Queensland Clinical Nurse (senior clinical grades) Pay 2025–26
Queensland's senior clinical track — clinical nurse, consultant, educator and nurse practitioner (Nurse Grades 6–8) — rewards the postgraduate qualifications Queensland also pays an allowance for.
In Queensland public health, a clinical nurse earns from $2,184.40 per week ($113,979 a year) to $3,153.00 ($164,519) across the scale — before shift penalties, allowances and overtime.
Becoming a clinical nurse
The senior clinical track for RNs who go deep in one specialty rather than into management — Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) and Nurse Educator, and at the top the Nurse Practitioner (NP), who can autonomously assess, diagnose, prescribe and refer within scope.
Full pathway: how to become a clinical nurse in Australia →
Pay scale
Base rates, in force from 1 April 2026 — before penalties, allowances and overtime. Nurse Grades 6–8, in force from 1 April 2026.
| Grade | Weekly | Hourly | Annualised |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Grade 6) | $2,184.40 | $57.48 | $113,979 |
| Clinical Nurse — top paypoint | $2,339.04 | $61.55 | $122,048 |
| Associate Clinical Nurse/Consultant (Grade 6.2) | $2,455.36 | $64.61 | $128,117 |
| Clinical Nurse Consultant / Nurse Educator (Grade 7) | $2,682.15 | $70.58 | $139,951 |
| Clinical Nurse Consultant — top | $2,912.10 | $76.63 | $151,949 |
| Nurse Practitioner (Grade 8) | $3,019.99 | $79.47 | $157,579 |
| Nurse Practitioner — top | $3,153.00 | $82.97 | $164,519 |
Ways to earn more
- Move from Clinical Nurse (Nurse Grade 6, $2,184/wk) up through Clinical Nurse Consultant (Grade 7, to $2,912/wk) to Nurse Practitioner (Grade 8, to $3,153/wk) — the clinical track nearly $1,000/wk above where it starts.
- Hold a recognised postgraduate qualification: as a Nurse Grade 5–7 you keep the qualification allowance of 3.5% of the Grade 5 paypoint-7 rate (about $75/wk), or 5.5% for a masters/PhD (about $118/wk), stacked on top of your clinical-grade salary (Award cl 13.1).
- Endorse as a Nurse Practitioner (Nurse Grade 8) — the top of the clinical track at $3,153/wk and the highest non-management clinical rate.
- Add the professional development allowance — up to $3,726/yr if permanent and working 16+ hours a fortnight.
- Penalties still apply at these grades: a 20% night loading (25% on a Sunday night) plus ~$11,660/yr tax-free salary packaging.
CNS, CNC and Nurse Educator are pay classifications set by each state's nursing award — eligibility (years of experience, whether a postgraduate qualification is mandatory) varies by state and employer, and holding a Master's alone doesn't confer the grade. Only Nurse Practitioner is a fixed national NMBA endorsement.
Allowances you can claim
On top of base pay — the allowances most relevant to this role.
Where it leads next
Step up from here: Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) · Nurse Practitioner (NP) · Nurse management — see exactly what each step takes →
Frequently asked questions
How much does a clinical nurse earn in Queensland?
What is the starting clinical nurse salary in Queensland?
Do Queensland nurses get paid more for nights and weekends?
Annual, parental, long-service and study leave, plus overtime, on-call and the full allowance list, are set out in the Queensland nurse pay & conditions guide.
Pay figures are drawn from the Nurses and Midwives (Queensland Health) Certified Agreement (EB12) 2025. Confirm your exact classification, step and allowances against the current instrument and your payslip.