New South Wales

Paramedic pay — current classifications, rates, penalties & allowances

Enterprise Agreement

NSW Ambulance Paramedics (State) Award 2023 (Award Code 008)

Current (nominal expiry 30 June 2026)

AnnualHourly

Roles & Wages

Role	Pay Point	July 2025
Trainee Paramedic Trainee & Intern Full-time weekly base rate while undertaking initial training before commencing the on-road internship.	Increment 1	$72,831.45
Paramedic Intern Trainee & Intern Full-time weekly base rate during the supervised internship leading to qualification as a Paramedic.	Increment 2	$82,798.93
Paramedic Paramedic Full-time weekly base rate for qualified Paramedics, progressing through six increments with service; shift penalties and allowances are paid on top.	Increment 1	$88,092.81
	Increment 2	$90,737.14
	Increment 3	$93,380.94
	Increment 4	$96,024.23
	Increment 5	$98,667.51
	Increment 6	$101,310.8
Paramedic Specialist Paramedic Full-time weekly base rate for the Paramedic Specialist classification, three increments; the Triage Clinician (Paramedic Specialist) title is also paid at these rates.	Increment 1	$108,399.2
	Increment 2	$111,651.27
	Increment 3	$115,000.9
Critical Care Paramedic (Aeromedical) Aeromedical & Critical Care Full-time weekly base rate for Critical Care Paramedics in the aeromedical service, two increments.	Increment 1	$121,587.46
	Increment 2	$124,737.28
Critical Care Paramedic (Aeromedical) Team Leader Aeromedical & Critical Care Full-time weekly base rate for the aeromedical Critical Care Paramedic team-leader role.	Increment 1	$130,977.46
Aeromedical Control Centre Officer Aeromedical & Critical Care Full-time weekly base rate for officers coordinating aeromedical operations from the control centre.	Increment 1	$132,000.97
Clinical Training Officer Education Full-time weekly base rate for Clinical Training Officers.	Increment 1	$129,960.21
Paramedic Educator Education Full-time weekly base rate for Paramedic Educators, two increments.	Increment 1	$155,706.55
	Increment 2	$166,268.21
Team Leader Management Full-time weekly base rate at Management Level 1; the VCCC Clinical Team Leader and Clinical Support Paramedic titles are also paid at this rate.	Management Level 1	$118,870.1
Station Manager Management Full-time weekly base rate at Management Level 2.	Management Level 2	$123,407.03
District Manager Management Full-time weekly base rate at Management Level 3, the highest classification in this award.	Management Level 3	$127,930.93

Showing annual salary rates (calculated from weekly × 52.167)

Allowances

Allowance	Unit	July 2023	July 2025
Specialist Operations Allowance (cl 12(a)) All-purpose allowance — treated as part of the base rate for all award purposes.	Per week	—	$111.50
Technical Operations Allowance (cl 13(a)) All-purpose allowance.	Per week	—	$63.40
Rescue (Standby) Allowance (cl 13(b)) All-purpose allowance.	Per week	—	$21.70
Control Centre (Standby) Allowance (cl 14(a))	Per week	—	$33.00
Control Centre Allowance (cl 14(b)) All-purpose allowance for staff employed at Clinical Levels 1-2 or Management Levels 1-4.	Per week	—	$130.00
Duty Control Centre Air Ambulance — Transitional (cl 14) Only for officers employed as Air Ambulance Co-ordination Officers as at 6 February 1998.	Per week	—	$20.00
On Call Allowance — daily (cl 26) Recall while on call attracts a minimum 4 hours at overtime rates (see Penalties).	Per 24 hours	—	$30.40
On Call Allowance — weekly (cl 26)	Per week	—	$122.00
Living Away From Home — Tier 1 (cl 17) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — the award excludes this allowance from wage increases.	Per day	$142.15	—
Living Away From Home — Tier 2 (cl 17) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per day	$131.45	—
Climatic and Isolation Allowance — Time and a Half Zone (cl 15) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per week	$5.50	—
Climatic and Isolation Allowance — Double Zone (cl 15) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per week	$10.90	—
Travelling Meal Allowance (cl 17) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per meal	$33.25	—
Meal Away from Station (cl 17) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per meal	$33.25	—
Crib Away from Station (cl 17(c)(ii)) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per occasion	$16.63	—
Overtime Meal Allowance (cl 27) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per meal	$33.25	—
Laundry Allowance (cl 42) Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per week	$15.70	—
Ambulance Studies Certificate Allowance (cl 5) Current recipients only. Fixed at its 1 July 2023 value — not subject to award wage increases.	Per week	$31.20	—

