer a higher base rate and/or a higher percentage of billings — and many do, particularly to attract registrars to rural or high-demand practices.

But here is the important caveat, and we won't pretend otherwise: the actual market percentages are not centrally published anywhere. Neither GPRA nor GPSA reports an "average" or "typical" negotiated percentage. So if you see a confident claim that "60% is standard" or that "the average is X%", treat it with scepticism — it isn't a published, verifiable figure, it's negotiated practice-by-practice. What you can rely on is the 44.79% floor; anything above it is a matter of what you and a specific practice agree.

Superannuation

GP registrars receive 12% superannuation — the final legislated Superannuation Guarantee rate from 1 July 2025, with no further scheduled increases. Under the NTCER it's applied to whichever is higher of your base rate or your percentage of billings, and it's added on top, not counted within the 44.79%. From 1 July 2026, "payday super" also applies, meaning employers must pay your super at the same time as your wages rather than quarterly.

GP registrar vs hospital registrar pay

It's natural to compare GP-registrar pay against the hospital registrar salary you may be leaving behind — but they're governed by completely different systems, so the comparison needs care.

Different instruments. GP registrars are paid under the NTCER (base + percentage-of-billings). Hospital registrars are paid under their state award or enterprise agreement, as a straight salary with overtime and penalty rates on top.
The headline base can look lower for GP. A first-stage GP registrar's NTCER base ($99,847.28/yr) sits below a typical Year-1 hospital-registrar award base. But that's only the floor, not what most GP registrars actually earn.
The percentage changes the picture. Because GP registrars are paid the higher of base or 44.79% of billings, real earnings commonly climb above the base as billings build — while hospital registrars pick up overtime and penalties on top of their base. The honest answer is that it depends on your billings, your hours, and how the term is structured.

For the actual hospital-registrar award figures, see our NSW registrar pay page and our guide to unaccredited registrar pay. Those are state-award salaries, not NTCER figures — the two systems shouldn't be read off the same scale. We deliberately don't headline a single hospital-vs-GP dollar gap here, because the hospital base is award-driven and moves independently of the NTCER.

What actually lands in your account

Whichever floor applies, the figures above are gross. Your take-home still has income tax, the Medicare levy and any HECS/HELP repayment taken out, and — if you bill as a contractor in some arrangements — potentially different tax treatment again. To model the salaried-equivalent side of it on your own numbers, use the take-home pay calculator. For the percentage side, your gross depends on your billing volume, which no calculator can predict for you.

FAQ

How much does a GP registrar earn in Australia in 2026?

Under the current NTCER (v2026.2), the MINIMUM full-time base salary is $99,847.28/yr for a GPT1/CGT1 (first-stage) registrar, $112,058.96/yr for GPT2/CGT2, and $119,646.80/yr for GPT3/CGT3 and above, plus 12% superannuation. These are effective from the first full pay period after 1 July 2026. But base salary is only a floor: registrars are actually paid the HIGHER of the base rate or 44.79% of their gross billings/receipts each pay period, so most earn more than the base once their billings ramp up. (Source: gpra.org.au/ntcer/base-rates-pay/)

What is the minimum percentage of billings a GP registrar must be paid?

The NTCER sets a floor of 44.79% of the registrar's in-hours, after-hours and on-call GROSS billings or receipts ('the percentage'). Each pay period the registrar receives whichever is higher — the base rate or 44.79% of billings — and 12% superannuation is added ON TOP of that (never counted within the 44.79%). Practices reconcile the two at least monthly. (Source: NTCER v2026.1 PDF, gpra.org.au)

Is 44.79% the going rate, or can I negotiate a higher percentage?

44.79% is only the legal MINIMUM. The NTCER explicitly states individual practices/services are free to offer higher base rates and/or a higher percentage of billings/receipts, and many do — especially to attract registrars to rural or high-demand practices. Crucially, actual market percentages are NOT centrally published anywhere by GPRA or GPSA, so treat any '60% is normal' or single 'average' figure with scepticism — it's negotiated practice-by-practice. (Source: gpra.org.au/ntcer/base-rates-pay/)

How does GP registrar pay compare to a hospital registrar's salary?

On paper the base looks lower for GP: a first-stage GP registrar's NTCER base is $99,847/yr, which sits below the Year-1 base a NSW hospital registrar earns on the state award (see our NSW registrar pay page for that figure). But the comparison is misleading because GP registrars are paid the HIGHER of base or 44.79% of billings, so real earnings commonly exceed the base once billings build; hospital registrars also earn overtime/penalties on top of base. Hospital registrars are on state awards, not the NTCER. (Source: gpra.org.au)

How much superannuation do GP registrars get, and is it on top of the percentage?

12% — the final legislated Superannuation Guarantee rate from 1 July 2025, with no further scheduled increases. Under the NTCER it is applied to whichever is higher of your base rate or your percentage of billings/receipts, and it must be ADDED ON TOP of the 44.79% percentage, not bundled into it. From 1 July 2026 employers must pay super at the same time as wages. (Source: NTCER v2026.1 PDF, gpra.org.au)

What is the NTCER and who does it cover?

The National Terms and Conditions for the Employment of Registrars (NTCER) is the agreement — jointly owned and updated by General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) and GP Supervision Australia (GPSA) — that sets the MINIMUM employment terms for GP registrars on the AGPT training pathway (and is recommended as a template for non-AGPT pathways such as RVTS). It covers base salary, the percentage-of-billings floor, superannuation, leave, on-call/after-hours and more. The current version is v2026.2. (Source: gpra.org.au/ntcer/)

Sources & methodology

The base rates, the 44.79% percentage floor, the "higher of" mechanism, the 12% super rule and the monthly reconciliation cycle are drawn from the current NTCER (v2026.2) and its published agreement, jointly maintained by GPRA and GP Supervision Australia. Base rates are quoted with their effective date (first full pay period after 1 July 2026); older, superseded rate sets are not published here as current. The hospital-registrar comparison points to our state award pages for the actual salaried figures — hospital registrars are on state awards, not the NTCER, and the two shouldn't be read off the same scale. Nothing here is personal financial or contract advice; check your own agreement and get advice on contractor/tax structure before you sign.