Nurses Award Night Shift Penalty Rates 2026: Exact Rates by Classification

The Nurses Award 2020 (MA000034) covers registered nurses, enrolled nurses, nursing assistants, and personal care workers employed in the private sector across Australia. If you work in aged care, private hospitals, medical practices, community nursing, or disability services under this award, these rates apply to you.

Public sector nurses (state health departments, public hospitals) are generally covered by state-based enterprise agreements with different — often higher — penalty rates. Check your payslip or employment contract if you're unsure which instrument covers you.

The rates below are current as of 1 July 2025 and will be adjusted after the Annual Wage Review effective 1 July 2026. All figures include the 3.75% increase from the 2024-25 review.

The Nurses Award defines three types of shift penalties for work outside ordinary hours:

Afternoon shift (after 12:00pm and finishing after 8:00pm): 15% loading on top of your base hourly rate.

Night shift (starting at or after 10:00pm or finishing after 8:00am the next day): 15% loading on top of your base hourly rate.

Permanent night shift (where the employee works night shift only for a continuing period): 25% loading on top of your base hourly rate.

Here's what that looks like in dollar terms for the most common classifications:

Classification	Base Rate (per hr)	Afternoon/Night Shift (+15%)	Permanent Night (+25%)
Nursing Assistant Level 1 (Pay Point 1)	$25.57	$29.41	$31.96
Nursing Assistant Level 2 (Pay Point 1)	$26.13	$30.05	$32.66
Enrolled Nurse Level 1 (Pay Point 1)	$28.35	$32.60	$35.44
Enrolled Nurse Level 2 (Pay Point 1)	$29.08	$33.44	$36.35
Registered Nurse Level 1 (Pay Point 1)	$31.68	$36.43	$39.60
Registered Nurse Level 1 (Pay Point 4)	$33.78	$38.85	$42.23
Registered Nurse Level 2 (Pay Point 1)	$35.36	$40.66	$44.20
Registered Nurse Level 3 (Pay Point 1)	$37.04	$42.60	$46.30

Important: Casual employees receive their casual loading (25%) in addition to shift penalties. So a casual RN Level 1 on night shift would receive: base rate + 25% casual loading + 15% shift penalty = $31.68 + $7.92 + $4.75 = $44.35/hr.

Weekend and public holiday penalties are separate from shift penalties. Under the Nurses Award:

Saturday: 150% of the base rate (time and a half) for full-time and part-time employees. Casuals receive 175% (base + 50% Saturday + 25% casual).

Sunday: 175% of the base rate (time and three-quarters) for full-time and part-time. Casuals receive 200%.

Public holidays: 250% of the base rate (double time and a half) for full-time and part-time. Casuals receive 275%.

Classification	Base Rate	Saturday (150%)	Sunday (175%)	Public Holiday (250%)
Nursing Assistant Level 1	$25.57	$38.36	$44.75	$63.93
Enrolled Nurse Level 1	$28.35	$42.53	$49.61	$70.88
Registered Nurse Level 1 (PP1)	$31.68	$47.52	$55.44	$79.20
Registered Nurse Level 2 (PP1)	$35.36	$53.04	$61.88	$88.40

Note on overlap: Where a shift falls partly on a Saturday and partly on a Sunday, the higher penalty rate applies for the hours worked on each respective day. If a night shift starts at 10pm Saturday and finishes at 6am Sunday, you get Saturday rates until midnight and Sunday rates from midnight onwards.

Nurses frequently work broken shifts, especially in aged care and community nursing. The Nurses Award provides specific protections:

Broken shift allowance: Where an employee's shift is broken into two separate periods of work (e.g., 7am-11am then 4pm-8pm), they receive an allowance of $17.19 per broken shift. This is on top of ordinary pay for the hours worked.

On-call allowance: If you're required to be available but not at the workplace: $17.37 per on-call period on weekdays, $29.93 on weekends and public holidays.

Uniform/laundry allowance: Where the employer requires you to wear a uniform and doesn't provide laundering: $7.23 per week.

Meal allowance: Where overtime extends beyond one hour and a meal break is taken: $16.91.

These allowances are updated annually in line with award increases. Check the Fair Work Commission's pay guide for the most current figures if reading this after July 2026.

Overtime under the Nurses Award kicks in when you work beyond your ordinary hours (38 hours per week for full-time, or rostered hours for part-time).

First 2 hours of overtime: 150% of the base rate (time and a half).

After 2 hours: 200% of the base rate (double time).

Overtime on Sunday: 200% from the first hour.

Overtime on public holidays: 250% from the first hour.

For a Registered Nurse Level 1 (Pay Point 1) at $31.68/hr:

• First 2 hours overtime: $47.52/hr
• After 2 hours overtime: $63.36/hr
• Sunday overtime: $63.36/hr
• Public holiday overtime: $79.20/hr

Part-time nurses: You're entitled to overtime rates for any hours worked in excess of your guaranteed hours, or outside the span of ordinary hours, or in excess of 38 hours per week. If your contract says 30 hours and you work 35, those extra 5 hours are overtime.

Casual nurses: Casuals don't receive overtime for the first 38 hours in a week (the casual loading compensates). Overtime kicks in after 38 hours or for work outside the spread of ordinary hours.

Underpayment of penalty rates is one of the most common issues in nursing. If your payslip doesn't match the rates above, act quickly.

Step 1: Check your classification. Your payslip should state your award classification level and pay point. If it doesn't, that's a red flag in itself — your employer is required to keep accurate records.

Step 2: Compare your actual pay against the correct rate using the tables above or our penalty rates calculator. Don't forget to check that shift penalties, weekend rates, and overtime are all being applied correctly.

Step 3: Calculate the shortfall. Multiply the difference between what you were paid and what you should have been paid by the number of hours affected. Go back as far as you can — you can recover underpayments going back six years.

Step 4: Raise it with your employer in writing. Many underpayments in nursing are payroll errors rather than deliberate wage theft, especially with complex shift patterns. Give them a chance to fix it.

Step 5: If they don't fix it, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or lodge a complaint online. The FWO has run major campaigns targeting underpayment in aged care and nursing — they take it seriously.

Your union (ANMF or relevant state nursing union) can also assist with underpayment claims and often recover money faster than the FWO process.