Redundancy Pay Calculator Australia 2026-27
NES redundancy pay runs from 4 weeks at 1 year to 16 weeks at 9 years, tax-free up to $13,598 plus $6,801 per completed year.
Calculate Your Redundancy Pay
Excludes notice, unused leave and long service leave, which are paid and taxed separately — use the final pay calculator for the whole payout.
What to check next
People reading this page usually work these out too.
- Payment in Lieu of NoticeNES notice periods, and the tax and super on a payout.
- Final Pay CalculatorEverything you are owed when employment ends.
- Leave Payout CalculatorUnused annual leave paid out when you leave.
- Long Service Leave CalculatorWeeks accrued and what a payout is worth, in every state.
- Annual Leave GuideFour weeks a year, how it accrues and when it can be cashed out.
- Take-Home Pay CalculatorSee your actual pay after tax, super and Medicare.
A redundancy calculator applies the National Employment Standards scale, weeks of base pay by completed years of continuous service, 4 weeks at 1 year rising to 16 weeks at 9 years and 12 weeks from 10 years, then the 2026-27 tax-free limit of $13,598 plus $6,801 per completed year. Amounts above the limit are taxed as an employment termination payment at 17% or 32% depending on age. The same rules apply in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT.
Redundancy Payment Calculation Table: Weeks by Years of Service
The National Employment Standards set the minimum redundancy pay for every national system employee in Australia. It is worked out on completed years of continuous service — 4 years and 11 months counts as 4 — and paid at your base rate for ordinary hours.
| Continuous service | Redundancy pay | On $80,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | Nil | $0 |
| 1 year, less than 2 | 4 weeks | $6,154 |
| 2 years, less than 3 | 6 weeks | $9,231 |
| 3 years, less than 4 | 7 weeks | $10,769 |
| 4 years, less than 5 | 8 weeks | $12,308 |
| 5 years, less than 6 | 10 weeks | $15,385 |
| 6 years, less than 7 | 11 weeks | $16,923 |
| 7 years, less than 8 | 13 weeks | $20,000 |
| 8 years, less than 9 | 14 weeks | $21,538 |
| 9 years, less than 10 | 16 weeks | $24,615 |
| 10 years and over | 12 weeks | $18,462 |
Fair Work Act 2009 s 119. The $80,000 column is base salary ÷ 52 × weeks. Awards, enterprise agreements and contracts can pay more, never less. Employers with fewer than 15 employees are exempt, and casuals are not covered.
No over-45 bump on redundancy pay. The scale above depends only on completed years of service, never on age. The extra week for employees over 45 applies to the notice period, covered in payment in lieu of notice.
Tax-free amount by years of service (2026-27)
| Completed years | Tax-free limit | NES weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,399 | 4 |
| 2 | $27,200 | 6 |
| 3 | $34,001 | 7 |
| 5 | $47,603 | 10 |
| 8 | $68,006 | 14 |
| 10 | $81,608 | 12 |
| 15 | $115,613 | 12 |
| 20 | $149,618 | 12 |
The NES minimum alone almost never reaches the limit. The tax-free cap starts to matter when an agreement or negotiated package pays several weeks per year of service.
How Is Redundancy Pay Calculated? Two Worked Examples
The formula is base annual salary ÷ 52 × NES weeks = gross redundancy pay. The ATO then compares the payment with the tax-free limit for your completed years, and anything above it is taxed as an employment termination payment (ETP). The termination payment tax calculator works out that tax, including the whole-of-income cap.
$90,000 salary, 5 years, NES minimum
| Base weekly pay ($90,000 ÷ 52) | $1,730.77 |
| NES weeks at 5 completed years | 10 weeks |
| Gross redundancy pay | $17,307.69 |
| Tax-free limit ($13,598 + $6,801 × 5) | $47,603 |
| Tax / take-home | $0.00 / $17,307.69 |
$150,000 salary, 3 years, 4 weeks per year of service
| Package (3 × 4 = 12 weeks × $2,884.62) | $34,615.38 |
| Tax-free limit ($13,598 + $6,801 × 3) | $34,001 |
| Taxable ETP part | $614.38 |
| Tax at 32% (under 60) | −$196.60 |
| Take-home | $34,418.78 |
The base rate excludes overtime, bonuses, incentive payments, allowances, loadings and penalty rates. Part-time employees use their own ordinary weekly pay.
