Assumptions, sources and disclaimers

Ordinary pay and the salary timeline

Ordinary estimates use the published annual salary multiplied by your employment fraction, divided by 26 fortnights. October 2026 is the calculator’s current salary; the tables’ “Current” column is the previous salary. Published salary amounts are used directly, rather than reconstructed from percentage increases.

Every timeline estimate uses the same classification, employment fraction, HELP setting and fixed fortnightly salary sacrifice amount. The current 2026–27 tax and HELP rules are used for every date. Future tax rates and HELP thresholds may change. These are comparisons under today’s settings, not forecasts of future payroll rules.

Annual amounts display as whole dollars and fortnightly amounts to cents. Calculations use unrounded amounts. Principal Range 7 commences in April 2027 and is unavailable as a current classification.

Tax and Medicare

Assumes Australian tax residency, the tax free threshold is claimed, and this salary is your only income. Uses 2026–27 annual income tax estimates divided across 26 fortnights. Actual payroll withholding can differ. Tax offsets, Medicare levy surcharge and other personal tax settings or deductions are excluded.

Medicare is simplified to 2% of taxable annual income. Low income reductions and exemptions are not applied, so take home may be underestimated at lower incomes. “Estimated tax per fortnight” combines income tax and Medicare. An estimated Medicare levy is typically included in your payslip’s tax deduction.

HELP and salary sacrifice

Estimated HELP repayment is an annual compulsory repayment estimate spread across 26 fortnights, rather than exact employer withholding. Assumes sufficient remaining debt. Other sources of HELP repayment income are not modelled.

Salary sacrifice is assumed to be to super before tax. The entered fortnightly amount is multiplied by 26 and deducted from annual gross to find taxable income. It is added back for HELP repayment income, which equals ordinary annual gross under these assumptions. When switched off, sacrifice is zero; a blank amount also means zero.

Take home deducts salary sacrifice, income tax, Medicare and HELP once each. Employer super is not deducted from salary.

Backpay periods and daily basis

Automatic estimates assume your classification and employment fraction stayed the same since 10 August 2026, you remained on paid service, and you were eligible and on pay when the agreement commenced on 23 October 2026. Changes in employment, unpaid leave or higher duties can affect your payment. Employment history is not modelled.

Assumes your previous rate was paid through 31 October. Actual payroll arrears periods may differ. The 31 October cutoff is an estimation assumption, not a confirmed payroll arrears cutoff.

• 10 August through 3 October 2026 inclusive: (August annual salary − previous annual salary) × employment fraction × 55 ÷ 365.25.
• 4 October through 31 October 2026 inclusive: (October annual salary − previous annual salary) × employment fraction × 28 ÷ 365.25.

Gross backpay is the sum of both periods. October is compared with previous salary, not August salary, because this scenario assumes the previous rate continued throughout. This separate daily basis uses annual salary ÷ 365.25; ordinary fortnightly estimates still use annual salary ÷ 26.

Assumes ordinary pay at the new rate starts with the period commencing 1 November, paid on 12 November 2026. That ordinary fortnight is not counted as backpay. The expected payment date is not used as the last day of arrears.

Agreement commencement payment

The expected payment date is 26 November 2026. Gross payment is $2,000 × employment fraction. Assumes you were eligible and on pay on 23 October 2026, and your selected fraction was also your fraction on that date.

This payment is taxable, is not reduced by salary sacrifice, and is kept separate from recurring annual salary and the salary timeline. Unchecking the eligibility assumption disables both automatic payment estimates.

Extra payment deductions

Extra payment deductions use a simplified annualised estimate based on the approach in ATO Schedule 5. This does not reproduce exact payroll withholding. Your actual deposit and final annual tax or HELP assessment may differ.

For each extra gross payment, the calculator compares annual income tax and Medicare on ordinary taxable income plus the extra payment with the amounts on ordinary taxable income alone. If HELP is selected, it also compares HELP on ordinary annual gross plus the extra payment with HELP on ordinary annual gross alone. Negative deduction differences are clamped to zero, and combined extra deductions are capped at 47% of the extra gross payment.

The extra payment is not multiplied by 26. Ordinary tax and another fortnight’s salary sacrifice are not deducted again. Estimated total take home for that pay is ordinary fortnightly take home plus estimated extra take home.

Both payments are calculated independently against the ordinary salary baseline. This simplified approach does not model cumulative year to date payroll calculations or exact ATO Method A withholding tables and rounding.

Education Support salaries and allowances

ES base annual salary is the selected published salary table amount multiplied by your employment fraction. The same base salary method is used for ordinary pay, salary comparisons, all timeline dates and backpay. No manually entered annual salary is required.

Leave purchase allowances and other allowances are excluded. These estimates cover base salary only. The commencement payment is available across all four staff categories, subject to the eligibility assumptions, and its gross amount is $2,000 multiplied by the eligible employment fraction.

Sources

Salary figures are transcribed from the four supplied Australian Education Union (AEU) salary tables, marked “Without Prejudice” and last updated 10 August 2026. Previous figures remain pending independent verification. Missing previous salaries are not treated as zero.

• Teacher Class Salary table
• Education Support Class Salary table
• Principal Salary table
• Assistant Principal Salary table
• Income Tax Rates Act 1986
• ATO study and training support loan repayment thresholds
• ATO Schedule 5

Estimates only

Estimates only. Actual take-home pay may vary depending on your personal tax circumstances, payroll settings, HELP repayment income, salary packaging, Medicare obligations and other deductions. This calculator is not financial or tax advice.