Teachers Award pay guide 2026/2027

Casual rates for ordinary hours for long day care centre teachers, generated from the current Fair Work pay guide:

If you only skim one section, make it this one:

• The Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 [MA000077] covers teachers in schools, preschools and long day care, classified Levels 1–5.
• Minimums are reviewed each July. The FY2026/27 pay guide took effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, lifting all rates by 4.75%.
• Example 2026/27 adult minimum pay:
  • School/preschool teacher Level 1: $38.30/hr (salaried; $1,455.40/week), Level 5 $52.99/hr.
  • Long day care teacher Level 1: full-time/part-time $39.83/hr, casual $49.79/hr.
• School teachers have no standard weekend penalty; long day care teachers get Saturday +25% and shift loadings.
• Director’s allowance applies to centre directors.
• Get stream, level and employment type right for every employee.

The Teachers Award — full name the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 [MA000077] — is the modern award that sets the legal minimum pay and conditions for its industry. It covers teachers in early childhood services, independent schools and post-secondary education. In long day care it sits alongside the Children’s Services Award: degree-qualified early childhood teachers are paid under this award, while educators are paid under that one.

Pay is built from four things, in this order: the classification level the employee’s duties fall into (5 in this award), their employment type (full-time, part-time or casual — casuals receive a 25% loading instead of paid leave), when the shift was worked (weekend, public holiday, evening or overtime penalties), and any allowances that apply. Get one of the four wrong and the pay is wrong.

The Teachers Award covers teachers (and directors) in:

• Preschools and schools — paid an annualised salary across Levels 1–5.
• Long day care centres — paid rostered hours with shift and Saturday penalties.

Important — who’s covered by other awards: childcare educators and assistants (not qualified teachers) are covered by the Children’s Services Award; support and administrative staff in schools may fall under other awards. Confirm coverage with Fair Work’s PACT tool before applying rates.

A snapshot of the current FY2026/27 long day care teacher rates (which power the calculator), followed by the salaried school/preschool teacher rates.

Ordinary hours rates for long day care centre teachers Levels 1–5 (used by the calculator):

Casuals receive the same base rate plus a 25% loading. Ordinary casual rates:

Teachers in schools and preschools are paid an annualised salary with no standard weekend penalty:

• Level 1: $1,455.40/week ($38.30/hr)
• Level 2: $1,590.70/week ($41.86/hr)
• Level 3: $1,731.70/week ($45.57/hr)
• Level 4: $1,872.70/week ($49.28/hr)
• Level 5: $2,013.70/week ($52.99/hr)

Casual school/preschool teachers are paid by full-day, half-day and hourly rates (a casual engaged for fewer than five consecutive days is paid no higher than Level 3).

Below is the 2026/27 ordinary hourly rate for each classification in the Teachers Award (full-time and part-time), with the casual rate (base + 25% loading) in brackets. Weekend, public-holiday and overtime penalties apply on top. Classification follows duties, qualifications and responsibility — not the job title.

Level 1 (long day care) — $39.83/hour full-time/part-time (casual $49.79/hour, $1513.60/week full-time). Graduate early childhood teacher.

Level 2 (long day care) — $43.54/hour full-time/part-time (casual $54.43/hour, $1654.40/week full-time). Early childhood teacher, 2nd year.

Level 3 (long day care) — $47.39/hour full-time/part-time (casual $59.24/hour, $1801.00/week full-time). Experienced early childhood teacher.

Level 4 (long day care) — $51.26/hour full-time/part-time (casual $64.08/hour, $1947.70/week full-time). Senior early childhood teacher.

Level 5 (long day care) — $55.11/hour full-time/part-time (casual $68.89/hour, $2094.30/week full-time). Lead / educational leader teacher.

Classification follows the setting, qualifications and experience:

• Levels 1–5 apply to qualified teachers and progress with years of experience and responsibility.
• Preschool/school teachers are salaried; long day care teachers are paid rostered hours with penalties.
• Directors of early childhood services receive a director’s allowance on top of their classification rate.
• Childcare educators (Certificate III/Diploma, not degree-qualified teachers) are under the Children’s Services Award.

Write each employee’s stream, level and employment type into your payroll/rostering system. If unsure, confirm the right level.

Here’s how the most common roles map to classifications and 2026/27 rates. Use these as a starting point, then confirm the level against the employee’s actual duties.

A graduate early childhood teacher in long day care starts at Level 1 — $39.83/hr (casual $49.79/hr), stepping to Level 2 — $43.54/hr in the second year and Level 3 — $47.39/hr with experience.

