What a registered nurse earns in South Australia
On the Registered Nurse/Midwife (Level 1) scale, the bottom step (1st increment) pays $74,831 a year and the top step (9th increment) pays $102,103. SA Health publishes those annual figures directly. Base pay is only part of the picture: nursing is a rostered, round-the-clock job, and shift and weekend loadings routinely add a double-digit percentage on top.
Those buttons go to the nearest published take-home page, which is rounded to the closest $5,000. For your exact figure — including HECS-HELP, salary packaging and extra super — use the take-home pay calculator.
What makes SA different
- SA numbers its scales RN/M1 to RN/M6 and overlaps them: a Clinical Nurse/Midwife at the bottom of Level 2 earns exactly what a Registered Nurse/Midwife earns at the 5th increment.
- There is no separate nurse practitioner scale — nurse practitioners sit at Level 4 with the advanced unit manager and consultant roles.
- Night shift Monday to Friday attracts 20.5%, set by the agreement itself in place of the award rate.
- The 2022 agreement nominally expired on 31 July 2025. A replacement was balloted 20 to 29 July 2026 and had not been recorded as approved when this page was checked, so watch for a rate change.
SA Health nursing and midwifery pay scales
Each table below uses the classification names the instrument itself prints. Classifications are not the same between states and this page does not translate them: a Queensland Nurse Grade 5 and a Tasmanian Registered Nurse Grade 3 are both entry registered nurse roles, but they are not the same classification and they are not on the same money.
Registered nurses and midwives
Registered Nurse/Midwife (Level 1)(RN/M1)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $74,831 — see take-home pay on $75,000 |
| 2nd increment | $77,175 — see take-home pay on $75,000 |
| 3rd increment | $80,475 — see take-home pay on $80,000 |
| 4th increment | $83,918 — see take-home pay on $85,000 |
| 5th increment | $87,416 — see take-home pay on $85,000 |
| 6th increment | $90,931 — see take-home pay on $90,000 |
| 7th increment | $94,451 — see take-home pay on $95,000 |
| 8th increment | $97,967 — see take-home pay on $100,000 |
| 9th increment | $102,103 — see take-home pay on $100,000 |
SA runs registered nurses and midwives on one scale, with increments rather than years.
Enrolled nurses
Enrolled Nurse (Diploma), or Enrolled Nurse (Certificate) authorised in medication administration
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $66,438 — see take-home pay on $65,000 |
| 2nd increment | $68,083 — see take-home pay on $70,000 |
| 3rd increment | $69,637 — see take-home pay on $70,000 |
| 4th increment | $70,983 — see take-home pay on $70,000 |
| 5th increment | $72,729 — see take-home pay on $75,000 |
| 6th increment | $74,831 — see take-home pay on $75,000 |
Enrolled Nurse (Certificate), not authorised in medication administration
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $63,992 — see take-home pay on $65,000 |
| 2nd increment | $65,040 — see take-home pay on $65,000 |
| 3rd increment | $66,438 — see take-home pay on $65,000 |
| 4th increment | $67,836 — see take-home pay on $70,000 |
| 5th increment | $69,236 — see take-home pay on $70,000 |
| 6th increment | $70,633 — see take-home pay on $70,000 |
| 7th increment | $72,033 — see take-home pay on $70,000 |
The medication-administration authorisation is worth about $2,450 a year at the bottom of the scale — the two enrolled nurse streams run in parallel.
Advanced Skills Enrolled Nurse
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $74,831 — see take-home pay on $75,000 |
| 2nd increment | $76,229 — see take-home pay on $75,000 |
By appointment only under Appendix 7.
Clinical nurse, specialist and consultant grades
Clinical Nurse/Midwife (Level 2)(RN/M2)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $87,416 — see take-home pay on $85,000 |
| 2nd increment | $90,931 — see take-home pay on $90,000 |
| 3rd increment | $94,451 — see take-home pay on $95,000 |
| 4th increment | $97,967 — see take-home pay on $100,000 |
| 5th increment | $102,103 — see take-home pay on $100,000 |
| 6th increment | $103,353 — see take-home pay on $105,000 |
| 7th increment | $105,735 — see take-home pay on $105,000 |
| 8th increment | $108,115 — see take-home pay on $110,000 |
| 9th increment | $110,497 — see take-home pay on $110,000 |
SA overlaps its levels deliberately: Clinical Nurse/Midwife 1st increment is the same money as Registered Nurse/Midwife 5th increment.
