Home › Nurse pay › Guides › Penalty rates by state

Nurse Penalty Rates by State: What a Weekend Shift Is Worth

The base rate is only half the story. For nurses, afternoon, night, weekend and public-holiday penalty rates are where a lot of the pay actually is — and each state sets them differently. Here is every public-sector state compared, straight from the awards.

Penalty rates by state (public sector)

State	Afternoon	Night	Saturday	Sunday	Public holiday	Overtime (first hours)
New South Wales (NSW)	+12.5%	+20%	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	1.75×	2.5×	1.5× first 2h, then 2×
Victoria (VIC)	$36.60/shift	$114.00/shift (Mon–Thu; higher on weekend nights)	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	2.5×	1.5× first 2h, then 2×
Queensland (QLD)	+12.5%	+20%	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	2× (double time)	2.5×	1.5× first 3h, then 2×
South Australia (SA)	+12.5%	+20.5%	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	1.75×	2.5×	1.5× first 3h, then 2×
Western Australia (WA)	+15%	+35%	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	1.75×	1.5× (time-and-a-half) (loading on top of retained PH entitlement ≈ 2.5× effective)	1.5× first 3h, then 2×
Tasmania (TAS)	+15%	+27.5%	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	1.75×	2.5×	1.5× first 2h, then 2×
Northern Territory (NT)	+17%	+25%	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	2× (double time)	2.5×	1.5× first 3h, then 2×
ACT	+12.5%	+25%	1.5× (time-and-a-half)	1.75×	2.5×	1.5× first 3h, then 2×

Loadings are the ordinary-time multipliers or flat allowances in each state's public-sector Nurses and Midwives award/agreement (see Sources); they are what the nurse take-home calculator applies. Percentages are the extra on top of your base rate; "1.5×" means time-and-a-half. Victoria pays afternoon and night as flat per-shift dollar allowances rather than percentages. Casual loading, on-call and specific shift-definition rules aren't shown here — check your instrument.

What one shift is really worth (worked example)

Take a NSW registered nurse in their first year, on $1,521.10 a week (38 hours, about $40.03 an hour). For an 8-hour shift:

Ordinary weekday: $320.23.
Saturday (1.5×): $480.35 — about $160 more than the weekday shift.
Sunday (1.75×): $560.41.
Public holiday (2.5×): $800.58.
A night shift adds about $64 on top of the weekday rate for the same 8 hours.

Gross figures, before tax, super, HECS and any casual loading or allowances. Your own rate depends on your state, step and roster — model it in the nurse take-home calculator.

How to read the table

Percentage loadings are extra pay on top of your ordinary hourly rate. "+12.5%" afternoon means you earn 1.125 times your base rate for those hours.
Saturday and Sunday are shown as multipliers of ordinary time. Every state pays Saturday at time-and-a-half. Sunday is 1.75× in most states, double time in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and 1.5× in Victoria.
Victoria is the exception on afternoon and night: instead of a percentage it pays a flat dollar allowance per shift, so the value depends less on your grade.
Public holidays are the biggest single loading, typically 2.5×. Western Australia's agreement expresses it as a 50% loading paid on top of the retained public-holiday entitlement, which works out close to 2.5× in effective value.
Overtime is time-and-a-half for the first hours, then double time after a set point — the table shows that threshold (for example, "1.5× first 3h, then 2×"). The exact threshold and any weekend/public-holiday overtime rules are in your instrument.

Why penalty rates matter more for nurses

Nursing is a 24/7, rostered profession, so a large share of nurses' hours fall into penalty time. Two nurses on the identical base rate can take home very different pay depending on how many weekends, nights and public holidays they work. That's why comparing states on base rate alone is misleading — a state with a lower base but a heavier weekend roster can out-earn a higher-base state, and vice versa. To see it on your own numbers, set your real shift pattern in the calculator, or compare base rates first on nurse pay by state.

FAQ

What are penalty rates for nurses in Australia?

Penalty rates are extra pay for working less sociable hours: afternoon and night shifts, weekends and public holidays. For public-sector nurses each state sets them in its Nurses and Midwives award or enterprise agreement. Most states pay them as a percentage loading on your base rate — for example a Saturday at time-and-a-half — while Victoria pays flat per-shift dollar allowances for afternoon and night shifts.

How much extra is a Saturday shift worth for a nurse?

In most states a Saturday is paid at 1.5 times your ordinary rate — 50% more than a weekday shift. For a NSW registered nurse in their first year on about $40.03 an hour, an eight-hour Saturday shift pays roughly $480, about $160 more than the same weekday shift. Queensland and the Northern Territory pay Sunday at double time.

Which state pays nurses the best penalty rates?

It depends on the shift. Sunday is highest in Queensland and the Northern Territory (double time), 1.75 times in New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, and lowest in Victoria (1.5 times); night loadings are highest in Western Australia (+35%). But penalty rates sit on top of different base rates, so the state with the best loading isn't automatically the best take-home — compare the base rate too, and model your actual roster.

Do part-time and casual nurses get penalty rates?

Part-time nurses receive the same shift and weekend penalties as full-time nurses for the hours they work. Casual nurses receive a casual loading on top, and the interaction between the casual loading and penalties varies by instrument, so casual weekend rates can be substantially higher. Check your specific agreement.

Sources & methodology

Loadings are drawn verbatim from each state's current public-sector Nurses and Midwives award or enterprise agreement, and are the same set applied by our nurse take-home calculator. They are base multipliers and flat allowances; casual loading, on-call, and the precise shift-time definitions are set out in each instrument. The worked example uses the NSW registered-nurse first-year base rate from our maintained pay dataset.