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Jobs and Skills Australia reports $2,192 a week for its full-time registered nurse earnings group in May 2025. That is $113,984 on a simple 52-week conversion. Current NSW public RN base rates are a separate measure, ranging from about $81,748 to $114,772 a year from July 2026.
What the national nursing figure measures
The national figure covers full-time employees paid at adult rates, with managers excluded. It comes from the ABS Employee Earnings and Hours survey through Jobs and Skills Australia. The earlier registered nurse grouping includes several specialties and nurse practitioners. It is not a first-year salary or a figure for every person working in nursing.
The source survey includes amounts set aside through salary sacrifice. Its ordinary earnings definitions also cover allowances and penalty payments, with overtime recorded separately. A survey earnings figure therefore should not be treated as a bare award base rate.
The weekly and hourly medians are separate survey results. Dividing one by the other does not establish the working week of a typical nurse. The annual figure above is only weekly pay multiplied by 52, rather than a separately measured annual median.
| Published measure | Median |
|---|---|
| Weekly earnings | $2,192 |
| Hourly earnings | $57 |
Current base pay needs the right employer and step
For NSW public health RN steps, the July 2026 table runs from $1,566.70 to $2,199.60 weekly. These are ordinary base rates. The NSW calculator lists all eight verified steps and explains the award's annual conversion. Other states, private hospitals and aged care providers need their own applicable pay agreement.
Before comparing an offer, ask for the cash base salary, the recognised pay step and the ordinary hours. Keep employer super on a separate line. A higher package total is harder to assess when the employer contribution is mixed into the salary you expect to receive.
Then ask which extras are guaranteed and which depend on the roster. An offer built around frequent nights or weekends may provide more cash, but it also asks for a different working pattern. Compare that pattern with the one you can realistically keep.
Build the comparison from a realistic roster
Write down ordinary hours, likely shift extras and overtime separately. A recent busy fortnight can be useful evidence, but it should not automatically become the forecast for every fortnight of the next year. Use several representative payslips and account for leave, changed shifts and any period without work.
For a part-time offer, compare the agreed hours as well as the hourly rate. For casual work, check the loading and leave treatment in the agreement that actually covers the role. Do not borrow a percentage from a different nursing employer or assume that every extra rate is added together.
If you are choosing between roles, allow for travel, parking and the time spent getting to and from shifts. An extra hour of commuting can matter even when the headline salary is attractive. Keep your own household costs beside the pay comparison.
Packaging and study debt change the cash picture
A packaging offer needs a separate check from the base salary. Ask for the amount taken from pay, the value delivered to you, fees and the fringe benefit amount that will be reported. That last figure can affect study-loan repayments and other income tests even when taxable salary falls.
Compare the money available for the same expenses under both arrangements. Counting a packaged payment as extra cash while also counting the expense as unpaid would distort the budget. The packaging guides show how to keep cash, benefits and costs in the same comparison.
Keep the measurement date in view
We checked the sources on 3 October 2026. The national earnings observation remains May 2025. JSA is moving to new occupation groupings; its initial replacement profiles use 2021 Census data. We retain the dated earnings figure from its earlier nursing profile rather than present it as a new 2026 survey.
Use a survey benchmark for context and the applicable award or agreement for the offered rate. Neither one supplies the rent, childcare or travel costs of your household. The city salary guides can help frame a move, while your own quotes and expenses decide the budget.
Common questions
Is the national nursing figure a graduate salary?
No. It describes a dated full-time earnings group with different specialties and experience levels. Check the entry classification, recognised service and base rate in your own offer.
Does a nurse salary include employer super?
Check the wording. The NSW base rates shown here are cash pay before employer super. An advertised total package may already include super and other components.
Why can two nurses at the same base step receive different pay?
Their paid hours, roster, overtime, allowances, packaging, tax settings and study debt can differ. Compare those components before treating a payslip total as a different base salary.
Sources you can check
Sources checked for this page on 3 October 2026. Statistics keep their own measurement dates.
- Jobs and Skills Australia: Registered Nurses, May 2025 earnings
- ABS: what the May 2025 earnings survey includes
- JSA: current occupation data and transition to new profiles
- JSA: content available in the new occupation profiles
- NSW Health IB2026_018: Table 1, RN rates, printed page 5
- NSW public nurses award: rates on page 95; annual conversion on page 9