Is Redundancy Pay Tax Free? Tax on Redundancy Payments in 2026-27
Partly. A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to $13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service. Anything above that limit is an employment termination payment, taxed at 32% or 17% depending on age. To see the tax on your own package, including the whole-of-income cap, use the termination payment tax calculator.
A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to the limit and is not included in your assessable income. The part above the limit is an ETP. The whole of a non-genuine payment is an ETP, with no tax-free part.
| Age at 30 June | ETP up to $270,000 | Above the cap |
|---|---|---|
| Under preservation age (60) | 32% | 47% |
| Preservation age or older | 17% | 47% |
Rates include the 2% Medicare levy. The excess over the tax-free limit on a genuine redundancy is an “excluded” ETP, so only the 2026-27 ETP cap applies to it. A non-genuine payment can also be limited by the $180,000 whole-of-income cap, which depends on your other income — this calculator does not model that, so treat its figure for a non-genuine payment as the lowest the tax could be.
What makes a redundancy genuine?
- You are dismissed because your position is genuinely redundant — the employer no longer needs the job done by anyone. Resigning, or dismissal for performance or misconduct, does not count.
- You are dismissed before pension age (67).
- The payment is no more than an arm's length amount, and there is no arrangement to re-employ you.
Consultation and redeployment duties under the Fair Work Act decide whether a dismissal is a genuine redundancy for unfair dismissal purposes. That is a separate test from the ATO's. See the ATO's genuine redundancy payments page.
Redundancy Calculator for QLD, NSW, VIC, WA and Every State
There is no separate Queensland or NSW redundancy calculator because there is no separate state scale: NES redundancy pay comes from the Fair Work Act and is identical across Australia for national system employees. Two things do change with your state:
- Long service leave is paid on top of redundancy pay under each state's own Act, and several states pay it out earlier when the reason is redundancy.
- State system employees — mainly state public servants, and in WA the employees of sole traders, partnerships and other unincorporated businesses — are covered by their state's industrial laws and awards rather than the NES scale.
| State | NES redundancy pay | LSL paid on redundancy from | Full LSL |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Same scale | 5 years | 8.67 weeks at 10 yrs |
| VIC | Same scale | 7 years | 6.07 weeks at 7 yrs |
| QLD | Same scale | 7 years | 8.67 weeks at 10 yrs |
| WA | Same scale | 7 years | 8.67 weeks at 10 yrs |
| SA | Same scale | 7 years | 13 weeks at 10 yrs |
| TAS | Same scale | 7 years | 8.67 weeks at 10 yrs |
| ACT | Same scale | 5 years | 6.07 weeks at 7 yrs |
| NT | Same scale | 7 years | 13 weeks at 10 yrs |
Long service leave figures from each state or territory Act — see the state pages linked above for the rules and a calculator set to that state.
Redundancy Pay in NSW
NSW has no separate redundancy scale. National system employees in NSW get the national table above: 4 weeks at 1 year to 16 weeks at 9 years. What NSW adds is long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act 1955 (NSW). When your employer ends the job for any reason other than serious and wilful misconduct, a pro-rata payment is owed from 5 years of service, and at 10 years the full 8.67 weeks is payable however the job ends.
NSW state public sector and local government employees are not covered by that Act and have their own arrangements, so check your award or agreement. Work out the long service leave part with the NSW long service leave calculator and your take-home pay with the NSW pay calculator.
Redundancy Pay in Victoria
Victoria uses the same national table for national system employees. The state difference is long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic): it is payable from 7 years of continuous service, about 6.07 weeks at that point, and after 7 years the unused balance is paid out however the employment ends, redundancy included. It is paid on top of your redundancy pay, notice and unused annual leave.
Employees under a federal award or agreement with its own long service leave terms, and building and construction workers in the LeavePlus scheme, sit outside the Act. Use the Victorian long service leave calculator and the Victorian pay calculator.
Notice and Other Final Pay on Redundancy
Redundancy pay is only one part of a final payout. Notice (or pay instead of it), unused annual leave and long service leave are separate entitlements, owed even by small businesses.
| Continuous service | Minimum notice (NES) |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 year | 1 week |
| 1–3 years | 2 weeks |
| 3–5 years | 3 weeks |
| 5+ years | 4 weeks |
Add 1 week if you are over 45 and have at least 2 years of continuous service.
