Agency nurse or NP rates Australia 2026

$75.00typical per hour

Indicative pay ranges for Australian locum nurses & midwives in the current financial year. What's typical, what drives variance, and how to benchmark your own rate against the market.

Ledger | Indicative 2026 range

Low, typical, and high.

Agency RN base rates sit $45 to $75/hr; specialised (ICU, ED, theatre, mental health) $55 to $90/hr; agency-loaded $90 to $140/hr on nights, weekends, and remote shifts. Nurse Practitioners bill $100 to $160/hr through agencies (anecdotal). Nurses Award 2020 loads Saturday +50%, Sunday +75%, public holidays +150%. Remote packages (CQ Nurse and similar) commonly price all-in at $70 to $120/hr with travel and accommodation on top.

Rangeper hour	LowIndicative	TypicalIndicative	HighIndicative
Indicative 2026 range (per hour)	$50.00	$75.00	$160.00

Indicative 2026 range (per hour)

Agency nurse or NP

Low $50.00Typical $75.00High $160.00

Figures are educated estimates. Sources include: Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) pay guide; Nursing agency published rate sheets (HealthcareLink, Healthcare Australia); State-health bank and agency cap schedules; Nurses Award 2020 (Fair Work Commission). Real rates vary by individual contract and market conditions. Sessional doesn't guarantee any specific rate and your individual outcome depends on your negotiation and the workplaces you work with.

01 | Market context

05Rate drivers

What drives the variance

Geography: Regional and remote postings (higher MMM areas) often run 10 to 30% above metro rates to attract cover. Capital-city metros sit near the national mean; rates compress where supply is deepest.

Urgency: Last-minute cover pays more. Workplaces covering a sudden gap often pay 20 to 30% above their standard rate.

Specialty: Out-of-hours, unplanned care, specialist wards, and complex caseload all uplift the base rate.

Volume: Regular weekly bookings are usually offered at a lower rate than ad-hoc shifts in exchange for certainty.

Route to market: Direct bookings pay more than agency routes because no one takes a cut.

02 | Your ledger

04Benchmarking steps

How to benchmark your own rate

Write down the last ten bookings you accepted and the rate you charged or received.

Break them down by region, urgency, and duration.

Compare each against the typical range above. If you are consistently at or below the low end on standard bookings, you are probably underpriced.

Next time you are asked for your rate on a standard booking at a regional or hard-to-fill workplace, quote the typical figure from the headline above and see what happens. A refusal tells you about the booking, not your rate.

03 | 40 cities

Look up your city

40cities

Last revised 24 April 2026

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