Penalty Rates

Afternoon Shift — early start (cl 30)10%

Shift commencing at or after 10:00 am and before 1:00 pm.

Afternoon Shift (cl 30)12.5%

Shift commencing at or after 1:00 pm and before 4:00 pm.

Night Shift (cl 30)15%

Shift commencing at or after 4:00 pm and before 4:00 am.

Night Shift — early morning start (cl 30)10%

Shift commencing at or after 4:00 am and before 6:00 am.

Saturday (cl 31)50%

Ordinary hours between midnight Friday and midnight Saturday — time and a half. Replaces (does not stack with) the afternoon/night shift penalties.

Sunday (cl 31)75%

Ordinary hours between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday — time and three-quarters. Replaces the afternoon/night shift penalties.

Public Holiday — shift worker (cl 32)150%

Time actually worked on a public holiday is paid at double time and a half in total (+150% on the ordinary rate). Shift penalties do not apply on public holidays.

Public Holiday — day worker (cl 32)50%

Rostered hours worked on a public holiday are paid at time and a half, in addition to ordinary weekly pay.

Overtime (cl 27-29)150% / 200%

All time beyond rostered hours: time and a half for the first 2 hours, double time thereafter — including overtime on Saturdays and Sundays. Time off in lieu may be taken instead (within 3 months, 38-hour accrual cap).

Overtime on a Public Holiday (cl 27)250%

Double time and a half for any overtime worked on a public holiday.

Recall while On Call (cl 26)Min 4 hrs at OT rates

Each recall attracts a minimum 4 hours at overtime rates (2 hours for residents of one-officer branch stations), unless a further call merges with the first or runs into the next rostered shift.

Casual Loading10%

Flat 10% loading on the hourly rate, with a minimum 2-hour payment per engagement.

Notes

•These figures are the full-time weekly base rate in Australian dollars, effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025.
•No 1 July 2026 increase has been gazetted for this award — NSW Health's general HSU pay increases for 2025 and 2026 explicitly exclude paramedics — so the 1 July 2025 rates remain current until the NSW Industrial Relations Commission gazettes a new variation.
•Ordinary full-time hours are 38 per week. Part-time employees are paid an hourly rate of 1/38th of the relevant weekly rate; casuals receive that hourly rate plus a 10% loading.
•The award covers NSW Ambulance paramedics from Trainee Paramedic through to District Manager (Management Level 3). Titles added by 2025-26 variations — VCCC Triage Clinician (Paramedic), Triage Clinician (Paramedic Specialist), VCCC Clinical Team Leader and Clinical Support Paramedic — are paid at the existing Paramedic, Paramedic Specialist and Team Leader (Management Level 1) rates.
•Instead of a flat annual-leave loading, the award varies the leave entitlement itself: day workers receive 4 weeks on full pay, shift workers not required to work public holidays receive 5 weeks, shift workers required to work public holidays receive 5 weeks paid at 7 weeks' pay (or, once paramedic-qualified, 6 weeks paid at 8 weeks' pay).
•Allowances shown with a 2023 rate (Living Away From Home, Climatic & Isolation, the meal and crib allowances, Laundry, and the Ambulance Studies Certificate allowance) are fixed by the award at their 1 July 2023 values — the award excludes them from wage increases, so those figures are current, not out of date.
•Source: NSW Ambulance Paramedics (State) Award 2023 (Award Code 008), NSW Industrial Relations Commission — https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/careers/conditions/Awards/ambos-paramedics.pdf