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Northern Territory Clinical Nurse (senior clinical grades) Pay 2025–26

The NT's senior clinical grades (N3 and above) sit above the N2 registered nurse, rewarding qualifications and experience — and remote loadings stack on top.

★ The biggest lever beyond your increments
The senior clinical grades start around $2,130.64/wk (N3 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 1) — well above the top of the base RN scale. Stepping into them with the right postgraduate qualifications and specialty experience is the largest pay jump available without moving into management.

Pay scale

Base rates, in force from 19 August 2025 — before penalties, allowances and overtime. Entry/each step shown (19 August 2025).

GradeWeeklyHourlyAnnualised
N3 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 1$2,130.64$56.07$111,174
N3 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 2$2,215.95$58.31$115,625
N3 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 3$2,276.49$59.91$118,784
N3 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 4$2,299.49$60.51$119,984
N4 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 1$2,371.03$62.40$123,717
N4 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 2$2,454.03$64.58$128,048
N4 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 3$2,547.31$67.03$132,915
N4 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 4$2,573.03$67.71$134,257
N5 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 1$2,610.94$68.71$136,235
N5 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 2$2,720.60$71.59$141,957
N5 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 3$2,748.08$72.32$143,391

Ways to earn more

  • The senior clinical grades run from $2,130.64 to $2,748.08/wk — a large step above the base RN scale.
  • Relevant postgraduate qualifications and specialty experience are what unlock these grades; qualification allowances may stack on top.

Allowances you can claim

On top of base pay — the allowances most relevant to this role.

Professional Development AllowanceReimbursement: $779/yr (1-2 yrs service) or…
Annual allowance to reimburse professional development costs. Reimbursement model (default for new claimants): $779/yr with 1-2 years service, $2,334/yr with more than 2…
Attraction and Retention Incentive AllowanceUp to $9,000 (Remote) over 24 months; $7,500…
Lump-sum attraction + retention payments paid to ALL nurses and midwives, scaled by location. Attraction component: $1,000 (Darwin/Palmerston & Katherine/Gove), $1,500…
Remote Rental Concession100% rental concession
Remote nurses living in remote departmental (employer-provided) accommodation pay no rent — a full 100% concession. This is one of the largest hidden financial benefits…
Relocation Expenses: Gove District HospitalReasonable relocation expenses…
The department pays reasonable relocation/removal expenses back to Darwin for ongoing Gove District Hospital employees who resign or retire — but ONLY after completing 7…
Uniform Allowance$592/yr (effective 09.08.2025)
Paid per annum to any employee who is NOT provided with a uniform. Scheduled increases: $542 (Aug 2022), $558/$559 (Aug 2023), $575 (Aug 2024), $592 (Aug 2025).
Salary packaging~$11,660/yr tax-free
As a public-hospital employee you can package about $9,010 of everyday expenses plus ~$2,650 of meal entertainment FBT-free, plus a novated car lease — and it doesn't reduce any penalty or allowance.

Leave, study & the full conditions

Leave and study support (annual, parental, long-service, study leave, the career-break scheme), the overtime, minimum-break and on-call rules, and the complete allowance list apply across all Northern Territory nurse classifications — see the full Northern Territory nurse pay & conditions guide.

Pay figures are drawn from the Northern Territory Public Sector Nurses and Midwives' 2022-2026 Enterprise Agreement. Confirm your exact classification, step and allowances against the current instrument and your payslip.