South Australian registered nurses are paid on a single Level 1 scale of nine increments, then step up to the clinical (Level 2+) and management grades. SA pays notable rural and remote incentives on top.
Stepping into the senior clinical grades (from $1,742/wk — above the top of the base RN scale) is the largest pay jump beyond your annual increments, and South Australia pays a qualification allowance that rewards postgraduate study. Far more accessible than people assume — and most who are eligible never apply.
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)).
Climb your annual increments — the registered-nurse scale runs from $1,491.50 to $2,035.07 a week before penalties.
Step into the senior clinical grades (from $1,742.34/wk for Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2) — 1st increment) — 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.
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…
Responsibility AllowanceUp to $8,586/yr ($4.33/hr) (from Jan 2025)
Annual/hourly allowance for nominated coordination/responsibility roles. From Jan 2025: DON-M classifications 6.1–6.3 = $4,294/yr ($2.17/hr); DON-M 6.4–6.5 = $7,162/yr…
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…
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.