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Northern Territory Registered Nurse Pay 2025–26

NT registered nurses are paid on the N-band scale (a registered nurse is N2), and the Territory pays some of the strongest remote and retention money in the country on top — worth tens of thousands a year in remote roles.

★ The biggest levers most nurses underuse
Stepping into the senior clinical grades (from $2,131/wk — above the top of the base RN scale) is the largest pay jump beyond your annual increments. Far more accessible than people assume — and most who are eligible never apply.

Pay scale

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

StepWeeklyHourlyAnnualised
N2F - Registered Nurse/Midwife in Training (75% of N2)$1,159.50$30.51$60,501
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 1$1,545.94$40.68$80,665
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 2$1,629.17$42.87$85,008
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 3$1,712.39$45.06$89,350
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 4$1,795.62$47.25$93,693
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 5$1,892.62$49.81$98,754
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 6$1,965.44$51.72$102,554
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 7$2,045.32$53.82$106,722
N2 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 8$2,065.98$54.37$107,800

Ways to earn more

  • Climb your annual increments — the registered-nurse scale runs from $1,159.50 to $2,065.98 a week before penalties.
  • Step into the senior clinical grades (from $2,130.64/wk for N3 (Registered Nurse / Registered Midwife) increment 1) — the biggest pay jump beyond your increments.
  • Work nights and weekends, and salary-package about $11,660 a year tax-free.

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…
Shift Responsibility AllowanceDifference up to Nurse 3 (level 3.1) salary…
When no senior nurse (Nurse 3-6) is rostered in charge of a hospital ward, a Nurse 2 who takes on shift management responsibility for more than 5 hours is paid a…
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.