Agency vs Permanent Nurse Pay in Australia: The Total-Value Comparison
Agency and casual nursing quotes a much higher hourly rate — but that headline includes the 25% casual loading, which is paid instead of paid leave, not on top of it. This compares the same registered nurse working permanent in a public hospital versus agency/casual, valuing paid leave, super on the loaded rate, and the salary-packaging cap agency nurses can't touch. Rates are indicative — state EBAs move, so edit them to your own.
Total-value comparison
Permanent total value
—
pay + super + packaging + LSL
Agency total value
—
loaded pay + super
Difference
—
| Component | Permanent | Agency / casual |
|---|
The permanent is paid across all weeks (leave included) at base; the agency nurse is paid only weeks worked at the loaded rate. The 25% loading is credited once, on worked hours — it is the casual's compensation for the leave they don't get, so we don't also give them paid leave. Salary packaging is a genuine permanent-only advantage. Total value is a gross package, not take-home.
How this is modelled (read before trusting it)
- Same base for both. A common mistake is comparing a state-award permanent rate against a federal Nurses-Award-minimum casual rate — that inflates the apparent agency premium. Here both sides start from the same state base; the agency headline is usually that base plus the 25% casual loading, and sometimes a market top-up on top — at a typical ~$65/hr metro rate it's close to the loaded rate with little or no premium.
- The 25% loading is leave-in-lieu, not a bonus. Under the Nurses Award 2020 [MA000034] cl 11.1 the loading is paid instead of paid annual/sick leave, public holidays and notice/redundancy. So we either pay the permanent for their leave or credit the casual the loading — never both. The permanent is paid 52 weeks at base (leave included); the casual is paid only weeks worked at the loaded rate.
- Permanent entitlements are worth ~30–35% of base. Directly-quantifiable leave alone — 4 weeks annual leave (~8%), 17.5% leave loading (~1.35%), 10 days personal leave (~3.8%), ~11 public holidays (~3.65%) — is already ~16–19% of base. Add long-service-leave accrual (~1.7%/yr once qualified) and the security value of notice/redundancy, and the true value exceeds the 25% loading.
- Super applies to both — but per hour worked. Casuals get 12% too, and on the loaded rate, so their super per hour can exceed a permanent's. But super is only paid on hours worked: a casual earns none during unpaid weeks off, while a permanent accrues super on paid leave.
- Salary packaging is permanent-only here. The public-hospital $9,010 FBT-exempt cap follows the employer, not the workplace. A private nursing agency isn't an FBT-exempt employer, so agency nurses can't package their agency income even when placed in a public hospital — a real ~$2,900–$4,000/yr advantage permanents have.
- Not modelled: shift cancellations and lumpy demand (lower the "weeks worked" to reflect them), premium/short-notice/regional loadings and travel/accommodation packages (which is where agency most clearly out-earns permanent), structured increment progression, employer-funded CPD, and the ~80% lender discount on casual income that cuts borrowing capacity. Rates are indicative; state EBAs change — confirm current figures before relying on this.
FAQ
Does the 25% casual loading make agency nursing pay more than a permanent job?
Not usually. The 25% casual loading is paid in lieu of the entitlements a permanent gets — paid annual leave, sick and carer's leave, paid public holidays, notice and redundancy. When you actually value those entitlements they come to roughly 16 to 19 percent of base for leave alone, and once you add long service leave accrual, the public-hospital salary-packaging cap and income security, the true value of being permanent is around 30 to 35 percent of base — more than the 25 percent loading. Agency only comes out ahead if you work high, consistent hours and pick up premium, short-notice or regional shifts.
Can an agency nurse use the $9,010 public-hospital salary-packaging cap?
No. The FBT exemption that makes the $9,010 general-living cap possible follows the employer, not the workplace. Agency nurses are employed by a private, for-profit nursing agency, which is not an FBT-exempt employer, so they cannot salary-package their agency income even when they are physically working in a public hospital. For a nurse in a typical marginal bracket the cap is worth roughly $2,900 to $4,000 a year in tax saved, which is a genuine permanent-only advantage and often the deciding factor.
Do agency and casual nurses still get superannuation?
Yes. Casual and agency nurses receive the 12% super guarantee (FY2026-27) on ordinary time earnings from the first dollar, and because a casual's ordinary time earnings include the 25% loading, their super is calculated on the higher loaded rate. The catch is that super is only paid on hours actually worked — a casual earns no super during the unpaid weeks they take off, whereas a permanent keeps earning super while on paid leave.
Why does this tool pay the permanent for 52 weeks but the agency nurse for fewer?
Because that is the like-for-like comparison. A permanent is paid across all 52 weeks including their paid leave, so their base pay already covers the weeks they are not at work. A casual is only paid for hours actually worked, so every week they take off is unpaid — you must multiply their loaded rate by the weeks they realistically work, not by 52. Comparing a permanent's 52-week income against an agency headline rate times 52 weeks double-counts, because it gives the casual the loading and pretends they are paid for leave they never receive.
Sources & methodology
- Fair Work Ombudsman — Nurses Award 2020 [MA000034] (25% casual loading, cl 11.1, and its purpose as leave-in-lieu).
- State public-sector nursing rates: NSW PHS Award 2025, ANMF (Vic) EA 2024-28, Qld Health EB12 2025, WA Health-ANF Agreement 2024. VIC and QLD figures are indicative — confirm the current increment column.
- ATO — how much super to pay (12% SG FY2026-27; casual OTE includes the loading) and ATO — FBT-exempt organisations (the public-hospital $9,010 cap follows the employer).
- Estimates only, not financial advice — every rate is editable because state EBAs move. See our nurse guides on salary packaging for nurses and nurse pay explained, and the nurse take-home pay calculator for the after-tax side.
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