Why this site exists
Police pay in Australia is set by eight different industrial instruments: an award in New South Wales, enterprise agreements in Victoria, the Northern Territory and the AFP, certified agreements in Queensland, and industrial agreements or awards elsewhere. Each has its own pay points, loadings, shift rules, overtime rules and super arrangements. Recruiting rules, entrance tests and fitness standards differ just as much.
That information is public, but it's scattered across gazettes, Fair Work Commission PDFs, recruiting sites and association bulletins, and much of what ranks in search is out of date. We bring it together in one place, check it against the primary source, show our working, and build free calculators on top of it.
Our sister site: Police Pay UK
Police Pay Australia is the Australian sister site of Police Pay UK (policepay.co.uk), which has covered police pay, pensions, promotion and recruitment in the United Kingdom since 2025. The two sites share the same approach (independent, sourced and practical) and some of the same technology, including the AI interview and exam practice tools. Each site's content is written separately for its own country's rules.
Moving between the UK and Australia?
Several Australian forces actively recruit experienced UK officers. Our guide for UK police officers moving to Australia compares pay, recognition of prior service and visas, and Police Pay UK covers what happens to your UK police pension when you leave.
Who we are
We're a small independent team. We are not part of any police force, police association or union, government department, or exam provider, and nobody pays us to say anything about them. We make money from optional paid tools (such as AI interview practice) and, where clearly disclosed, from referral arrangements. See our referral disclosures.
How we research
- Pay figures come from the registered instrument itself (award, enterprise agreement or certified agreement) or the force's official recruiting pages, and each page lists its sources with the date we checked them.
- Where we calculate a figure (for example, applying a published percentage rule to a pay rate), we label it as calculated and explain the rule we applied.
- Where something can't be confirmed from an official source, we say so rather than guess.
- Pages are reviewed when a new agreement, pay rise or recruiting change is announced. Read our editorial policy and corrections policy.
What we're not
Nothing on this site is personal financial, tax, legal or credit advice. We explain how published rules work so you can ask better questions of your force, your police association, the ATO, your super fund or a licensed adviser.
Contact
Found something out of date, or want to suggest a guide? Get in touch.