Queensland Nurse Management (NUM / Director of Nursing) Pay 2025–26
Queensland's management track runs from nurse unit managers up through the director-of-nursing grades to executive director of nursing — pay scales steeply with the size of the facility.
In Queensland public health, a nurse manager earns from $2,682.15 per week ($139,951 a year) to $5,055.29 ($263,778) across the scale — before shift penalties, allowances and overtime.
Becoming a nurse manager
The nursing leadership and operations track. A Nurse Unit Manager (NUM) runs a single ward or unit — staffing, roster, budget, clinical governance — while staying a registered nurse; a Nurse Manager / Director of Nursing (DON) leads nursing across a facility or service, up to Executive Director of Nursing.
Full pathway: how to become a nurse manager in Australia →
Pay scale
Base rates, in force from 1 April 2026 — before penalties, allowances and overtime. Nurse Grades 7 and 9–13, in force from 1 April 2026.
| Grade | Weekly | Hourly | Annualised |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse Unit Manager / Nurse Manager (Grade 7) | $2,682.15 | $70.58 | $139,951 |
| Nurse Unit Manager — top | $2,912.10 | $76.63 | $151,949 |
| Director of Nursing – Remote (Grade 9) | $3,084.45 | $81.17 | $160,942 |
| Assistant Director / Director of Nursing – Rural (Grade 10) | $3,153.00 | $82.97 | $164,519 |
| Nursing/Midwifery Director / Director of Nursing (Grade 11) | $3,528.25 | $92.85 | $184,099 |
| Director of Nursing (Grade 12) | $3,884.26 | $102.22 | $202,675 |
| Health Service / Executive Director of Nursing (Grade 13) | $4,157.95 | $109.42 | $216,956 |
| Executive Director of Nursing — Grade 13.2 | $5,055.29 | $133.03 | $263,778 |
Ways to earn more
- Step up the director-of-nursing grades by facility size and remoteness: Remote DON (Grade 9, $3,084/wk) → Rural (Grade 10, $3,153/wk) → facility director (Grade 11, $3,528/wk) → Grade 12 ($3,884/wk) → Executive Director of Nursing (Grade 13, to $5,055/wk).
- Moving to a bigger or more remote service is a direct pay step — the gap from Nurse Unit Manager ($2,682/wk) to Executive Director of Nursing ($5,055/wk) is about $2,373/wk.
- Keep a recognised postgraduate qualification while at Nurse Grade 5–7: the qualification allowance of 3.5%/5.5% of the Grade 5 paypoint-7 rate (about $75–$118/wk) still applies up to Grade 7.
- In a designated remote (MM6/MM7) DON post, add the RANIP isolation bonus — $3,605 after year 1, $10,815 after year 2, then $7,210 each year after, paid as a lump sum.
- Salary-package about $11,660/yr tax-free on top of the management salary.
Pay grade in most public awards is driven by the size/complexity of the unit or facility you manage (a role-evaluation/'span of control' assessment), not by years of service — so moving to a larger hospital is often the real mechanism for a pay step up.
Allowances you can claim
On top of base pay — the allowances most relevant to this role.
Where it leads next
Step up from here: Nurse Manager → Director of Nursing — see exactly what each step takes →
Frequently asked questions
How much does a nurse manager earn in Queensland?
What is the starting nurse manager 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.