Educational Services (Teachers) Award [MA000077]: Pay rates, allowances, and overtime
In this article
The Educational Services (Teachers) Award sets the pay rules for teachers working in schools, preschools, kindergartens, and early childhood education services.
What makes this award tricky is that it doesn’t behave like most others. For example, pay rates differ by setting, casual minimums depend on how long someone works, and annual leave links to school terms.
To make things easier, we’ve put together this Educational Services Award pay guide. It goes through the key rules so you can understand how to calculate teacher pay and where extra costs apply.
Educational Services Award pay guide
Getting pay right is essential. Even more so now that wage theft laws carry serious penalties and mistakes can be expensive to undo.
The Educational Services (Teachers) Award sets minimum weekly salary rates for teachers. They're based on their classification level and the type of service they work in (for example, schools versus long day care). These rates are different from (more than) the national minimum wage.
Casual pay works differently under this award. Casual teachers get a daily or hourly rate derived from the weekly rate. You apply a 25% casual loading on top.
To complicate things further, pay rates don’t stay fixed either. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) reviews and updates award wages as part of its annual wage review, usually from 1 July. Using payroll software that keeps award rates up to date can help lessen the risk of underpaying staff as rates change.
Minimum pay rates
Full-time employee minimum pay rates
Classification | Criteria | Minimum rate (preschools and schools) | Minimum rate (long day care centres) |
|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 | Graduate teacher and all other teachers, including those holding provisional or conditional accreditation/registration | $1,389.40 per week/ $72,497 per year | $1,444.90 per week/ $75,397 per year |
Level 2 | Teacher with proficient accreditation/registration or equivalent | $1,518.60 per week/ $79,240 per year | $1,579.30 per week/ $82,410 per year |
Level 3 | Teacher after 3 years of satisfactory service at Level 2 | $1,653.20 per week/ $86,264 per year | $1,719.30 per week/ $89,715 per year |
Level 4 | Teacher after 3 years of satisfactory service at Level 3 | $1,787.80 per week/ $93,289 per year | $1,859.40 per week/ $97,021 per year |
Level 5 | Highly accomplished or lead teacher | $1,922.40 per week/ $100,311 per year | $1,999.30 per week/ $104,323 per year |
Why long day care rates are higher
As you can see, teachers working in long day care centres receive an additional 4% on top of preschool and school rates. This is because long day care services usually operate for at least eight hours a day, 48 weeks a year. So, these teachers don’t follow the same ordinary hours structure as school-based roles.
Part-time employee minimum pay rates
You need to pay part-time teachers pro rata based on the full-time rate for their classification.
Example: If a Level 2 full-time teacher earns $1,518.60 per week for 38 hours, then a part-time teacher working 19 hours a week would earn $759.30 per week.
Casual employee minimum pay rates
Casual teacher pay depends on two things: how many consecutive days you engage them for (which determines the rate), and the type of service they work in (which determines the minimum engagement per shift).
For example:
How many consecutive days you engage them for
Less than 5 consecutive days: You need to pay them no higher than the Level 3 rate, plus a 25% casual loading.
5 or more consecutive days: You need to pay them the appropriate classification rate, plus a 25% casual loading.
The type of service they work in
Schools: If a half day is the usual attendance period, you must pay a casual teacher for at least half a day. This is true, even if they work less than this.
Children’s services and early childhood education
Up to 2 hours of work → pay 2 hours minimum
More than 2 and up to 4 hours → pay 4 hours minimum
More than 4 hours → pay the full day rate
Once you know which rate applies, you can then calculate the casual teacher’s daily pay from the weekly rate.
Engagement type | How to calculate pay |
|---|---|
Full day | (Weekly rate ÷ 5) + 25% casual loading |
Half day | (Weekly rate ÷ 10) + 25% casual loading |
Example:
A casual Level 3 teacher has a full-time weekly rate of $1,653.20.
Full-day base rate: $1,653.20 ÷ 5 = $330.64
Casual loading (25%): $82.66
Total full-day casual rate: $413.30
Educational Services Award allowances
The Teachers Award includes a handful of role-based allowances. These aren’t optional. If the role or requirement applies, you have to pay the allowance and list it separately on the employee’s payslip.
Here are some of the commonly used ones under this award:
Director’s allowance (early childhood and preschools)
If you appoint a teacher as director, you must pay an extra annual allowance based on centre size:
- Up to 39 places: $8,337.16
- 40–59 places: $10,330.82
- 60+ places: $12,541.98
Part-time directors receive this allowance pro rata. Teachers acting as directors for 10 consecutive working days or more must also receive this allowance for that period.
