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Schools General Staff Award Pay Calculator

Work out what a week under the Schools General Staff Award actually pays — the right classification level, shift and weekend penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.

How the Schools General Staff Award is applied

Minimum rates are set per classification level from clause 17.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 — the award publishes them as annual salaries, weekly and hourly rates.
Casuals get a 25% loading, and the shift, weekend and public-holiday percentages below already include it (Schedule B.2.1).
Weekend penalties are 150% Saturday and 200% Sunday — except cooking/catering and boarding supervision staff, who are on 125% and 175%. Penalties don’t stack: the highest single rate applies.
Overtime applies beyond 38 ordinary weekly hours: 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200% Monday to Saturday (casuals: 175% / 225%) — Sunday overtime is 200% (225% casual) from the first hour.
A broken shift adds a 15% penalty on top of any other rate, with a minimum 2 hours’ pay per period of duty — the one schools rostering split canteen or bus-run shifts most often miss.
Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime.

Who the award covers

Non-teaching staff of registered and accredited schools, preschool to secondary
Teacher aides, classroom support and instructional staff
School administration — office, finance, marketing, IT and HR staff
Operational staff — cleaners, grounds, maintenance, canteen, uniform shop and bus drivers
Boarding supervisors, wellbeing staff, counsellors and school nurses
Preschool and childcare staff in early childhood services operated by a school

Teachers sit under the Educational Services (Teachers) Award, childcare staff outside school-operated services under the Children’s Services Award — and principals, deputy principals and the most senior business manager or bursar are excluded altogether. Check before you classify.

Which level is your team member?

The Schools General Staff Award covers everyone in a school who isn’t a teacher — across nine service streams, from classroom support and administration to operational services, boarding, wellbeing and nursing. Schedule A maps each stream’s grades onto one pay ladder of Levels 1 to 8, so classify by the stream first, then the grade the person’s duties and independence actually sit at.

Level	Per hour	Per week (38h)	Typical roles	The test
Level 1.1	$26.44	$1004.90	School operational services grade 1 — cleaner, grounds assistant, canteen assistant	The commencement level for operational services: routine cleaning, grounds, kitchen or general duties under direct supervision.
Level 1.2	$27.08	$1029.10	School administration services grade 1 — junior office assistant	The commencement level for administration: straightforward clerical and reception tasks under direct supervision.
Level 1.3	$28.03	$1065.20	Classroom support grade 1 · Preschool/childcare grade 1	The commencement level for classroom support and school-run preschool/childcare work.
Level 2.1	$28.24	$1073.10	Teacher aide (grade 2) · Library assistant · Boarding supervisor grade 1 · Admin grade 2	Established support work with some independence — most teacher aides, library assistants and school office staff start here.
Level 3.1	$29.47	$1119.90	Experienced teacher aide (grade 3) · School secretary · Qualified operational staff	Skilled support work under limited supervision. The award’s standard rate reference point.
Level 4.1	$31.11	$1182.10	Senior admin (grade 4) · Wellbeing grade 2 · Boarding supervisor grade 3	Specialised or supervisory support work — deeper skills, more judgement, or responsibility for others.
Level 5.1	$33.73	$1281.70	Admin grade 5 · Curriculum/resources grade 4 · Instructional services grade 4	Senior specialist or coordination roles across administration, curriculum resources or instruction.
Level 6.1	$36.61	$1391.30	School nurse (grade 1) · Wellbeing grade 3 · Admin grade 6 · Preschool/childcare grade 5	Professional or management-track roles — a registered nurse employed as such starts here.
Level 7.1	$40.25	$1529.50	Nurse grade 2 · Wellbeing grade 4 · Admin grade 7	Senior professional and management roles with substantial autonomy.
Level 8	$46.64	$1772.30	Nurse grade 3 · Admin grade 8 · Wellbeing grade 5 · Preschool director (60+ places)	The top level: senior management of a service or function within the school.

The calculator shows the commencement pay point of each level (1.1 through 8). Most levels have an upper step — 2.2, 3.2, 5.2, 6.2, and 7.2/7.3 for larger preschools — reached by service or appointment.
The same level can hold very different jobs: Level 6.1 is a registered nurse’s starting point, a senior administrator and an experienced childcare coordinator. Classify against the stream definitions, not the pay figure.
Level 3.1 is the award’s standard rate — the reference point for apprentice percentages and allowance calculations.
Teacher aides typically start at Level 1.3 or 2.1 and move up with independence and responsibility — under-classifying an aide who plans and delivers support programs is the common miss.

Allowances that can apply on top

Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Schools General Staff 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):

First aid allowance — designated first aid duty with a current qualification$964.19/year · $4.02/day

Sleepover allowance — boarding supervision or nursing staff sleeping over on premises or at camp$64.28 per sleepover

On-call allowanceOne ordinary hour’s pay per period of up to 24 hours on call

Meal allowance — more than 2 hours’ overtime after a 7.6-hour day, no meal provided$20.75

Tool allowance — tradesperson supplying their own tools$17.90/week · $33.88/week carpenters and joiners

Uniform and laundry allowance — required clothing not provided$1.23/day (max $6.16/week) plus $0.31/day laundry

Motor vehicle allowance — own vehicle used for work$1.01/km car · $0.34/km motorcycle (max 400km/week)

Annual leave loading17.5% on paid annual leave — shiftworkers get the shift loading instead if it’s higher

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 Schools General Staff 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 Schools General Staff Award requires:

Meal break — working more than 5 hours in a dayUnpaid, at least 30 consecutive minutes, starting no later than 5 hours in

Rest break — each 3 hours workedPaid, 10 minutes, counts as time worked (maximum two per shift; combinable into one 20-minute break by agreement)

Rest breaks can’t sit directly against the meal break unless both sides agree. The full rules live in clause 16 of the award.

Calculate a week under the Schools General Staff 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.

Classification levelEmployment typeState or territoryWeekday hours (day shift)Afternoon and night shift hoursA shift finishing after the day spread and at or before midnight, or after midnight — a permanent night shift is 130% (155% casual)Saturday hoursCooking/catering and boarding supervision staff (not on averaged hours) are 125% (150% casual) insteadSunday hoursCooking/catering and boarding supervision staff (not on averaged hours) are 175% (200% casual) insteadPublic holiday hours

Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000076) — 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 minimums from clause 17.1, current at 1 July 2026, shown at each level’s commencement pay point — upper steps within a level pay slightly more, and juniors are a percentage of the adult rate. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.

Our teacher aide only works term weeks — how does that work?

The award allows ordinary hours to be averaged, and many schools annualise pay across the year for term-time staff. The classification and hourly rate still come from this table — averaging changes when the pay arrives, not what an hour is worth.

Why are the canteen cook’s weekend rates lower?

Clause 22.3(b) gives school operational services staff in the cooking/catering group — and boarding supervisors not on averaged hours — Saturday at 125% and Sunday at 175%, instead of the standard 150% and 200%. Everyone else gets the standard rates.

Does super apply to penalty rates?

Yes — shift, weekend and 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.