Unit managers and nursing management
Associate Nurse/Midwife Unit Manager (Level 2)(RN/M2)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $103,353 — see take-home pay on $105,000 |
| 2nd increment | $105,735 — see take-home pay on $105,000 |
| 3rd increment | $108,115 — see take-home pay on $110,000 |
| 4th increment | $110,497 — see take-home pay on $110,000 |
Nurse/Midwife Unit Manager, Nurse/Midwife Consultant, Nurse/Midwife Educator, Nurse/Midwife Manager (Level 3)(RN/M3)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $125,183 — see take-home pay on $125,000 |
| 2nd increment | $127,980 — see take-home pay on $130,000 |
| 3rd increment | $130,779 — see take-home pay on $130,000 |
SA pays the unit manager, consultant, educator and manager roles at one level and one rate — the step up from Level 2 is the largest single jump in the SA structure.
Nursing/Midwifery Director (Level 5)(RN/M5)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 5.1 | $144,064 — see take-home pay on $145,000 |
| 5.2 | $160,848 — see take-home pay on $160,000 |
| 5.3 | $169,240 — see take-home pay on $170,000 |
Director of Nursing/Midwifery (Level 6)(RN/M6)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 6.1 | $144,064 — see take-home pay on $145,000 |
| 6.2 | $152,456 — see take-home pay on $150,000 |
| 6.3 | $160,848 — see take-home pay on $160,000 |
| 6.4 | $169,240 — see take-home pay on $170,000 |
| 6.5 | $177,633 — see take-home pay on $180,000 |
| 6.6 | $193,019 — see take-home pay on $195,000 |
| 6.7 | $211,200 — see take-home pay on $200,000 |
Nurse practitioners
Advanced Nurse/Midwife Unit Manager, Advanced Nurse/Midwife Consultant, Advanced Nurse/Midwife Educator, Advanced Nurse/Midwife Manager, Nurse Practitioner (Level 4)(RN/M4)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $132,177 — see take-home pay on $130,000 |
| 2nd increment | $135,674 — see take-home pay on $135,000 |
| 3rd increment | $137,771 — see take-home pay on $140,000 |
South Australia does not give the nurse practitioner a separate scale: the role sits at Level 4 alongside the advanced unit manager, consultant, educator and manager roles.
Assistants in nursing and undergraduate students
Assistant in Nursing/Midwifery(AIN/M)
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 — rates effective first full pay period after 1 January 2025
| Step | A year (tap for after tax) |
|---|---|
| 1st increment | $59,094 — see take-home pay on $60,000 |
| 2nd increment | $60,844 — see take-home pay on $60,000 |
Which agreement covers you
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022
- Rates effective
- first full pay period after 1 January 2025
- Next change
- none scheduled under this agreement — it nominally expired on 31 July 2025 and a replacement was balloted in July 2026
- Made or approved by
- South Australian Employment Tribunal
Appendix 6 prints four columns, each 3% above the last: 1/1/2022, 1/1/2023, 1/1/2024 and 1/1/2025. The 1/1/2025 column is the last one and the one still in force.
Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022Nurses Award 2020 vs the SA agreement
The Nurses Award 2020 (MA000034) is a federal minimum wage instrument, not a pay scale for public hospital staff. It sets the floor below which no nurse in Australia may lawfully be paid. Almost nobody in South Australia's public health system is actually paid on it, because the instrument above pays well over the floor. The award is what governs pay in private hospitals, GP and specialist clinics, aged care and agency work where no enterprise agreement applies.
| Rate | Weekly | Hourly | A full year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurses Award 2020 — RN level 1 pay point 1 (the floor) | $1,219.50 | $32.09 | $63,414 |
| Nurses Award 2020 — RN level 1 pay point 8 | $1,465.50 | $38.57 | $76,206 |
| SA public health — entry registered nurse (1st increment) | — | — | $74,831 |
Award rates above are the minimum rates operative from 1 July 2026 (PR799315) for employees other than aged care employees. The award now carries a second, higher set of minimum rates for aged care nurses, operative from 1 August 2026 (PR812118) — an aged care registered nurse level 1 in their first year is on $1,571.60 a week, well above the $1,219.50 general rate. If someone quotes “the Nurses Award rate” without saying which of the two streams they mean, the number is unusable.
| Nurses Award 2020 penalty | Rate |
|---|---|
| Afternoon shift, Monday to FridayShift starting at or after 12 noon and finishing after 6.00 pm (clause 20.1(a)). | +12.5% |
| Night shift, Monday to FridayShift starting at or after 6.00 pm and finishing before 7.30 am (clause 20.1(b)). | +15% |
| Saturday ordinary hoursMidnight Friday to midnight Saturday (clause 21.1). | 150% |
| Sunday ordinary hoursMidnight Saturday to midnight Sunday (clause 21.2). | 175% |
| Casual loadingShift loadings are worked out on the minimum hourly rate, then the casual loading is added to the penalty rate (clause 11.4). | +25% |
Full award pay-guide style tables for other awards are on the award pay rates page.
