Know what you'll earn, where your nursing career can lead, and how to keep more of every dollar.
Built by Jacob Stretton, RN & final-year medical student. Your guide to the pay, finance and career side of being a nurse in Australia. About & methodology →
Start here Pay scale, take-home and penalty rates.
Open the calculator →Nurse take-home pay calculator
Model your real pay — base, shift & weekend penalties, overtime, tax, HECS and packaging, by state and role.
Calculate my pay → Salary guideNurse salary in Australia
The national picture: what RNs and ENs earn in every state, per hour and after tax, from the live award scales.
See the numbers → Pay tablesCompare nurse pay by state
Base rates, allowances and penalties side by side across all eight states and territories.
Compare all states →Career & role pathways How to qualify and step up, role by role.
Money & finance Keep more of what you earn — and understand your payslip.
All guides →Nurse pay explained
Penalties, allowances, overtime and leave loading — and how they vary by state.
Salary packaging
Which FBT cap applies — about $9,010 at any hospital vs $15,900 at non-hospital charities and aged care — and what it's worth.
HECS / HELP for nurses
When repayments start on a nursing salary, indexation, and how packaging interacts with your debt.
All nurse guides
The full library of nurse pay, money and career guides in one place.
Pay by state Open the award-sourced rates for your state.
Compare all states →Last updated: