Police overtime calculator
what each hour is really worth

Most overtime calculators ask for your hourly rate. Police officers rarely know theirs, because no Australian force simply divides your advertised salary by 38. NSW leaves out the loading, Victoria strips out the built-in penalty, and the AFP uses a fortnight's pay over 40 hours. Getting the base wrong can move the answer by 10% or more.

1. 1

   Your pay point

   From the agreement

   Every rank and increment in your force's current pay table, read from the award or enterprise agreement. Figures we've calculated ourselves, such as some NT pay points, are marked. Queensland's CPI-uplifted rates are QPS's official schedule.

2. 2

   The hourly base

   Force rule

   Your salary converted to the hourly rate your agreement uses for overtime. For most forces that's salary ÷ 52.14 weeks ÷ 38 hours, with force-specific adjustments explained below.

3. 3

   The multiplier

   Your hours

   Time and a half, double time or double time and a half, depending on the day and how long you've been on. In NSW, Victoria and WA you can split the first block at time and a half and the rest at double time.

4. 4

   Tax at your marginal rate

   ATO 2026-27

   The calculator works out your tax on your salary with and without the overtime, using 2026-27 rates, the Low Income Tax Offset and the Medicare levy. The difference is what the overtime is really worth.

If you also earn shift allowances or regular overtime across the year, put the yearly total in the "other allowances" box. That pushes your taxable income up to where it really sits, so the tax on this block of overtime is right. Leave it at zero if you're unsure: the answer will be close unless you're near $135,000.

NSW Police

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

Time and a half for the first 2 hours, then double time. The hourly rate is based on base salary plus super-attracting allowances, excluding the 11.5% loading.

How the hourly base is worked out

Overtime is worked out on base salary (excluding the 11.5% loading) ÷ 52.14 weeks ÷ 38 hours.

Victoria Police

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

Monday to Friday: time and a half for the first 3 hours, then double time. Weekends and public holidays: double time. Multipliers apply to the base hourly rate (ordinary rate / 1.13, or / 1.164 for Officers), which excludes the commuted penalty. Detectives get commuted overtime (COT 2) instead.

How the hourly base is worked out

Victorian salaries include a 13% commuted penalty. Overtime is on the base rate: salary ÷ 1.13 (÷ 1.164 for Inspector and above) ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38.

QPS

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

Operationally available, OST-qualified non-commissioned officers get double time for all overtime, in recognition of their 'duty to act'. This is unusual nationally. Others get time and a half for the first 3 hours, then double time.

How the hourly base is worked out

Overtime is on base salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38.

WA Police

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

Time and a half for the first 3 hours, then double time (cl 13.3). Overtime is time beyond 40 hours a week or beyond the rostered 8, 9 or 10-hour shift. The hourly overtime rate is fortnightly salary / 80 x 1.5 or x 2. Overtime provisions do not apply to Commissioned Officers, whose salary includes an allowance for extra hours.

How the hourly base is worked out

The WA agreement (cl 10.13, 13.8) sets the hourly rate as annual salary × 12/313 ÷ 80. We use that formula.

SAPOL

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

Overtime rates are set in the Police Officers Award (cl 5.2), which was not retrieved, so no multiplier is given. The EA covers how overtime is taken: time off in lieu hour for hour if requested, but paid at the award overtime rate where overtime is unavoidable or operational. ^unconfirmed

How the hourly base is worked out

Overtime is estimated on salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38. SAPOL overtime multipliers sit in a separate award we haven't yet confirmed.

Tasmania Police

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

All overtime for Constables and Sergeants is paid at double time, with a 4-hour minimum on call-back. Inspectors and above get no overtime, and country station members are paid a 37% allowance instead.

How the hourly base is worked out

Overtime is estimated on salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38.

NT Police

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

Under the 2022 agreement, overtime for Senior Sergeant and below is time and a half on weekdays, double time on weekends and double time and a half on public holidays, with a 4-hour minimum for pre-notified overtime and a 2-hour minimum double-time recall. NTPA says the 2025 agreement improved overtime, but the details have not been seen.

