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Unaccredited Registrar Pay in Australia: What You Actually Earn

The short answer surprises people: an unaccredited or "service" registrar is paid on the same award scale as an accredited registrar. Public-hospital pay follows your classification level and years of service, not whether you hold a training-program place.

The short version

Award pay is set by the position you hold and your years of service, not by whether you're on an accredited college program.
An unaccredited registrar in a registrar-classified position earns the same base as an accredited registrar at the same step.
First-year registrar base pay runs from about $107,655 (SA) to $138,978 (TAS, on a longer 43-hour week) in 2025–26. The full table is below.
Queensland is the one that trips people up: an unaccredited registrar is titled a Principal House Officer, but that sits on the registrar-equivalent pay scale.
The real cost of being unaccredited is career progression and training recognition, not the fortnightly pay.

Registrar base pay by state (2025–26)

These are the award registrar rates, the same scale an unaccredited/service registrar in a registrar-classified position is paid on. First-year base, top step, and the ordinary hours the base assumes (so the comparison is fair, since a higher base on a longer week isn't a higher hourly rate). Each state links to its full registrar pay page.

State	Registrar Yr 1 base	Top step	Ordinary hrs/wk	Unaccredited title used
Tasmania (TAS)	$138,978	$194,675	43	service / unaccredited registrar
Queensland (QLD)	$133,848	$147,008 PHO ceiling (L7)	38	Principal House Officer (PHO)
Victoria (VIC)	$129,491	$178,232	38	service / unaccredited registrar
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)	$125,473	$155,223	38	service / unaccredited registrar
Western Australia (WA)	$125,010	$170,682	40	service / unaccredited registrar
Northern Territory (NT)	$122,264	$153,195	38	service / unaccredited registrar
New South Wales (NSW)	$117,745	$147,663	38	service / unaccredited registrar
South Australia (SA)	$107,655	$158,523	38	service / unaccredited registrar

Base salaries from each state's award/EBA (see Sources); for seven states these are the registrar scale, which is the same scale unaccredited registrars in registrar-classified positions are paid on. For Queensland the top step shown is the unaccredited PHO ceiling (L7); accredited registrars continue two increments higher, to levels L8 and L9 ($150,874 then $154,749), which an unaccredited PHO cannot reach. All figures exclude overtime, on-call and shift penalties; model those in the take-home pay calculator. The table is sorted by first-year base, which can invert by the top step: South Australia starts lowest but its steep increments lift it above several states by the senior years. Tasmania and WA sit on longer standard weeks (43 and 40 hours), so part of their higher headline base is more hours, not a higher hourly rate.

Why the pay is the same

Public-hospital doctors are paid under state awards and enterprise agreements, and those instruments set pay by classification (intern → resident → registrar → senior registrar) and by increment (your year within that classification). Whether you're on an accredited training program doesn't appear in the pay calculation. It affects your title and progression in some states, but not the rate attached to the registrar level.

Two states make this explicit in their award wording:

New South Wales. The Public Hospital Medical Officers (State) Award defines a "Registrar" as a medical officer who has either at least three years' public-hospital experience or at least two years plus an accredited training program — and is appointed to and occupying an established registrar position. The accredited route is a fast-track on the experience limb, not a precondition: an experienced unaccredited doctor appointed to a registrar position is a registrar for pay purposes.
Queensland. The Medical Officers (Queensland Health) Award reserves "Registrar" for doctors on an accredited course and classifies unaccredited registrar-level doctors as Principal House Officers. Its salary table puts PHO at classification levels L4–L7 and Registrar at L4–L9, the same L4 starting scale. So across L4 to L7 a PHO earns the registrar-equivalent rate. Queensland is also the one place the equal-pay point has a ceiling: a PHO cannot progress past L7, while accredited registrars continue to L8 and L9, so at the senior end the accredited scale runs higher.

The other states' awards and agreements are built the same way: the base rate is attached to the classification level and increment, so a doctor doing registrar work in a registrar (or registrar-equivalent) position earns the registrar rate. Outside Queensland's PHO ceiling, an unaccredited registrar can progress through the full registrar scale.

The catch: you have to be in a registrar position

The equal-pay point holds only while you hold a registrar-classified position. If a hospital keeps an unaccredited doctor in a resident / senior house officer / SRMO role rather than a registrar post, even though they're doing registrar-level work, they're paid on the resident scale, which is lower. So the practical questions to ask about any unaccredited job are:

Is this position classified and paid as a registrar (or, in QLD, a PHO), or as a resident/SRMO?
What increment / year-step am I placed at? Award pay steps up with recognised years of service, and prior experience should usually be counted.
Is it a public-hospital award position at all? Private-hospital and agency/locum unaccredited posts sit outside these awards and are negotiated separately.

What actually differs between accredited and unaccredited

If the base pay is the same, what are you giving up in an unaccredited year? The differences are real, but they're about your career, not your payslip:

Training credit. Unaccredited time doesn't count towards fellowship unless a college recognises it retrospectively. It builds experience and a CV; it doesn't tick off training requirements.
Progression and job security. Accredited trainees have a defined path to consultancy and rolling contracts tied to the program; unaccredited posts are often year-to-year and you re-apply for training each cycle.
Support. Structured supervision, protected teaching, and study and exam leave/funding are typically stronger for accredited trainees, though many services extend some of this to their unaccredited registrars.
The exam and application load. Most unaccredited registrars are simultaneously sitting primary exams, building a logbook and re-applying — unpaid work that sits on top of the clinical job.

This is why unaccredited years are common in competitive specialties: the pay is the same as an accredited registrar, but the year is spent buying your way onto the program. See how much unaccredited time each specialty typically expects on the training pathway pages.

A note on terminology by state

The same job carries different labels around the country, which is part of why the pay question is so confusing:

"Service registrar" / "unaccredited registrar" — the general terms for a registrar-level doctor without a training-program place.
Principal House Officer (PHO) — Queensland's classification for the same role (paid on the registrar-equivalent L4+ scale).
Career Medical Officer (CMO) — a separate, distinct classification for experienced non-specialist doctors who aren't pursuing fellowship; a CMO is not the same thing as an unaccredited registrar and is paid on its own scale.

FAQ

Do unaccredited registrars get paid less than accredited registrars?

No. Public-hospital award pay is set by your classification level and years of service, not by whether you hold a training-program place. An unaccredited or service registrar working in a registrar-classified position is paid on the same award scale as an accredited registrar at the same step. What differs is career progression and training support, not the base rate.

How much do unaccredited registrars earn in Australia?

The same award registrar scale that accredited registrars are on. First-year registrar base salaries in 2025–26 range from about $107,655 in South Australia to $138,978 in Tasmania (Tasmania on a longer 43-hour standard week). Because pay follows the position, an unaccredited registrar at, say, year 2 of the registrar scale earns the year-2 registrar rate. Queensland is the exception at the top of the scale: an unaccredited PHO caps at level L7, two increments below the accredited registrar ceiling.

Why is an unaccredited registrar in Queensland called a Principal House Officer?

Queensland's award reserves the title Registrar for doctors on an accredited training program, and classifies unaccredited registrar-level doctors as Principal House Officers (PHOs). The salary structure puts PHO at classification levels L4 to L7 and Registrar at L4 to L9, so across L4 to L7 a PHO is paid on the registrar-equivalent scale. The difference is at the top: a PHO caps at L7, while accredited registrars continue to L8 and L9, so at the senior end the accredited scale runs higher.

Does a service registrar count towards specialist training?

Not automatically. Unaccredited or service registrar time is not accredited training time, so it usually does not count towards a college program unless the college recognises it retrospectively. Its value is the experience, references and logbook it builds while you apply for an accredited place — which is why many doctors spend one or more years as a service registrar first.

What is the difference between an accredited and unaccredited registrar?

An accredited registrar holds a place on a specialist college training program; an unaccredited (service) registrar does the same clinical registrar work without a training-program place. The base award pay at the same level is the same. The differences are that accredited time counts towards fellowship, and accredited trainees typically get structured supervision, protected teaching, and study and exam support.

Work out your own take-home

The base salary is only the start — overtime, on-call, and unrostered hours move an unaccredited registrar's real pay a long way. Model it on your own numbers:

Take-home pay calculator — set your state, registrar step and roster to see after-tax pay.
Junior doctor pay by state — how the states compare across grades.
Doctor salaries by specialty — what the fellowship at the end of the road pays.

Sources & methodology

Registrar base salaries are the award/EBA registrar rates for each state, read from our maintained pay dataset (the same figures on each state's registrar pay page). They are the accredited-registrar scale, which is the scale an unaccredited registrar in a registrar-classified position is paid on.
The classification mechanism is quoted from the primary instruments: the NSW Public Hospital Medical Officers (State) Award (definition of "Registrar") and the Medical Officers (Queensland Health) Award (Principal House Officer and Registrar classification levels). Both are linked below.
Award instruments by state:
Figures are base salaries only and exclude overtime, on-call and shift penalties. Standard weekly hours differ by state (38–43), so headline bases are not directly comparable per hour. Private-hospital and agency/locum unaccredited posts sit outside these awards.