Shift penalties and weekend loadings in South Australia
Nursing pay is penalty-driven. A nurse on a rotating roster with regular nights and weekends can be paid materially more than the base rate on this page, and the difference does not show up in any “average nurse salary” figure. Check these against your payslip line by line.
From clause 9.3 — Night Shift Penalty of the Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022.
| When you work | What it pays |
|---|---|
| Rostered night shift, Monday to FridayApplies to everyone except registered nurses and midwives at Levels 5 and 6. The agreement pays this in place of the parent award's night shift rate. | +20.5% |
Only the night shift penalty is set by the enterprise agreement. Afternoon, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates come from clause 5.3 of the Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Award, which has not been read for this page and is therefore not published.
To model a specific roster — a fortnight of nights, a weekend block, an overtime call-back — use the overtime pay calculator, and read the overtime and penalty rates guide for how loadings interact with ordinary hours.
Moving up a step, and what each step is worth
Two different things move nursing pay. Within one classification you move through increments — usually annually for full-time staff, and by accumulated hours for part-time and casual staff. Between classifications you move by being appointed to a position, not by time served: nobody becomes a clinical nurse consultant or a unit manager by waiting.
The increments are worth checking. On the SA registered nurse scale, the gap between consecutive steps is a real pay rise every year that you should be able to see land on a specific pay period. If your increment date has passed and the rate has not moved, that is a payroll question worth asking. Use the pay rise calculator to see what a step is worth after tax, and the back pay calculator if the increment was applied late.
Salary packaging, and why it changes your take-home but not your grade
Public hospital employees can salary package living expenses out of pre-tax income under the public hospital fringe benefits tax exemption. On a nursing salary that is worth several thousand dollars a year in extra take-home pay, and it is one of the largest single differences between public and private sector nursing pay once you look past the base rate.
What it does not do is change your classification, your increment or your gross pay. It changes how much of your gross pay is taxed. That distinction matters when you are comparing a public hospital offer against a private one, and when you are checking whether your payslip has the packaging deduction applied correctly. The mechanics, caps and eligibility are in the salary packaging guide; the salary sacrifice calculator shows the effect on a specific salary.
What this page does not show
This is a money page, so it says what it left out rather than filling gaps with estimates.
Published, but not reproduced here
These rows exist in the source and can be read at the link in the sources below:
- Appendix 7 career structure descriptors
- Professional development allowance and rural and remote incentives
- Rostering and workload (nurse-to-patient ratio) schedules
Not published anywhere we could verify
Nothing below appears on this page in any form. No figure here has been estimated, interpolated or carried across from another state:
- An hourly rate for any SA classification
- Afternoon, weekend and public holiday penalty rates, which sit in the parent award rather than the agreement
- Any rate under the proposed Nursing/Midwifery (South Australian Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2026, which had not been recorded as approved by the South Australian Employment Tribunal when this page was checked
Nurse pay in the other states
Every state runs its own classification structure and its own agreement. Comparing the raw numbers across states is misleading unless you also compare the classifications and the penalty structures.
Not yet published: Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. Their instruments have not been read, and we would rather publish nothing than a guess.
Frequently asked questions
How these figures were checked▼
Every rate on this page was read on 28 August 2026 from the instrument or employer wage schedule linked below, and nothing was estimated, averaged or interpolated. Where a source publishes a rate for a classification we publish it; where it does not, the row is omitted and listed under “what this page does not show”.
SA Health publishes annual salaries directly, so no conversion is applied. Hourly: not shown — the agreement publishes an annual salary only and prescribes no hourly divisor, so this page does not print one.
Take-home links round to the nearest published $5,000 salary page and do not account for HECS-HELP, salary packaging, extra super or the Medicare levy surcharge. Use the take-home pay calculator for a figure specific to your circumstances. Nothing here is financial or industrial advice — check your own payslip and your own agreement.
Sources & References
- 1
- 2Salaries — SA Health careers— SA Health
- 3Nurses Award 2020 [MA000034] — consolidated award text— Fair Work Ombudsman
Last verified: 28 August 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.