How the hourly base is worked out

Overtime is estimated on salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38 using the 2022 agreement's multipliers; the 2025 agreement's overtime changes aren't published.

AFP

Overtime rule (from the agreement)

All overtime is paid at double time: the Overtime Rate is (base salary x 12/313)/40, twice the base hourly rate. TOIL is an alternative at 2 hours off for each overtime hour. Executive Level staff get no overtime or composite.

How the hourly base is worked out

The AFP agreement sets the Overtime Rate at (base salary × 12/313) ÷ 40, which equals double the ordinary hourly rate. We use that formula.

Force	Overtime rule (from the agreement)	How the hourly base is worked out
NSW Police	Time and a half for the first 2 hours, then double time. The hourly rate is based on base salary plus super-attracting allowances, excluding the 11.5% loading.	Overtime is worked out on base salary (excluding the 11.5% loading) ÷ 52.14 weeks ÷ 38 hours.
Victoria Police	Monday to Friday: time and a half for the first 3 hours, then double time. Weekends and public holidays: double time. Multipliers apply to the base hourly rate (ordinary rate / 1.13, or / 1.164 for Officers), which excludes the commuted penalty. Detectives get commuted overtime (COT 2) instead.	Victorian salaries include a 13% commuted penalty. Overtime is on the base rate: salary ÷ 1.13 (÷ 1.164 for Inspector and above) ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38.
QPS	Operationally available, OST-qualified non-commissioned officers get double time for all overtime, in recognition of their 'duty to act'. This is unusual nationally. Others get time and a half for the first 3 hours, then double time.	Overtime is on base salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38.
WA Police	Time and a half for the first 3 hours, then double time (cl 13.3). Overtime is time beyond 40 hours a week or beyond the rostered 8, 9 or 10-hour shift. The hourly overtime rate is fortnightly salary / 80 x 1.5 or x 2. Overtime provisions do not apply to Commissioned Officers, whose salary includes an allowance for extra hours.	The WA agreement (cl 10.13, 13.8) sets the hourly rate as annual salary × 12/313 ÷ 80. We use that formula.
SAPOL	Overtime rates are set in the Police Officers Award (cl 5.2), which was not retrieved, so no multiplier is given. The EA covers how overtime is taken: time off in lieu hour for hour if requested, but paid at the award overtime rate where overtime is unavoidable or operational. unconfirmed	Overtime is estimated on salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38. SAPOL overtime multipliers sit in a separate award we haven't yet confirmed.
Tasmania Police	All overtime for Constables and Sergeants is paid at double time, with a 4-hour minimum on call-back. Inspectors and above get no overtime, and country station members are paid a 37% allowance instead.	Overtime is estimated on salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38.
NT Police	Under the 2022 agreement, overtime for Senior Sergeant and below is time and a half on weekdays, double time on weekends and double time and a half on public holidays, with a 4-hour minimum for pre-notified overtime and a 2-hour minimum double-time recall. NTPA says the 2025 agreement improved overtime, but the details have not been seen.	Overtime is estimated on salary ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38 using the 2022 agreement's multipliers; the 2025 agreement's overtime changes aren't published.
AFP	All overtime is paid at double time: the Overtime Rate is (base salary x 12/313)/40, twice the base hourly rate. TOIL is an alternative at 2 hours off for each overtime hour. Executive Level staff get no overtime or composite.	The AFP agreement sets the Overtime Rate at (base salary × 12/313) ÷ 40, which equals double the ordinary hourly rate. We use that formula.

'calc' means calculated by us from the agreement's rule. 'unconfirmed' means the rule comes from a secondary source or an agreement we haven't been able to read in full.

Three forces stand out. Queensland pays operationally available, OST-qualified non-commissioned officers double time for every overtime hour, in recognition of their duty to act. Tasmania pays double time for all overtime by Constables and Sergeants. The AFP's "Overtime Rate" is defined so that it equals double the ordinary hourly rate.

