Mater Pay Rates 2026: Nurses, Allied Health & Support Staff Pay
What Mater workers should be paid in 2026 — the Health Professionals and Support Services Award floor by classification, casual loading, penalties, and where the Mater enterprise agreements sit.
Leave & Entitlements Specialist · JD, Monash University — Admitted in Victoria (non-practising)
Who covers Mater workers — award or agreement?
Mater is the Brisbane-based Catholic health group running public and private hospitals in South Brisbane, Springfield, Redland, Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Mackay, along with pathology, pharmacy and research. It is one of Queensland's largest private-sector health employers, with nurses and midwives, allied health, and a large support and administration workforce.
Mater bargains its own enterprise agreements, stream by stream — nursing, allied health, support and administration — and our corpus holds a long list (below). The awards underneath are the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (tabled) and the Nurses Award; Mater's public hospital staff work under those same Mater agreements rather than Queensland Health's.
The federal awards relevant to Mater roles:
- Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (MA000027)
- Nurses Award 2020 (MA000034)
Workforce snapshot. In its 2024-25 report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Mater Misericordiae Ltd declared 10,411 employees across 3 reporting entities — 16.7% casual and 79.6% women, with 252 in management roles. Source: WGEA 2025 Public Data File, data.gov.au (CC-BY 3.0 AU).
Health Professionals and Support Services award floor (1 July 2026)
The Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (MA000027) adult minimums for the roles that sit on it are:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Support services Level 1 (cleaning, kitchen hand) | $26.97/hr | $33.71/hr |
| Support services Level 2 (orderly, catering assistant) | $28.03/hr | $35.04/hr |
| Support services Level 3 (ward support, admin/clerical, pathology collector) | $29.11/hr | $36.39/hr |
| Support services Level 4 (cook, senior admin) | $29.45/hr | $36.81/hr |
| Support services Level 5 (trade-qualified, team senior) | $30.45/hr | $38.06/hr |
| Support services Level 6 | $32.09/hr | $40.11/hr |
| Support services Level 7 | $32.67/hr | $40.84/hr |
| Health Professional Level 1 — pay point 1 | $30.89/hr | $38.61/hr |
| Health Professional Level 1 — 4-year degree entry | $33.51/hr | $41.89/hr |
| Health Professional Level 2 — pay point 1 | $39.31/hr | $49.14/hr |
| Health Professional Level 3 — pay point 1 | $45.89/hr | $57.36/hr |
Nurses and midwives are on the Nurses Award 2020 instead — current classification and pay-point figures are on our Nurses Award pay rates page. Weekend, shift and public holiday penalties apply on top of the figures above.
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.
The Mater enterprise agreements
Enterprise agreements set rates above the award, with their own classification structures and allowances. Current Mater agreements in our corpus (11 in total):
- Mater Medical Officers Enterprise Agreement 2026 — approved March 2026, nominal expiry 30 June 2028.
- Mater Operational Employees Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved November 2025, nominal expiry 31 August 2027.
- Mater Health Professionals Enterprise Agreement 2026 — approved May 2026, nominal expiry 31 August 2027.
- MATER CORPORATE AND ADMINISTRATION SERVICES ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2023 — approved October 2023, nominal expiry 30 June 2026.
- NSW Catholic Independent Schools (Support Staff - Model A) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2023 — approved March 2024, nominal expiry 31 December 2025.
- Mater Operational Employees Enterprise Agreement 2023 — approved November 2023, nominal expiry 31 August 2025.
- Mater Maintenance Services Enterprise Agreement 2023 — approved May 2024, nominal expiry 31 August 2025.
- MATER HEALTH PROFESSIONAL'S ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2023-2025 — approved September 2023, nominal expiry 31 August 2025.
Plus 3 more — search "Mater" in our agreements database.
We don't reproduce agreement dollar figures here — the agreement covering your site, state and stream is the document to read. Find your agreement, then your classification, then your pay point, and compare it with your payslip. The award tables on this page are the floor every one of these agreements must beat.
Common hospital pay issues at Mater
The patterns worth checking on a Mater payslip:
- Frozen pay points — increments that should step annually but don't, especially after payroll migrations.
- Stream misclassification — admin, ward-support and collector staff left at Level 1–2 while doing Level 3 work.
- Unpaid handover — clinical and shift handover before and after rostered hours is work time.
- Weekend and night loadings dropped when rosters change or systems are replaced.
What to do if your pay looks wrong
Match your payslip to your classification in the agreement (or the award tables above), and price any gap with our back-pay calculator. Raise it in writing with payroll or your manager first — most underpayments are fixed at that step. Unresolved, the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) recovers underpayments at no cost, up to six years back, and your union can run the claim for you. Not sure which instrument covers you? Ask our AI advisor with your role and location.
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Official resources
General information and estimates only — not legal, financial or tax advice. Always check your specific award, agreement or contract, or a qualified professional, before you rely on the result.
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Former Fair Work Commission Associate (2021–2024) after two years as a plaintiff-side employment paralegal in Melbourne. Juris Doctor from Monash University (2020). Writes about unfair dismissal, leave entitlements, termination, and enterprise bargaining. Admitted in Victoria, currently non-practising. Based in Fitzroy North.