- Unused annual leave is paid out with leave loading if your award or agreement provides it. When the reason is a genuine redundancy it is taxed at no more than 32%.
- Long service leave depends on your state — see the table above and the long service leave calculator.
- Super is not payable on the redundancy payment or on leave paid out at termination, only on wages to your last day.
Small Businesses, Casuals and Centrelink
An employer with fewer than 15 employees when notice is given owes no NES redundancy pay. The count covers the whole business and associated entities, and includes casuals employed on a regular and systematic basis. An award or agreement can still require redundancy pay, and if a small business pays a genuine redundancy the ATO tax-free limit applies.
Casual employees are excluded from NES redundancy pay however long they have worked. Apprentices and employees on fixed-term contracts that simply run out are also excluded.
Centrelink: Services Australia can apply an income maintenance period for redundancy and leave payments — a payment worth 10 weeks of wages can mean waiting about 10 weeks for JobSeeker — and a liquid assets waiting period of up to 13 weeks. See the Centrelink income test calculator.
Related Calculators
- Final Pay Calculator — redundancy, notice and leave together
- Long Service Leave Calculator — what your state pays on top
- Leave Calculator — the value of unused annual leave
- Take-Home Pay Calculator — pay in your next job
- Tax Return Calculator — the year you were made redundant
How this calculator works▼
- Redundancy pay = base annual salary ÷ 52 × the NES weeks for completed years of service (Fair Work Act s 119).
- Tax-free limit, ETP cap and ETP rates are the ATO's 2026-27 figures, held in one tested constants file.
- Notice, unused leave and long service leave are excluded. The whole-of-income cap for non-genuine payments is not modelled.
- General information only, not tax or legal advice. The Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) can confirm your entitlement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Redundancy pay questions and answers
How much redundancy pay am I entitled to?
Under the National Employment Standards it depends on your completed years of continuous service: 4 weeks' pay at 1 year, 6 at 2, 7 at 3, 8 at 4, 10 at 5, 11 at 6, 13 at 7, 14 at 8, 16 at 9, and 12 weeks from 10 years. Less than 1 year gets nothing. An award, enterprise agreement or contract can give you more, never less.
How is redundancy pay calculated?
Multiply your base weekly rate of pay for ordinary hours by the NES weeks for your years of service. On $90,000 a year with 5 completed years that is $1,730.77 × 10 weeks = $17,307.69. Overtime, bonuses, allowances, loadings and penalty rates are left out of the base rate.
What is the tax-free redundancy limit for 2026-27?
$13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service, for genuine redundancy payments made in the 2026-27 income year. With 5 completed years that is $47,603. For payments made in 2025-26 it was $13,100 plus $6,552 a year.
Is redundancy pay tax free?
Partly. A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to $13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service in 2026-27. Anything above that limit is an employment termination payment (ETP) and is taxed. A payment that is not a genuine redundancy has no tax-free part.
How is redundancy pay taxed?
A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to the limit. Anything above it is an employment termination payment (ETP), taxed at 32% if you are under preservation age (60) at the end of the income year or 17% if you have reached it, both including the Medicare levy, up to the 2026-27 ETP cap of $270,000. Any amount over the cap is taxed at 47%.
What makes a redundancy genuine for tax?
The ATO treats a payment as a genuine redundancy payment when you are dismissed because your position is genuinely redundant, before you reach pension age (67), the payment is no more than an arm's length amount, and there is no arrangement to employ you again. A dismissal for performance or misconduct, or a resignation, is not a redundancy.
Is there a different redundancy calculator for QLD, NSW, Victoria or WA?
No. NES redundancy pay is set by the Fair Work Act and is the same in every state and territory for national system employees, so one calculator covers Queensland, NSW, Victoria, WA, SA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT. What differs by state is long service leave, which is paid on top. The main exceptions are state public servants and, in WA, employees of sole traders, partnerships and other unincorporated businesses, who sit in state industrial systems.
How much redundancy pay do you get in NSW?
The same as every other state: the National Employment Standards scale, from 4 weeks at 1 year to 16 weeks at 9 years and 12 weeks from 10 years, for national system employees. NSW adds long service leave under its 1955 Act, with a pro-rata payment from 5 years when the employer ends the job for a reason other than serious and wilful misconduct.
What are redundancy entitlements in Victoria?