Two forces come with caveats. South Australia's overtime multipliers sit in the Police Officers Award, which we haven't been able to read, so the calculator uses 1.5× and 2× as an assumption and says so. The Northern Territory's 2025 Consent Agreement reportedly improved overtime, but its text isn't public, so the figures use the 2022 agreement's rates. Compare the wider picture in police overtime and penalty rates.

NSW: base salary without the loading

NSW non-commissioned officers are paid an 11.5% loading as part of salary, but the award says the overtime hourly rate is base salary plus super-attracting allowances, excluding the loading. A probationary constable on $92,576 with loading has an overtime base of $83,028 ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38 = $41.90 an hour. Detectives and prosecutors have their own overtime bases that include special duties allowances.

Victoria: salary divided by 1.13

Victorian salaries already include a 13% commuted penalty for shift and weekend work. Overtime multipliers apply to the base rate, which the agreement defines as the ordinary rate ÷ 1.13 (or ÷ 1.164 for Inspector and above). A top-of-scale Sergeant on $149,358 has a base hourly rate of $66.71, not the $75.38 you'd get by dividing the salary straight by 38-hour weeks.

AFP: a fortnight's pay over 40 hours

The AFP agreement sets the Overtime Rate as base salary × 12/313 ÷ 40. For a newly sworn Band 2.4 constable on $72,317, that's $69.31 an hour. Because a fortnight's pay is divided by 40 rather than 80 hours, this already equals double the ordinary hourly rate, which is why the calculator shows a 2× multiplier on an ordinary rate of $34.66.

WA: fortnightly salary over 80

WA's agreement (cl 10.13 and 13.8) sets the hourly overtime rate at a fortnight's salary (annual salary × 12/313) ÷ 80, then × 1.5 or × 2. A first-year constable on $94,651 has a base of $45.36. That's a little lower than dividing by 38-hour weeks would give, because WA's agreement divides a fortnight's pay by 80 hours and counts overtime after 40 hours a week.

NSW Police

First-year salary paid

$92,576

Base hourly

$41.90

Usual rate

1.5×

Gross per OT hour

$62.85

After tax per hour

$42.74

Victoria Police

First-year salary paid

$84,060

Base hourly

$37.54

Usual rate

1.5×

Gross per OT hour

$56.31

After tax per hour

$38.29

QPS

First-year salary paid

$78,505

Base hourly

$39.62

Usual rate

2×

Gross per OT hour

$79.24

After tax per hour

$53.88

WA Police

First-year salary paid

$94,651

Base hourly

$45.36

Usual rate

1.5×

Gross per OT hour

$68.04

After tax per hour

$46.27

SAPOL

First-year salary paid

$83,398

Base hourly

$42.09

Usual rate

1.5× (assumed)

Gross per OT hour

$63.13

After tax per hour

$42.93

Tasmania Police

First-year salary paid

$73,518

Base hourly

$37.10

Usual rate

2×

Gross per OT hour

$74.21

After tax per hour

$50.46

NT Police

First-year salary paid

$87,005

Base hourly

$43.91

Usual rate

1.5×

Gross per OT hour

$65.87

After tax per hour

$44.79

AFP

First-year salary paid

$72,317

Base hourly

$34.66

Usual rate

2×

Gross per OT hour

$69.31

After tax per hour

$47.13

Force	First-year salary paid	Base hourly	Usual rate	Gross per OT hour	After tax per hour
NSW Police	$92,576	$41.90	1.5×	$62.85	$42.74
Victoria Police	$84,060	$37.54	1.5×	$56.31	$38.29
QPS	$78,505	$39.62	2×	$79.24	$53.88
WA Police	$94,651	$45.36	1.5×	$68.04	$46.27
SAPOL	$83,398	$42.09	1.5× (assumed)	$63.13	$42.93
Tasmania Police	$73,518	$37.10	2×	$74.21	$50.46
NT Police	$87,005	$43.91	1.5×	$65.87	$44.79
AFP	$72,317	$34.66	2×	$69.31	$47.13

After-tax figure = extra take-home from one hour on top of the first-year salary, with 2026-27 tax, LITO and Medicare, no HELP. SA multiplier assumed. QLD rates are QPS's official CPI Uplift Adjustment schedule, including the 2025 CPI uplift.

