• 01 How Queensland teacher pay works — Bands, steps, and the QCT registration link 3
• 02 Full government pay scale — Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, and senior classifications 4
• 03 The 2025–26 pay dispute — frozen rates, the 8% vs 24% gap, arbitration 5
• 04 How you progress — increments, Band moves, and senior classifications 6
• 05 Catholic school pay — Brisbane Catholic Education and the Diocesan scale 7
• 06 Independent school pay — Award floor and what schools actually pay 8
• 07 Rural and remote allowances — locality allowance, RoRRS, housing 9
• 08 Take-home pay examples — two scenarios with net figures 10
• 09 How QLD compares to other states — interstate salary benchmarks 11
• FAQ Frequently asked questions — six common questions answered 12

Queensland state school teachers are employed under the Department of Education State School Teachers' Certified Agreement 2022 and the Teachers' Award – State 2016. Pay is organised into bands and steps: Band 1 (three-year-trained or pre-graduate entrants), Band 2 (the four-year-trained classroom teacher scale, four steps), and Band 3 (the upper classroom scale, four steps). Above Band 3 sit Senior Teacher, Experienced Senior Teacher, and the Highly Accomplished Teacher and Lead Teacher classifications. You move up one step per year for satisfactory service; movement between bands and into senior classifications is based on service plus demonstrated standards, not automatic. [Source: QIRC, Certified Agreement 2022, CB135]

Your pay band sits alongside your registration with the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT). New teachers hold provisional registration, reflecting the Graduate career stage of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. After at least one year (200 days of teaching), you transition to full registration at the Proficient career stage. [Source: QCT, provisional-to-full registration, 2025]

The rates below took effect on 1 July 2024, the most recent increase under the 2022 agreement. As section 03 explains, state teachers have not received an increase since this date. [Source: QTU, salaries payable under DoE State School Teachers' CA 2022]

A four-year-trained graduate starts at Band 2, Step 1 ($86,600). Teachers with recognised prior experience may be placed higher. The Experienced Senior Teacher classification ($126,795) is the senior classroom-teacher mark; the Highly Accomplished Teacher and Lead Teacher classifications align with the national HALT certification and pay up to $147,048 while keeping you in a teaching role. [Source: QTU, CA 2022 salary schedule]

Queensland teacher pay is unsettled going into 2026, and it matters for what you will actually earn. The 2022 agreement delivered increases of 4%, 4%, and 3% across its three years, plus an annual cost-of-living adjustment capped at 3% where CPI ran higher. It reached its nominal expiry around mid-2025, and a replacement has not been agreed. [Source: QTU, guide to the proposed certified agreement, 2022]

The state government offered 8% over three years, accepted by Queensland police and paramedics but rejected by teachers. The Queensland Teachers' Union (QTU) is claiming 24% over three years, citing analysis from University of Sydney Business School economists. [Source: EducationHQ, 2025]

Progression in Queensland is more transparent than in states with performance-gated steps.

• Annual increments. Within a band, you advance one step each year for satisfactory service. A graduate moves from Band 2, Step 1 to Step 4 over roughly three years.
• Band 2 to Band 3. Movement reflects accumulated service and continued satisfactory performance as a fully registered teacher. From graduate entry, reaching the top of Band 3 ($114,958) takes around eight years of continuous service.
• Senior and Experienced Senior Teacher. These recognise sustained experience beyond Band 3. They are not automatic; eligibility depends on service and meeting the criteria.
• Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher. These map to the national HALT certification, assessed against the Australian Professional Standards at the two highest career stages. They reward expert classroom practice rather than a move into administration.
• Experience recognition at entry. If you have prior teaching experience in another state or sector, you can ask to have it recognised when placed on the scale. A teacher arriving from interstate may enter above Band 2, Step 1.

Catholic systemic schools across Queensland, including Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE), are covered by the Catholic Employing Authorities Single Enterprise Collective Agreement – Diocesan Schools of Queensland. The scale below took effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025. [Source: Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools, teacher salary scale, July 2025]

Catholic vs government at entry: Catholic Graduate entry ($86,600) and government Band 2, Step 1 ($86,600) are now level, after the September 2026 interim increase closed a gap that had been open since July 2024. Across the full scale the two systems track each other closely. This Catholic agreement passed its nominal expiry on 30 June 2026, so a replacement is being negotiated — confirm the current figure with your diocese. Casual relief is set per step, for example $69.15/hour at Graduate and $72.53/hour at Proficient 1.

Independent schools in Queensland do not share a single salary scale. Each school is its own employer, and Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) does not set rates. The floor is the national Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020. Most established independent schools pay at or above government rates for equivalent experience; well-resourced and high-fee schools can pay above the government scale; smaller non-systemic and faith-based schools may sit closer to the Award floor. [Source: Fair Work Commission, MA000077]

Because there is no published scale, treat any single figure as indicative. A current government rate for your experience level is the most useful benchmark. If you are weighing an independent offer, ask directly:

Teaching in rural and remote Queensland adds to your package through allowances and targeted incentives.

The locality allowance assists with the higher cost of living in remote centres, paid under the public sector Locality Allowances directive (Directive 16/18). Amounts depend on location and run up to around $4,596 per year for a teacher without dependants and around $9,193 per year for a teacher with dependants. Teachers with a dependent spouse or child receive the full centre rate; those without receive half. [Source: Queensland Government, Locality Allowances Directive 16/18]

The Recognition of Rural and Remote Service (RoRRS) scheme bundles locality allowance, travel and compensation benefits, and recognition-of-service payments, with an online calculator. [Source: Queensland Government, RoRRS scheme, 2025]

• Rural and Remote Housing Incentive Scheme: rent assistance for eligible teachers, from July 2024 [Source: Teach Queensland, 2024]
• Beginning teacher payment: under the 2022 agreement, a one-off rural/remote payment was extended from 95 to 237 schools, with the maximum raised from $1,000 to $2,000 [Source: QTU, 2022]
• Recent fixed-term programs such as the Regional Attraction and Retention payment ($900 in 2024 and 2025) have closed to new participants, so confirm current-year eligibility

Estimates based on 2025–26 ATO income tax brackets and Medicare levy (2%). Employer superannuation (12.75%) is paid separately. Neither example includes HECS-HELP repayments.

HECS-HELP: from 2025–26, compulsory repayments use a marginal system, so you repay only on income above the $67,000 threshold. At $95,143, that is roughly ($95,143 − $67,000) × 15%, or about $4,221 per year. Super: Queensland Government pays 12.75% to employees under 75, above the 12% Superannuation Guarantee, and that covers state school teachers. It is paid on top of salary and does not affect take-home pay. [Sources: Australian Government, Department of Education for HECS; Queensland Department of Education, salary and conditions of employment for super]

[Sources: respective state department publications, 2024–26; Teacher Passport salary guide series]

Queensland's graduate figure sat still from July 2024 until September 2026 while other states settled new agreements, and the interim increase has only partly closed that. The substantive determination could move it further, though the interim was expressly not backdated, so do not assume back-pay is coming. The table compares classroom scales only: Queensland's Lead Teacher classification pays $147,048 and keeps you teaching, but it is an accreditation rather than a step reached by service, so it does not belong in the same column as a top of scale. When comparing a move, weigh cost of living and the specific role alongside the headline number.