Leadership allowance (schools only)
If you require teachers to perform additional leadership duties, they must receive a leadership allowance. The amount depends on school size and level of responsibility.
For example:
- Category A (600+ students), Level 1: $5,799.76 per year
- Category B (300–600 students), Level 2: $3,443.61 per year
- Category C (100–299 students), Level 3: $1,159.95 per year
The principal must confirm the role and allowance in writing.
Educational leader allowance (early childhood services)
If you require a teacher to act as an educational leader, you must pay them an extra $4,567.31 per year. You pay this on top of any director's allowance (and pro rata if the role isn't full-time).
Vehicle allowance
If a teacher uses their own vehicle for work duties, you must pay:
- $0.99 per km (car, up to 400 km per week)
- $0.33 per km (motorcycle, up to 400 km per week)
If you provide the vehicle, you must cover all running costs instead.
Teachers Award superannuation
Superannuation rules mainly come from federal superannuation laws and the National Employment Standards (NES). Here's a simple checklist to follow when paying superannuation for your educational services employees:
- How much to pay
You must pay super at the current superannuation guarantee rate (12%) on an employee’s ordinary time earnings (OTE). You must pay it on time to avoid penalties. From 1 July 2026, payday super will require you to pay super with each pay run.
- Who gets super
You need to pay super to all your employees aged 18 and over. For employees under 18, you only need to pay super if they work more than 30 hours in a week.
- Fund choice comes first
Employees usually have the right to choose their own super fund. If a new employee doesn’t choose a fund, you must check with the ATO to see if they have a stapled fund and contribute to it if one exists.
- When award funds apply
If an employee doesn’t choose a fund and doesn’t have a stapled fund, you can pay super into a fund listed in the Teachers Award. This is assuming it can accept new members. These typically include education-focused and industry funds such as NGS Super, HESTA, AustralianSuper, CareSuper, Sunsuper, and Tasplan.
- Defined benefit members
If an employee belongs to a defined benefit fund, you can continue contributing to that fund. This is as long as it meets superannuation law requirements.
- Extra employee contributions
Employees can authorise additional super contributions from their post-tax wages in writing. Once deducted, you must pay the amounts into the fund within 28 days after the end of the month.
Payment of wages under the Educational Services Award
You must pay teachers in line with the Fair Work Act, the NES, and the Educational Services (Teachers) Award. The award itself is pretty light on pay-cycle mechanics, but it does set clear rules around final pay and authorised deductions.
How to pay wages
- Pay frequency: The Teachers Award doesn’t mention a specific pay cycle. Most employers pay fortnightly or monthly, though. Whichever way you choose to do it, the arrangement needs to be clear and consistent.
- Payment method: You must pay wages by cash, cheque, or electronic funds transfer (EFT) into the employee’s nominated account.
- Deductions: You can only make deductions if they’re authorised by law or the award, or agreed to in writing by the employee and for their benefit. For example, if a teacher agrees in writing to salary-sacrifice part of their pay into superannuation or to repay an approved overpayment.
- Payslips and records: Payslips are mandatory. They must show any allowances separately.
Payment on termination of employment
When a teacher’s employment ends, you must pay them within seven days of their final day. That final payment must include:
- wages for any complete or incomplete pay period up to the termination date, and
- all other amounts due under the Teachers Award and the NES (for example, unused annual leave).
The FWC can make orders to delay or adjust payments in limited situations. For example, where redundancy pay is under review. You should also check state or territory long service leave laws, which may require you to pay out accrued long service leave on termination or shortly after.
Teachers Award leave
Most leave entitlements come from the NES. The award builds on the rules in a few areas.
Annual leave
General rules
- Entitlement: Full-time teachers get four weeks of paid annual leave per year. Part-time teachers get the same entitlement on a pro-rata basis. Casual teachers don’t receive annual leave.
- When employees must take leave: Teachers in schools, preschools, and kindergartens must take annual leave during non-term weeks. If employment continues into the next school year, leave is generally taken in the four weeks immediately following the final term. This is unless you agree otherwise.
- Pay rate during leave: If you pay a teacher at above the award rate, you must continue to pay them at that higher rate while on annual leave.
- Starting mid-year or changing hours: You must apply a pro-rata calculation if a teacher starts after the school or preschool service date, changes hours during the year, or takes more than two term weeks of unpaid leave.
- Leaving during the year: When employment ends before the end of the school year, you pay annual leave using the same pro-rata calculation. This is instead of simply paying out a fixed number of weeks.
