South Australia Clinical Nurse (senior clinical grades) Pay 2025–26
South Australia's senior clinical track — clinical nurse/midwife (Level 2) and above — rewards postgraduate qualifications, and the qualification allowance can be worth thousands a year.
The senior clinical grades start around $1,742.34/wk (Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 1st increment) — 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 1 January 2026 (incl. 4% interim increase) — before penalties, allowances and overtime. Entry/each step shown (1 January 2026 (incl. 4% interim increase)).
Grade
Weekly
Hourly
Annualised
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 1st increment
$1,742.34
$45.85
$90,913
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 2nd increment
$1,812.40
$47.69
$94,568
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 3rd increment
$1,882.56
$49.54
$98,229
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 4th increment
$1,952.63
$51.39
$101,885
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 5th increment
$2,035.07
$53.55
$106,187
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 6th increment
$2,059.99
$54.21
$107,487
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 7th increment
$2,107.46
$55.46
$109,964
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 8th increment
$2,154.90
$56.71
$112,440
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 9th increment
$2,202.38
$57.96
$114,917
Nurse Practitioner (Level 4) — 1st increment
$2,634.49
$69.33
$137,464
Nurse Practitioner (Level 4) — 2nd increment
$2,704.19
$71.16
$141,101
Nurse Practitioner (Level 4) — 3rd increment
$2,745.99
$72.26
$143,282
Ways to earn more
The senior clinical grades run from $1,742.34 to $2,745.99/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.
Annual allowance for a relevant additional qualification held beyond your base registration: 3.5% (hospital certificate or graduate certificate) = $3,573.70; 4.5%…
Professional Development Allowance$2,547.70/yr (from 1 July 2025)
Paid into salary fortnightly (including during paid leave) to fund CPD for AHPRA registration. Increased each July 2023–2025 by $400 plus salary increases: it reached…
Rural & Remote Service Incentive PaymentUp to $6,696.80/yr (Zone 4, Yr 5, from Jan…
Annual incentive paid fortnightly to nursing/midwifery staff at sites in Zones 2, 3 or 4, escalating by year of service (Years 1–5; nothing after the 5th year in a…
Rural & Remote — one-off incidental (relocation) paymentZone 2 $502 / Zone 3 $668 / Zone 4 $837 (from…
A one-off incidental payment paid when you take up an appointment at a Zone 2, 3 or 4 site, on top of the annual Zone incentive. From first full pay period on/after 1…
Paid per on-call period (between rostered shifts, max 24h). Mon–Fri $38.70; Weekends/Public Holidays/RDOs $67.60 from Jan 2025. If a period spans two days at different…
Uniform allowance$9.20/week (from Jan 2025)
Paid to full-time employees (pro-rata part-time, excluding casuals) required to wear a distinctive uniform/clothing item. $8.60 (2023) → $8.90 (2024) → $9.20 (2025). NOT…
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 South Australia nurse classifications — see the full South Australia nurse pay & conditions guide.