WA Teacher Salary 2026: Pay Scale, Levels & Take-Home Pay

How WA teachers move up the Level 2 scale

Every qualified teacher in a WA public school starts at Level 2.1 ($88,178) and receives an annual increment each year until Level 2.9 ($127,737), provided they teach to a satisfactory standard. That makes eight increments, so a full-time teacher reaches the top of the classroom scale in their ninth year. The steps are not even: the first two increments are worth $7,449 and $7,941, the middle ones about $3,750, and the last $4,596.

Graduates also get a graduate allowance of $2,000 a year under the 2023 General Agreement, up from $1,600, so a first-year teacher's pay is $90,178 before tax. For comparison, NSW starts graduates on $90,177 ($92,882 from 9 October 2026) and SA on $84,971. That is about $2,715.65 a fortnight after tax, or $2,596.84 with a HECS-HELP debt.

Senior Teacher and Level 3 Classroom Teacher

Above Level 2.9 the WA teacher salary does not keep rising automatically. There are two classroom pathways:

• Senior Teacher (ST1–ST2, up to $134,165): for teachers who meet the Senior Teacher eligibility criteria. It is not automatic, but it does not require a promotion out of the classroom.
• Level 3 Classroom Teacher ($137,567 to $147,077): gained through a competitive application process recognising exemplary teaching.

Administrator pay: Levels 3 to 6

Deputy principals, associate principals and principals are paid by the level of the position, not by personal steps. Department job advertisements under the 2023 agreement show these ranges:

Take-home pay at key WA steps

On 2026–27 tax rates, a teacher at Level 2.5 ($110,925) takes home about $84,909 a year, or $3,256.77 a fortnight, with $13,311 of employer super on top. At Level 2.9 the figures are $96,341 and $3,695.27. A Senior Teacher on ST2 ($134,165) takes home about $3,862.92 a fortnight ($3,487.64 with a HECS-HELP debt), and a Level 3 Classroom Teacher at L3.1 ($137,567) about $3,944.76. Moving from 2.9 to Level 3 Classroom Teacher (L3.3) adds $19,340 before tax but only about $472.00 a fortnight after tax, because about 36% of the extra goes in income tax and Medicare levy (part of it falls in a higher tax bracket). Employer super of 12% is paid on top of the full salary, into GESB West State Super for most new employees.

The 2023 agreement expires in December 2026

The School Education Act Employees' (Teachers and Administrators) General Agreement 2023 delivered 5% from lodgement (paid in October 2024), 4% from 6 December 2024 and a final 3% from 6 December 2025. It is reported to nominally expire on 5 December 2026, and when we checked bargaining had not produced an agreed offer for a replacement.

Reaching the nominal expiry date does not cut pay: the December 2025 rates keep applying until a new agreement is registered. It does mean there is no increase scheduled after 6 December 2025, so any further rise for WA teachers depends on the next agreement and on whether it is backdated. Annual increments up the Level 2 scale continue regardless. Meanwhile NSW teachers get 3% from 9 October 2026 and Victorian teachers are due large rises once their new agreement is approved, so both will pay more than WA at the top classroom step (NSW already does) until a new WA deal is reached.

Country and remote schools carry location-based incentives that are not shown here; the Department publishes an allowances and benefits calculator for them. Relief teacher daily rates for WA public schools were not available when we checked.