Annual leave loading
Teachers who serve throughout the school year get 17.5% leave loading on four weeks of annual leave. Where employment ends partway through the year, you pay leave loading on a pro-rata basis. You usually pay this when you pay the annual leave, or on termination. You can choose to pay leave loading progressively by increasing the annual salary by 1.342%, as long as you confirm it in writing.
If your business involves childhood services operating 48 weeks or more per year, you don’t use the term-based leave loading formula because your pay structure doesn’t follow term and non-term weeks. Employees still have a right to 17.5% leave loading, though. And you still pay it when they take annual leave, on termination, or through an annualised salary arrangement you both agree on.
The pro-rata annual leave calculation
Use this calculation when a teacher starts late, leaves early, takes more than two term weeks of unpaid leave, or changes hours during the year.
Scenario
- Weekly salary: $1,500
- Term weeks worked so far: 20
- Total term weeks in the school year: 38
- Non-term weeks in the year: 4
- Non-term salary already paid: $0
Step 1: Work out salary earned during term weeks
$1,500 × 20 = $30,000
Step 2: Work out the non-term annual leave entitlement earned
$30,000 × 4 ÷ 38 = $3,157.89
Step 3: Apply leave loading (if it applies)
If the teacher has a right to leave loading and you haven’t already paid it another way, add 17.5% to the annual leave amount now:
- Leave loading: $3,157.89 × 17.5% = $552.63
So, the total amount you owe is:
- $3,157.89 for annual leave, plus
- $552.63 in leave loading
Total payable: $3,710.52
If you’ve already built leave loading into salary (by increasing pay by 1.342%), or the teacher works in an early childhood service operating 48 weeks or more per year, you don't need to add the leave loading here.
This calculation doesn't apply to teachers in early childhood services that operate 48 weeks or more per year, either. This is irrespective of whether they're full-time or part-time. These teachers accrue and take annual leave under the standard NES rules instead.
Other types of leave
Personal/carer’s leave: Full-time employees get 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave each year. Part-time employees get this leave on a pro rata basis, based on their ordinary hours. Casual employees don’t get paid personal/carer’s leave, but they can take it unpaid when needed.
Compassionate leave: Employees can take two days of compassionate leave per occasion. For instance, if a close family or household member dies or suffers a life-threatening illness or injury. Full-time and part-time employees receive this leave with pay. Casual employees can take this leave without pay.
Parental leave: Eligible full-time, part-time, and long-term casual employees can take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave. They can also ask for an additional 12 months.
Community service leave: Employees can take community service leave for activities such as jury duty or voluntary emergency management work (for example, SES or volunteer firefighting). For jury duty, full-time and part-time employees get make-up pay for up to 10 days. Casuals don’t get paid jury duty leave. For voluntary emergency management activities, the NES allows employees to take leave, but it doesn’t require you to pay for it, regardless of employment type.
Family and domestic violence leave: All employees, including casuals, get 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. You need to deal with requests and supporting information confidentially and limit what appears on payslips.
Public holidays
Entitlement: Full-time and part-time employees have a right to paid time off on a public holiday if it falls on a day they would normally work. Casuals only receive payment when they work on the public holiday.
Substituting public holidays: You and your employees can agree in writing to switch to another day or part-day for a public holiday. This agreement gives both sides flexibility when the standard holiday doesn’t quite fit with operational or personal needs.
Requests to work: You can ask employees to work on a public holiday when the request is reasonable. Your employees can refuse the request when their refusal is reasonable.
Recognised public holidays: Public holidays include national days such as New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. They also include additional state or territory public holidays that apply to your employees' location.
Pay your Educational Services Award employees correctly, and on time, every time, with Rippling.
6 top tips for getting pay right under the Educational Services Award
- 01Lock in the correct classification from day one
Teacher pay moves strictly by classification and accreditation level, not by discretion. Getting this wrong at the start creates compounding underpayments. Using HR software with a built-in HRIS helps you document roles, accreditation status, and classification changes so pay stays aligned as teachers progress.
- 02Know whether you’re running a term-based or year-round pay model
The biggest pay mistakes under this award often stem from applying school rules to early childhood services, or vice versa. School-based employees follow term and non-term structures. Employees in early childhood services operating 48 weeks or more don’t. Your payroll setup needs to reflect that difference from the outset.
- 03Treat part-time early childhood teachers like standard part-timers, not school teachers
Part-time teachers in early childhood services accrue leave and get paid like any other year-round part-time employee. Don’t apply the term-based pro-rata calculations to them. A payroll system built for Australian awards helps keep these two models separate so the wrong rules don’t bleed across.