The spread surprises people. Queensland's first-year base salary is one of the lower ones on the table, yet an hour of overtime is among the most valuable, because double time applies from the first minute. NSW's base salary with loading is one of the highest, but its overtime base excludes the loading and starts at time and a half.

A higher salary doesn't mean better overtime. The multiplier and the hourly base matter more.

None of this tells you which force is better overall. Overtime is irregular and depends on your station, your roster and your force's budget. For the full picture of pay, allowances and super at your rank, use the pay comparison calculator.

NSW: a probationary constable kept back six hours

A probationary constable in NSW is held back six hours after a weekday shift. The award pays time and a half for the first two hours and double time after that, on the base hourly rate without the loading.

Base hourly rate

Calculation

$83,028 ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38

Amount

$41.90

First 2 hours

Calculation

2 × $41.90 × 1.5

Amount

$125.71

Next 4 hours

Calculation

4 × $41.90 × 2

Amount

$335.22

Gross overtime

Amount

$460.93

After tax

Calculation

on top of $92,576 salary

Amount

$313.43

Item	Calculation	Amount
Base hourly rate	$83,028 ÷ 52.14 ÷ 38	$41.90
First 2 hours	2 × $41.90 × 1.5	$125.71
Next 4 hours	4 × $41.90 × 2	$335.22
Gross overtime		$460.93
After tax	on top of $92,576 salary	$313.43

If that happened every fortnight, it would add $11,984 a year before tax and about $8,149 after tax. The award also pays double time until you're released if the break between shifts falls under 10 hours.

Queensland: a senior constable on OSA doing an eight-hour shift of overtime

A Queensland senior constable at the top increment ($118,127, QPS's official rate including the 2025 CPI uplift) on a shift roster receives the 21% Operational Shift Allowance ($24,807), bringing taxable salary to $142,934. Eight hours of overtime at double time on a base of $59.62 is $953.87 gross, or about $581.86 after tax.

Victoria: a sergeant called in on a Saturday

A top-of-scale Victorian sergeant on $149,358 works four hours of weekend overtime at double time. On the base rate of $66.71 that's $533.66 gross. Because this sergeant's salary is already above $135,000, the overtime is taxed at 39% including Medicare, leaving about $325.53.

For most constables, overtime is taxed at 32% including Medicare. Once your total taxable income passes $135,000, the rate on each extra dollar rises to 39%, so you keep 61 cents instead of 68. The table shows how much room a top-of-scale senior constable has on a typical roster before that happens, and how many overtime hours would fill it.

NSW Police

Top senior constable salary

$139,688

Usual roster allowance

11.5% loading (already in salary)

Salary + allowance

$139,688

Room under $135,000

Already over

Overtime hours to reach it

Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%

Victoria Police

Top senior constable salary

$118,945

Usual roster allowance

13% penalty component (already in salary)

Salary + allowance

$118,945

Room under $135,000

$16,055

Overtime hours to reach it

201 hours (7.7 a fortnight)

QPS

Top senior constable salary

$118,127

Usual roster allowance

21% Operational Shift Allowance

Salary + allowance

$142,934

Room under $135,000

Already over

Overtime hours to reach it

Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%

WA Police

Top senior constable salary

$124,558

Usual roster allowance

None (night shifts paid per shift)

Salary + allowance

$124,558

Room under $135,000

$10,442

Overtime hours to reach it

116 hours (4.5 a fortnight)

