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INChildren’s Services Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Children’s Services Award actually pays — the right educator level, shift and weekend penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Children’s Services Award is applied
- Minimum rates are the CSE classifications from clause 14.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
- Casuals get a 25% loading, and the shift and weekend percentages below already include it.
- Ordinary hours sit inside a 6am–6:30pm span, Monday to Friday — a day worker’s hours outside the span are overtime, and a shift finishing after 6:30pm carries a 15% loading.
- Overtime beyond 38 weekly hours (or the daily limit) pays 150% for the first 2 hours, then 200% (casuals: 175% / 225%) — and each day stands alone for the calculation.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime.
- The educational leader allowance ($4,784.28 a year) is owed to whoever holds the Regulation 118 role — appointing one without paying it is the compliance miss centres make most.
Who the award covers
- Long day care centres and early childhood education and care (ECEC) services
- Outside school hours care and vacation care
- Preschools and kindergartens
- Educators, room leaders, assistant directors and directors
- Support workers — cooks, cleaners, gardeners, drivers and admin staff in children’s services
Degree-qualified early childhood teachers usually sit under the Educational Services (Teachers) Award, and family day care scheme workers under the SCHADS Award — check before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The Children’s Services Award was restructured in March 2026 into two clean streams: an eight-level educator ladder (used by this calculator) and a Support Worker stream for cooks, cleaners and admin staff. Educator Levels 1–5 follow qualifications and experience; Levels 6–8 follow appointment to a role. Classify by the qualification held and the position the person is actually appointed to.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 — Introductory Educator | $28.81 | $1094.80 | Unqualified educator (first year) | Works directly with children, with less than 12 months’ experience as a children’s services employee. |
| Level 2 — Educator | $29.69 | $1128.40 | Unqualified educator (12+ months) | Works directly with children, with at least 12 months’ experience — typically still working towards a qualification. |
| Level 3 — Qualified Educator | $32.47 | $1233.90 | Certificate III educator | Holds an approved Certificate III-level ECEC qualification. The award’s standard rate — and the most common classification. |
| Level 4 — Experienced Educator | $34.65 | $1316.70 | Experienced Certificate III educator | Certificate III-qualified, plus four years’ post-qualification experience at Level 3. |
| Level 5 — Advanced Educator | $36.57 | $1389.50 | Diploma-qualified educator | Holds a Diploma-level ECEC qualification, or the approved equivalent for out-of-school hours care. |
| Level 6 — Room Leader | $38.25 | $1453.50 | Room leader · OSHC senior assistant | Appointed as a Room Leader — or, in out-of-school hours care, to assist a Level 7 or 8 employee. Appointment, not qualification, makes the level. |
| Level 7 — Assistant Director | $40.00 | $1519.90 | Assistant director · Children’s services coordinator | Appointed as assistant director or a coordinator role, holding (or deemed to hold) an AQF Level 5 or 6 ECEC qualification. |
| Level 8 — Director | $46.12 | $1752.70 | Centre director · Service manager | Appointed as the Director of a service — responsible for its strategic, financial, compliance and operational management. |
- This calculator uses the Children’s Services Employee (CSE) educator ladder. Support workers — cooks, cleaners, gardeners, drivers, admin — sit on a separate 4-step stream from $26.44 to $29.45 an hour.
- Qualifications drive Levels 1–5: a Certificate III makes an educator Level 3, four years’ post-qualification experience makes Level 4, and a Diploma makes Level 5. Levels 6–8 are appointments — Room Leader, Assistant Director, Director.
- A cook who holds (or is working towards) an ECEC qualification and can be counted in educator-to-child ratios is paid on the educator ladder at their qualification level — not the support stream.
- Juniors at Levels 3–5 have percentage rates (70% under 18, 80% at 18, 90% at 19) — but junior Level 1 and 2 educators are paid the full adult rate.
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Children’s Services Award adds allowances for particular duties and situations — being the designated first aid officer, working overtime without notice, using your own car. They’re small lines individually, but they’re legal entitlements and they add up. The common ones (1 July 2026 amounts):
The calculator below doesn’t include allowances — add the ones that apply to your team on top of the result. The full list lives in the award’s allowances clause.
Break entitlements under the Children’s Services Award
Breaks are part of the award too — and missed or worked-through breaks usually carry a penalty rate, so they belong in the roster, not just the tea room. Here’s what the Children’s Services Award requires:
The on-premises rule matters in childcare: an educator who can’t leave the building during lunch is on a paid meal break, not an unpaid one. The full rules live in clause 22 of the award.
Calculate a week under the Children’s Services Award
Enter the week as it’s actually rostered. Weekend, evening and public-holiday hours are paid at the award’s penalty rates; anything beyond 38 hours is priced as overtime; super is applied to ordinary-time earnings only.
Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000120) — first full pay period on or after that date.
This week’s numbers
Nothing is stored or sent — the maths runs on this page.
Are these the exact legal rates?
The rates are the adult CSE minimums from clause 14.1, current at 1 July 2026 after the award’s March 2026 restructure. Support workers use a separate table, and juniors at Levels 3–5 are paid percentage rates. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.
My educator opens at 6:30am and closes at 6pm — is that all ordinary time?
Yes, if the weekly hours stay within 38 — the span runs 6am to 6:30pm Monday to Friday. But a shift starting between 5am and 6am attracts a 10% shiftwork loading, and one finishing after 6:30pm attracts 15%. Outside those windows, day workers are on overtime.
Which level is our cook?
It depends on ratios. A cook required to hold or work towards an ECEC qualification who may step onto the floor to maintain educator-to-child ratios is paid on the educator ladder at their qualification level (Certificate III = Level 3). A kitchen-only cook sits on the Support Worker stream.
Does super apply to penalty rates?
Yes — shift loadings and weekend or public-holiday penalties on ordinary hours are ordinary-time earnings, so the 12% super guarantee applies. True overtime is excluded. The calculator applies exactly that split.
This is a general calculator, not legal advice. It applies the award’s published adult minimums to the hours you enter — it can’t see your enterprise agreement, allowances or individual arrangements, and junior, apprentice and shiftwork rates differ. Always confirm pay against the award, your agreement or your adviser. If you believe something here is materially wrong or out of date, please contact us — we’ll review it promptly.
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Tommy applies the right award rates to every shift as you roster — penalties, loading and super included. Start with your email and your numbers come along.