- 04Track casual engagements carefully, especially around the 5-day threshold
Casual teacher rates change once an engagement hits 5 consecutive days, and minimum engagement rules differ by setting. A scheduling tool that shows engagement length clearly can help prevent accidental breaches of the Level 3 cap or minimum payment rules.
- 05Be deliberate about how you pay leave loading
You can pay leave loading when an employee takes leave, or on termination. You may also build it into their salary via a 1.342% uplift. Things can become problematic if you forget which method you chose. Time and attendance software helps support this by keeping accurate records when you need to reconcile leave, especially at termination.
- 06Train managers on award mechanics, not just payroll teams
Most errors start upstream. For example, by approving the wrong engagement length, misclassifying a role, or misunderstanding leave timing. Having a good learning management system (LMS) in your corner can help keep principals, centre directors, and administrators aligned on the basics before mistakes reach payroll.
Teachers Award pay nuances that trip employers up
The Legal Services Award has a few pay rules that don’t work the same way as most other awards. They're easy to miss if you’re not looking for them.
Nuance | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
Casual pay rates depend on engagement length and setting | Casual teacher rates change based on how many consecutive days you engage them for, and whether they work in a school or an early childhood service. The rate itself can cap at Level 3 in short engagements, then shift once the engagement reaches five days. | You risk applying the wrong rate if you track hours but not consecutive days. That mistake leads to underpayments even when the base classification looks right. |
Minimum engagement rules sit separately from casual rates | The Teachers Award separates how you calculate the rate from the minimum amount you must pay. Schools often guarantee half-day minimums, while early childhood services apply hourly minimums that scale up to a full day. | Paying the correct rate doesn’t protect you if you miss the minimum engagement. Many underpayments happen because teams calculate the rate correctly but fail to apply the minimum pay rule. |
The award doesn’t use overtime or penalty rates | Unlike most modern awards, the Teachers Award doesn’t apply overtime or penalty rates for long hours, nights, or weekends. Pay stays fixed unless another entitlement applies. | You might assume overtime rules exist and overcomplicate payroll. Or teachers might assume extra hours trigger extra pay. Clear expectations prevent disputes and morale issues. |
Annual leave follows a term-based structure (for schools only) | School-based teachers take leave during non-term weeks and may require a pro rata calculation when employment starts late, ends early, or changes mid-year. Early childhood services operating year-round don’t use this model. | Applying the wrong leave calculation creates large final-pay errors. If you mix school and early childhood rules, you might miscalculate leave by thousands of dollars. |
Educational Services Award pay compliance made easy with Rippling
Pay under the Teachers Award can get off track faster than you might expect. The rules change depending on whether you run a school or a year-round early childhood service, how long a casual engagement lasts, and how you’ve chosen to manage things like leave loading. Small assumptions, applied in the wrong setting, can turn into pretty real pay issues.
Rippling's all-in-one workforce management software helps keep everything lined up by bringing HR records, scheduling, time tracking, and payroll into one system.
When a teacher changes classification, a casual engagement goes beyond five days, or someone moves between term-based and year-round work, that information flows straight through to pay without being re-entered or recalculated by hand.
The platform also covers the details that often get missed under this award. Things like casual rate caps, minimum engagement rules, leave loading, super contributions, and final pay when a teacher leaves mid-year. Award updates apply automatically, so rates stay current without manual checks each July.
Instead of firefighting at the end of the term or on termination, you can review the pay run, approve it, and move on knowing the Teachers Award rules are being applied consistently in the background.
FAQs
Who does the Educational Services Award cover?
The Educational Services (Teachers) Award covers teachers working in schools, preschools, kindergartens, and early childhood education services in the private sector.
It applies to classroom teachers and teachers performing related educational duties. The award doesn't cover support staff or non-teaching roles, which usually fall under different awards.
How do I know which classification level an employee falls under?
Classification depends on the teacher’s accreditation or registration status and their teaching experience. For example, graduate teachers sit at Level 1, while teachers with proficient accreditation move up through higher levels over time.
You should review accreditation changes regularly, because a change in status often requires a pay increase from a specific date, not just from the next review cycle.
Is it okay to just pay the national minimum wage?
No, the national minimum wage only applies where no modern award covers the role. Teachers covered by the Educational Services (Teachers) Award must receive at least the minimum rates set by the award. These rates are higher than the national minimum wage.
Paying only the national minimum wage would underpay most teachers under this award.
Rippling helps with Educational Services Award leave, superannuation, and more.
Disclaimer
Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting and legal advisers before engaging in any related activities or transactions.
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