SAPOL

Top senior constable salary

$117,542

Usual roster allowance

23% metro response roster allowance

Salary + allowance

$144,577

Room under $135,000

Already over

Overtime hours to reach it

Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%

Tasmania Police

Top senior constable salary

$107,420

Usual roster allowance

28% 24-hour roster allowance

Salary + allowance

$137,498

Room under $135,000

Already over

Overtime hours to reach it

Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%

NT Police

Top senior constable salary

$120,539 ^calc

Usual roster allowance

23% Consolidated + 5% General Policing

Salary + allowance

$154,290

Room under $135,000

Already over

Overtime hours to reach it

Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%

AFP

Top senior constable salary

$111,861

Usual roster allowance

22% rostered composite

Salary + allowance

$136,470

Room under $135,000

Already over

Overtime hours to reach it

Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%

Force	Top senior constable salary	Usual roster allowance	Salary + allowance	Room under $135,000	Overtime hours to reach it
NSW Police	$139,688	11.5% loading (already in salary)	$139,688	Already over	Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%
Victoria Police	$118,945	13% penalty component (already in salary)	$118,945	$16,055	201 hours (7.7 a fortnight)
QPS	$118,127	21% Operational Shift Allowance	$142,934	Already over	Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%
WA Police	$124,558	None (night shifts paid per shift)	$124,558	$10,442	116 hours (4.5 a fortnight)
SAPOL	$117,542	23% metro response roster allowance	$144,577	Already over	Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%
Tasmania Police	$107,420	28% 24-hour roster allowance	$137,498	Already over	Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%
NT Police	$120,539 calc	23% Consolidated + 5% General Policing	$154,290	Already over	Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%
AFP	$111,861	22% rostered composite	$136,470	Already over	Every overtime dollar taxed at 39%

Calculated by us. Hours use each force's usual overtime multiplier on the base hourly rate. Roster allowances are percentages of base salary where they apply; your own roster may differ. NT senior constable figures are estimated from the 2022 agreement. Tasmania's headline 'senior constable' figure is the top Constable level, because Tasmania has no separate Senior Constable rank.

In 6 of the eight forces, a top-of-scale senior constable on a typical roster is already over $135,000 before any overtime, so every hour is taxed at 39%. Elsewhere there's usually room for a heavy overtime year before the higher rate bites.

NSW Police

Recall and minimum payment rules

No recall minimum in the rules we hold. Check your agreement or association.

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.

Victoria Police

Recall and minimum payment rules

Recall between shifts: minimum 3 hours; Mon-Fri 1.5x for the first 3 hours then 2.0x; weekends/public holidays 2.0x (cl 51.1). Recall on a rest day: minimum 4 hours; Mon-Fri 1.5x for the first 8 hours then 2.0x; weekends/public holidays 2.0x (cl 52.1). Court attendance: minimum 4 hours on a rest day or within 8 hours of night work, at cl 44 rates (cl 46.1). Detectives (not above Senior Sergeant) get commuted overtime (COT 2) in lieu of overtime and recall: $14,157 a year for Constable/Senior Constable and $19,217 for Sergeant/Senior Sergeant with Operational Readiness, from 1 Jun 2026 (cl 47.2). Inspector and above: the 16.4% commuted penalty covers work beyond 8 hours and recall (cl 65.1).

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

Rest day altered and not reallocated in the fortnight: Mon-Fri 1.5x for the first 8 hours then 2.0x; weekends/public holidays 2.0x; or time off in lieu hour for hour (cl 38.7). Detectives (not above Senior Sergeant) get commuted overtime (COT 2) in lieu of overtime and recall: $14,157 a year for Constable/Senior Constable and $19,217 for Sergeant/Senior Sergeant with Operational Readiness, from 1 Jun 2026 (cl 47.2).

QPS

Recall and minimum payment rules

Minimum 3 hours on recall (Award cl 18.7(b)).

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.

WA Police

Recall and minimum payment rules

Recall minimum: 3 hours plus 1 hour travel on weekly leave days; 1 hour plus 1 hour travel otherwise (cl 13.5).