Redundancy pay follows the National Employment Standards scale, the same as every state, for national system employees. On top of that, you are paid notice or pay in lieu, unused annual leave and long service leave. Under Victoria's 2018 Act, long service leave is payable from 7 years of continuous service, however the employment ends.
Do small businesses have to pay redundancy?
No NES redundancy pay is owed by an employer with fewer than 15 employees, counted when the notice is given and including regular casuals. Notice, unused annual leave and any long service leave are still owed, and an award or agreement can still require redundancy pay. If a small business pays a genuine redundancy anyway, the ATO tax-free limit still applies to it.
Are casual employees entitled to redundancy pay?
Not under the NES. Casual employees are excluded from NES redundancy pay however long they have worked. A long-term casual may be able to change to permanent employment under the Fair Work Act's employee choice pathway, after which redundancy pay would apply.
Is notice pay part of redundancy pay?
No. They are separate entitlements and you get both. Notice is 1 to 4 weeks depending on service, plus 1 week if you are over 45 with at least 2 years' service, Payment in lieu of notice is an employment termination payment under the ATO's rules rather than ordinary salary; how much of a package falls inside the genuine redundancy tax-free limit depends on how it is structured, so check the income statement your employer reports.
Is superannuation paid on redundancy pay?
No. The redundancy payment and unused leave paid out on termination are not ordinary time earnings, so the super guarantee does not apply to them. Your employer still owes super on wages up to your last day.
Does redundancy pay affect Centrelink?
It can delay your first JobSeeker payment. Services Australia may apply an income maintenance period based on the redundancy and leave payments, so a payment worth 10 weeks of wages can mean a waiting period of about 10 weeks, and a liquid assets waiting period of up to 13 weeks can also apply. Hardship provisions can reduce these.
Why does redundancy pay drop from 16 to 12 weeks at 10 years?
The usual explanation is long service leave: by 10 years most employees also qualify for it under their state or territory Act, and it is paid out on top of redundancy pay. The 12 weeks is the NES minimum; many agreements keep paying more after 10 years.
How much tax will I pay on $50,000 redundancy?
It depends on your years of service. For a genuine redundancy in 2026-27 with 5 completed years, $47,603 is tax-free and the other $2,397 is taxed at 32%, so tax is about $767. With 2 years only $27,200 is tax-free and tax is about $7,296. Rates assume you are under 60.
Do you get more redundancy if you are over 45?
Not under the National Employment Standards. NES redundancy pay depends only on completed years of service, not age, and so does the tax-free limit. Age matters for tax in two other ways: the taxable part is taxed at 17% instead of 32% once you reach 60, and a dismissal at or after 67 cannot be a genuine redundancy. Your agreement may pay more.
Is it better to take redundancy or resign?
If your job really is being made redundant, taking the redundancy is usually worth more. Redundancy brings NES redundancy pay, notice or pay in lieu, and a tax-free amount for a genuine redundancy. If you resign you get your unused annual leave and any long service leave your state's rules pay out, but no redundancy pay. Get the offer in writing before you decide.
Under the National Employment Standards it depends on your completed years of continuous service: 4 weeks' pay at 1 year, 6 at 2, 7 at 3, 8 at 4, 10 at 5, 11 at 6, 13 at 7, 14 at 8, 16 at 9, and 12 weeks from 10 years. Less than 1 year gets nothing. An award, enterprise agreement or contract can give you more, never less.
Multiply your base weekly rate of pay for ordinary hours by the NES weeks for your years of service. On $90,000 a year with 5 completed years that is $1,730.77 × 10 weeks = $17,307.69. Overtime, bonuses, allowances, loadings and penalty rates are left out of the base rate.
$13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service, for genuine redundancy payments made in the 2026-27 income year. With 5 completed years that is $47,603. For payments made in 2025-26 it was $13,100 plus $6,552 a year.
Partly. A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to $13,598 plus $6,801 for each completed year of service in 2026-27. Anything above that limit is an employment termination payment (ETP) and is taxed. A payment that is not a genuine redundancy has no tax-free part.
A genuine redundancy payment is tax-free up to the limit. Anything above it is an employment termination payment (ETP), taxed at 32% if you are under preservation age (60) at the end of the income year or 17% if you have reached it, both including the Medicare levy, up to the 2026-27 ETP cap of $270,000. Any amount over the cap is taxed at 47%.
