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Prison Officer Salary Australia 2026 — Prison officer Pay by State

Prison officers start on $59,406 to $79,546 a year depending on the state, and the top of the prison officer scale runs from $78,888 to $97,285. Each figure is read from the state’s own agreement or official pay table — there is no national award rate for prison officers.

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An officer in a navy uniform walks the wire perimeter fence of a correctional centre in morning mist

Prison officer salary by state

Base salary, full time, before tax, shift penalties and super. “Entry officer” is the first qualified or entry row of each state’s table and “Top of base officer scale” the top of its core scale; supervisory and specialist rows are on the state pages.

Prison officer pay by state
StateEmployerEntry officerTop of base officer scaleRates from
NSWCorrective Services NSW$77,406$97,2851 July 2026
VICCorrections Victoria80-hour fortnight salaries, which include 5.26% for the 4 additional hours.$65,373$83,9501 May 2026
WADepartment of Justice (WA)Monday–Friday salary; shift officers are on a higher annualised salary that replaces shift penalties.$78,881$89,82311 June 2026
SADepartment for Correctional Services (SA)$59,406$84,0001 July 2026
TASTasmania Prison ServiceDay-worker base salary; shift workers are paid Schedule 2 salaries with a 1.30 shift multiplier built in.$71,290$83,2601 December 2025
ACTACT Corrective Services$79,546$93,6584 December 2025
NTNT Correctional ServicesBase salary; a 40% consolidated allowance is paid on top in place of shift and weekend penalties.$69,074$78,8882 December 2024

Every salary links to its take-home figure. Take-home pages exist for every $1,000 up to $150,000 and in wider steps above that, so a salary without a page of its own links to the nearest one.

NSW prison officer pay — Corrective Services NSWVIC prison officer pay — Corrections VictoriaWA prison officer pay — Department of Justice (WA)SA prison officer pay — Department for Correctional Services (SA)TAS prison officer pay — Tasmania Prison ServiceACT prison officer pay — ACT Corrective ServicesNT prison officer pay — NT Correctional Services

Not yet verified — see the official source

We could not read a current table for these from a primary source, so we show no figure rather than an estimate.

QLD — Queensland Corrective Services

We could not find a current certified agreement or official pay table that prints what Queensland Corrective Services pays custodial correctional officers in 2026, so we do not publish a pay scale for Queensland.

Queensland Corrective Services – Correctional Employees' Certified Agreement 2021

How prison officer pay is set

Prison officers — called correctional officers or custodial officers in most states — are not paid under a national modern award. Each state and territory corrective services agency pays under its own state award, enterprise agreement or industrial agreement, so pay depends first on the state you work in.

Every state starts new officers on a trainee or probationary rate while they complete entry training, then moves them up yearly or by qualification. Several states tie progression to the Certificate III and Certificate IV in Correctional Practice.

Rosters change the numbers a lot. Western Australia and Tasmania pay shift officers a separate, higher annualised salary that replaces shift penalties, the Northern Territory adds a 40% consolidated allowance, and Victoria's salaries include 5.26% for working an 80-hour fortnight. Each state page says what its salary includes.

Prison officer pay after tax

Each salary in the table links to its take-home page. Shift penalties, overtime and allowances are taxed as ordinary income on top of base salary, so for your real pay enter your expected total in the take-home pay calculator. Overtime is covered by the overtime pay calculator.

Prison officer pay questions

It depends on the state. Across the 7 states and territories whose prison officer pay tables we have verified, the entry rate runs from $59,406 (SA) to $79,546 (ACT) a year, and the top of the prison officer scale from $78,888 (NT) to $97,285 (NSW). These are base salaries before tax, shift penalties and super.

Of the states we have verified, New South Wales has the highest top-of-scale base salary at $97,285, and Australian Capital Territory the highest entry rate at $79,546. Base salary is only part of the picture: shift penalties, allowances and how quickly you progress differ by state, so compare the state pages rather than one figure.

No national modern award sets prison officer pay. Each corrective services agency pays under its own state or territory instrument (an enterprise agreement, state award or determination), which is why pay differs between states and why this site publishes each state's table separately.

Yes. Shift penalties, overtime and most allowances are ordinary taxable income and are taxed through PAYG withholding with your salary. Use the take-home pay calculator with your total expected pay, not just base salary, to see what lands in your account.

We publish a state's table only after reading it from the official instrument or the employer's own published pay table. For QLD we could not verify the current table from a primary source, so the hub links to the official source instead of showing an estimate.
How these pages are sourced▼

Each state page is transcribed from that state’s enterprise agreement, award, determination or the employer’s own published pay table, on the date shown on the page. Nothing is estimated, averaged or interpolated, and states we could not verify carry no figures.

Sources & References

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Last verified: 9 October 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.

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