A senior early childhood teacher sits at Level 4 — $51.26/hr, and a lead teacher or educational leader at Level 5 — $55.11/hr (casual $68.89/hr).

A centre running both awards pays its childcare educators under the Children’s Services Award and its teachers here. Rostering both from one system is the only practical way to keep the two straight.

How teachers are paid depends on the stream:

• School & preschool teachers: paid an annualised salary; there is no standard weekend penalty. Additional duties are managed through the salary and span-of-hours provisions.
• Long day care centre teachers (on the calculator):
  • Saturday: 125% (full-time/part-time); casual higher again.
  • Afternoon, night and early-morning shifts attract loadings on the ordinary rate.
  • Overtime: time-and-a-half for the first hours then double time.
• Director’s allowance applies to early childhood service directors (about $8,733–$13,138 per annum by level).

The calculator above covers ordinary and Saturday rates for long day care teachers. For shift loadings, overtime and the salaried school rates, use Fair Work’s PACT tool or award-interpreting software.

• Full-time teachers are paid an annualised salary (preschool/school) or a weekly rate (long day care); part-time is pro-rata.
• Both receive paid annual and personal/carer’s leave and other NES entitlements. School terms and non-term weeks are managed through the salary.

• Casual long day care teachers are paid a 25% casual loading on the ordinary rate; the Saturday penalty applies to the loaded casual rate.
• Casual school/preschool teachers are paid by full-day, half-day and hourly rates, capped at Level 3 for engagements under five consecutive days.

The main allowance under this award is the director’s allowance for early childhood service directors, paid on top of the classification rate:

• Level 1: about $8,733.22 per annum (full-time)
• Level 2: about $10,821.59 per annum
• Level 3: about $13,137.79 per annum

Other allowances (e.g. for additional responsibilities) may apply. Exact amounts update each pay guide — see the Fair Work pay guide.

Leave comes from the National Employment Standards (NES), which apply on top of the award and cannot be reduced by it. Casual employees receive the loading instead of paid leave, but still get unpaid carer’s and compassionate leave, and paid family and domestic violence leave.

Four weeks per year for full-time employees, pro-rata for part-time, accruing progressively from the first day. Employees the award defines as shiftworkers receive a fifth week. Most awards also add annual leave loading — check the leave clause of this award for the rate that applies. See our annual leave guide for how accrual, cash-out and payout on termination work.

• Personal/carer’s leave: 10 days per year for full-time employees, pro-rata for part-time. It accrues and carries over year to year.
• Compassionate leave: 2 days per occasion.
• Family and domestic violence leave: 10 days per year, available to casuals as well, renewing each year rather than accruing.
• Parental leave: 12 months unpaid with a right to request a further 12, alongside the government paid parental leave scheme.
• Public holidays: employees are entitled to be absent on a public holiday; if they work it, the award’s public-holiday penalty applies.

Tracking accruals across mixed full-time, part-time and casual teams is where spreadsheets break down — leave management software keeps balances, requests and approvals in one place.

• Confirm the award and stream (school/preschool salaried vs long day care rostered; educators are under the Children’s Services Award).
• Download the latest pay guide (FY2026/27).
• Classify each teacher by stream and level; apply the director’s allowance where relevant.
• Set rates and, for long day care, apply Saturday and shift loadings and overtime.
• Use award-interpreting software so shift loadings are calculated automatically, and keep records for 7 years.

These are the errors that show up most often when employers audit their own Teachers Award payroll.

Awards classify on what the employee actually does, their qualifications and their level of responsibility. Two people with the same title can sit on different levels, and someone doing higher duties is owed the higher rate for those hours.

Casual weekend and public-holiday rates are not the permanent penalty plus 25% bolted on afterwards. The award publishes a single casual figure for each penalty — use the rate sheet or the calculator above rather than stacking percentages by hand.

This award carries 3 common allowances. They are easy to overlook because they are not part of the hourly rate, but they are still legally owed — the rate sheet above lists every one.

The gap is large — a Level 1 teacher at $39.83/hr sits above every educator level under the Children’s Services Award. Centres that promote an educator into a teaching role without changing the award create an immediate and growing underpayment.

• Two streams: salaried school/preschool teachers and rostered long day care teachers (Levels 1–5).
• School teachers have no weekend penalty; long day care teachers get Saturday +25% and shift loadings.
• Director’s allowance applies to centre directors.
• Childcare educators are under the Children’s Services Award.
• Update every July and keep good records.

For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website.