The ATO treats a payment as a genuine redundancy payment when you are dismissed because your position is genuinely redundant, before you reach pension age (67), the payment is no more than an arm's length amount, and there is no arrangement to employ you again. A dismissal for performance or misconduct, or a resignation, is not a redundancy.
No. NES redundancy pay is set by the Fair Work Act and is the same in every state and territory for national system employees, so one calculator covers Queensland, NSW, Victoria, WA, SA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT. What differs by state is long service leave, which is paid on top. The main exceptions are state public servants and, in WA, employees of sole traders, partnerships and other unincorporated businesses, who sit in state industrial systems.
The same as every other state: the National Employment Standards scale, from 4 weeks at 1 year to 16 weeks at 9 years and 12 weeks from 10 years, for national system employees. NSW adds long service leave under its 1955 Act, with a pro-rata payment from 5 years when the employer ends the job for a reason other than serious and wilful misconduct.
Redundancy pay follows the National Employment Standards scale, the same as every state, for national system employees. On top of that, you are paid notice or pay in lieu, unused annual leave and long service leave. Under Victoria's 2018 Act, long service leave is payable from 7 years of continuous service, however the employment ends.
No NES redundancy pay is owed by an employer with fewer than 15 employees, counted when the notice is given and including regular casuals. Notice, unused annual leave and any long service leave are still owed, and an award or agreement can still require redundancy pay. If a small business pays a genuine redundancy anyway, the ATO tax-free limit still applies to it.
Not under the NES. Casual employees are excluded from NES redundancy pay however long they have worked. A long-term casual may be able to change to permanent employment under the Fair Work Act's employee choice pathway, after which redundancy pay would apply.
No. They are separate entitlements and you get both. Notice is 1 to 4 weeks depending on service, plus 1 week if you are over 45 with at least 2 years' service, Payment in lieu of notice is an employment termination payment under the ATO's rules rather than ordinary salary; how much of a package falls inside the genuine redundancy tax-free limit depends on how it is structured, so check the income statement your employer reports.
No. The redundancy payment and unused leave paid out on termination are not ordinary time earnings, so the super guarantee does not apply to them. Your employer still owes super on wages up to your last day.
It can delay your first JobSeeker payment. Services Australia may apply an income maintenance period based on the redundancy and leave payments, so a payment worth 10 weeks of wages can mean a waiting period of about 10 weeks, and a liquid assets waiting period of up to 13 weeks can also apply. Hardship provisions can reduce these.
The usual explanation is long service leave: by 10 years most employees also qualify for it under their state or territory Act, and it is paid out on top of redundancy pay. The 12 weeks is the NES minimum; many agreements keep paying more after 10 years.
It depends on your years of service. For a genuine redundancy in 2026-27 with 5 completed years, $47,603 is tax-free and the other $2,397 is taxed at 32%, so tax is about $767. With 2 years only $27,200 is tax-free and tax is about $7,296. Rates assume you are under 60.
Not under the National Employment Standards. NES redundancy pay depends only on completed years of service, not age, and so does the tax-free limit. Age matters for tax in two other ways: the taxable part is taxed at 17% instead of 32% once you reach 60, and a dismissal at or after 67 cannot be a genuine redundancy. Your agreement may pay more.
If your job really is being made redundant, taking the redundancy is usually worth more. Redundancy brings NES redundancy pay, notice or pay in lieu, and a tax-free amount for a genuine redundancy. If you resign you get your unused annual leave and any long service leave your state's rules pay out, but no redundancy pay. Get the offer in writing before you decide.
Sources & References
- 1Redundancy pay & entitlements— Fair Work Ombudsman
- 2Genuine redundancy payments— Australian Taxation Office
- 3Employment termination payments — key rates and thresholds— Australian Taxation Office
- 4Income maintenance period— Services Australia
Last verified: 23 September 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.
What to check next
People reading this page usually work these out too.
- Payment in Lieu of NoticeNES notice periods, and the tax and super on a payout.
- Final Pay CalculatorEverything you are owed when employment ends.
- Leave Payout CalculatorUnused annual leave paid out when you leave.
- Long Service Leave CalculatorWeeks accrued and what a payout is worth, in every state.
- Annual Leave GuideFour weeks a year, how it accrues and when it can be cashed out.
- Take-Home Pay CalculatorSee your actual pay after tax, super and Medicare.