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

Time off in lieu may be elected instead of payment and must be cleared within 2 months (cl 13.12).

SAPOL

Recall and minimum payment rules

Response Extended Hours Roster: overtime starts after the rostered shift length (cl 31.4); recall on REHR rest days is paid as overtime. The 35% one/two-person country station allowance includes on-call and recall; the 45% Level 2 remote loading is in lieu of overtime, on call and recall.

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

Time off in lieu hour for hour if requested, but at the award overtime rate where overtime is unavoidable or operational (EA cl 33). The 35% one/two-person country station allowance includes on-call and recall; the 45% Level 2 remote loading is in lieu of overtime, on call and recall. Officers of Police get an extended duties allowance of 100% in lieu of the award's 80% (cl 43.1).

Tasmania Police

Recall and minimum payment rules

Call back: minimum 4 hours at the overtime rate (cl 14.3).

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

All overtime at double the normal salary rate (200%); TOIL hour-for-hour by agreement; the rate is inclusive of other penalties.

NT Police

Recall and minimum payment rules

Pre-notified overtime not continuous with a shift: minimum 4 hours. Recall to duty without prior notice: double time, minimum 2 hours including travel (cl.31(g)-(i)).

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.

AFP

Recall and minimum payment rules

Recall to duty when not on call: Overtime Rate, minimum 2.5 hours if the recall is 30 minutes or more. Recall while on call: Overtime Rate.

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.

Force	Recall and minimum payment rules	Time off in lieu (TOIL)
NSW Police	No recall minimum in the rules we hold. Check your agreement or association.	No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.
Victoria Police	Recall between shifts: minimum 3 hours; Mon-Fri 1.5x for the first 3 hours then 2.0x; weekends/public holidays 2.0x (cl 51.1). Recall on a rest day: minimum 4 hours; Mon-Fri 1.5x for the first 8 hours then 2.0x; weekends/public holidays 2.0x (cl 52.1). Court attendance: minimum 4 hours on a rest day or within 8 hours of night work, at cl 44 rates (cl 46.1). Detectives (not above Senior Sergeant) get commuted overtime (COT 2) in lieu of overtime and recall: $14,157 a year for Constable/Senior Constable and $19,217 for Sergeant/Senior Sergeant with Operational Readiness, from 1 Jun 2026 (cl 47.2). Inspector and above: the 16.4% commuted penalty covers work beyond 8 hours and recall (cl 65.1).	Rest day altered and not reallocated in the fortnight: Mon-Fri 1.5x for the first 8 hours then 2.0x; weekends/public holidays 2.0x; or time off in lieu hour for hour (cl 38.7). Detectives (not above Senior Sergeant) get commuted overtime (COT 2) in lieu of overtime and recall: $14,157 a year for Constable/Senior Constable and $19,217 for Sergeant/Senior Sergeant with Operational Readiness, from 1 Jun 2026 (cl 47.2).
QPS	Minimum 3 hours on recall (Award cl 18.7(b)).	No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.
WA Police	Recall minimum: 3 hours plus 1 hour travel on weekly leave days; 1 hour plus 1 hour travel otherwise (cl 13.5).	Time off in lieu may be elected instead of payment and must be cleared within 2 months (cl 13.12).
SAPOL	Response Extended Hours Roster: overtime starts after the rostered shift length (cl 31.4); recall on REHR rest days is paid as overtime. The 35% one/two-person country station allowance includes on-call and recall; the 45% Level 2 remote loading is in lieu of overtime, on call and recall.	Time off in lieu hour for hour if requested, but at the award overtime rate where overtime is unavoidable or operational (EA cl 33). The 35% one/two-person country station allowance includes on-call and recall; the 45% Level 2 remote loading is in lieu of overtime, on call and recall. Officers of Police get an extended duties allowance of 100% in lieu of the award's 80% (cl 43.1).
Tasmania Police	Call back: minimum 4 hours at the overtime rate (cl 14.3).	All overtime at double the normal salary rate (200%); TOIL hour-for-hour by agreement; the rate is inclusive of other penalties.
NT Police	Pre-notified overtime not continuous with a shift: minimum 4 hours. Recall to duty without prior notice: double time, minimum 2 hours including travel (cl.31(g)-(i)).	No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.
AFP	Recall to duty when not on call: Overtime Rate, minimum 2.5 hours if the recall is 30 minutes or more. Recall while on call: Overtime Rate.	No time-off-in-lieu rule in the rules we hold.

