APS 6 salary: a year, a week and an hour
The Australian Public Service (APS) uses a classification structure with set pay points. For an APS 6 officer, the salary depends on which step you are on. Under the current Treasury Enterprise Agreement, the annual salaries from 12 March 2026 are:
- APS 6.1: $105,260
- APS 6.2: $111,232
- APS 6.3: $119,921
- APS 6.4: $127,521
These figures are before tax and do not include the 15.4% superannuation guarantee. To see how they stack up against the national full‑time average, we can convert them to weekly and hourly amounts using a standard 38‑hour week.
Weekly and hourly breakdown
| Level | Yearly | Weekly (÷52) | Hourly (÷38) |
|---|---|---|---|
| APS 6.1 | $105,260 | $2,024.23 | $53.27 |
| APS 6.2 | $111,232 | $2,139.08 | $56.29 |
| APS 6.3 | $119,921 | $2,306.17 | $60.69 |
| APS 6.4 | $127,521 | $2,452.33 | $64.53 |
Where the APS 6 salary sits against the national average
The national full‑time adult average ordinary‑time earnings are $2,083.70 a week, or about $108,352 a year (ABS Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026). That is the line on this site. The APS 6.1 salary of $105,260 is about $3,092 below that average. The APS 6.2 salary of $111,232 is about $2,880 above it. The higher points (APS 6.3 and APS 6.4) are well above the national average.
For context, the full‑time median earnings are about $90,532 a year (ABS Employee Earnings, August 2025). Even the lowest APS 6 salary is above that median. The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 an hour, or $52,255 a year on 38 hours – less than half of the APS 6.1 rate.
How APS 6 pay is set
APS salaries are determined by enterprise agreements negotiated between the government and unions. The current agreement for Treasury‑covered agencies runs until 2027, with annual increases of around 3.4% plus a pay fragmentation mechanism. The rates above are from Appendix A of that agreement. Other agencies may have slightly different rates, but the bands are broadly similar across the APS.
What your take‑home pay looks like
Using the 2026–27 resident tax rates, an APS 6.2 officer earning $111,232 would pay:
- Nil on the first $18,200
- 15% on the next $26,800 ($4,020)
- 30% on the next $90,000 ($27,000)
- 37% on the remaining $21,232 ($7,855.84)
- Plus the 2% Medicare levy ($2,224.64)
Total tax and Medicare: about $41,100, leaving a take‑home of about $70,132 a year, or $1,348.69 a week.
How this site can help
You can place a salary on the line to see how any amount compares to the national full‑time average, the median, and the minimum wage. You can also explore job medians and industry medians to see how APS 6 pay compares with other roles.
The bigger picture
The national average has grown 3.7% over the year to May 2026, the slowest annual increase since November 2022. The gender pay gap in full‑time ordinary earnings fell to a record low of 11.3%. For women in the APS, the enterprise agreement ensures equal pay for the same classification, but the overall workforce still shows a gap: women’s full‑time average ordinary earnings are $1,934.50 a week ($100,594 a year) compared with men’s $2,181.00 ($113,412).
Summary
An APS 6 salary ranges from about $105,000 to $128,000 a year. The starting point is slightly below the national full‑time average, but the midpoint and above are comfortably above it. When you add superannuation and job security, the APS 6 is a solid middle‑class income in Australia.
For more detail on how the figures are set, see How the figures are set. To learn more about the site, visit About this site.