Taken from the overtime rules in our data files. Where a cell says the rule isn't in our data, the agreement may still have one; ask your association.

Minimums matter more than people think. A 40-minute recall in Victoria between shifts is paid as three hours. In Tasmania, the minimum is four hours at double time, so the same call-out is worth eight hours of ordinary pay. The calculator doesn't add minimums automatically, so enter the paid hours rather than the hours worked.

NSW doesn't appear to have a separate recall minimum for non-commissioned officers in the rules we hold. The award says the 11.5% loading compensates for weekends, shift work and recall, among other things. If you're regularly recalled, ask your association how it's treated at your command, and see NSW police salary for how the loading is built into pay.

Time off in lieu (TOIL) trades overtime pay for paid leave later. Whether it's a good deal depends on the exchange rate your agreement uses. The AFP gives two hours off for each overtime hour, which matches the double time rate. Tasmania offers TOIL hour for hour by agreement, which is worth half as much as being paid at double time. WA lets you elect TOIL but you must clear it within two months.

South Australia's enterprise agreement has its own twist: TOIL is hour for hour if you ask for it, but overtime that is unavoidable or operational is paid at the award overtime rate. Victoria allows hour-for-hour TOIL when a rest day is altered and not reallocated in the fortnight. If your force isn't mentioned, the agreement may still allow it: check with your association.

Tax is withheld from each pay using the ATO's Schedule 1 formulas, which assume every fortnight is like the current one. A fortnight with a lot of overtime is withheld as if you earned that much all year, so the withholding can be well above your real marginal rate.

That extra tax isn't lost. At the end of the financial year, your actual tax is worked out on your total income, and any over-withholding comes back in your refund. The calculator shows the true annual effect, which is why it may look more generous than one payslip.

The ATO's guidance is that overtime is not ordinary time earnings, and from 1 July 2026 it's not "qualifying earnings" under Payday Super either. So the 12% Superannuation Guarantee generally isn't paid on overtime. Your agreement can require more, and a few allowances do count, so check your payslip and fund if you're unsure. The police super calculator shows what your ordinary pay builds over a career.

HELP works the other way. Overtime is part of your repayment income, so it increases your compulsory repayment. A NSW first-year constable with a HELP debt keeps about 53 cents of each extra overtime dollar, compared with 68 cents without one. That isn't lost money: it pays your debt down faster.

1. 1

   Find your hourly base

   Step 1

   Use the rule for your force above, not your advertised salary ÷ 38. In NSW leave out the loading; in Victoria divide by 1.13.

2. 2

   Check the multiplier for each block

   Step 2

   Was it a weekday, weekend or public holiday? Did the first block end at 2 hours (NSW) or 3 hours (Victoria, WA)?

3. 3

   Check minimums and breaks

   Step 3

   Was a recall paid at the minimum? Did you get less than 10 hours between shifts? In NSW and Tasmania that triggers double time, and Victoria pays higher rates after a minimum-break breach.

4. 4

   Match it to the payslip line

   Step 4

   Overtime often appears a pay period later. Compare the gross line, not the net, because withholding varies.

5. 5

   Raise it early

   Step 5

   Ask your pay office first, then your association. Underpayments are much easier to fix within the same financial year.

The calculator handles the core arithmetic. For the rest of your pay, see your force's salary page, such as Queensland police salary or Victoria Police salary, and what you can claim back in tax deductions for police.