Higher Education Industry-Academic Staff-Award
Covers academic staff at universities and other tertiary providers - salaried teaching, research and combined teaching / research roles across Levels A-E. Casual academic work is paid per discrete activity (lecture, tutorial, marking, etc.) at duty-specific rates that bake in the prep time and 25% casual loading. Distinctly, the award has no overtime, no shift loadings and no weekend / public-holiday penalties - academics are professional salaried employees.
Fully built. Rates, allowances, penalties and any required apprentice / junior rates are all wired to the rate resolver and have been verified against the consolidated award text and the latest pay guide.
What's built
- All 25 salary points - A.1-A.8, B.1-B.6, C.1-C.6, D.1-D.4 and Level E - at the July 2025 annual rates.
- All 19 cl. 16.4(a) casual academic activity rates - basic / developed / specialised / repeat lectures, tutorials including doctoral variants, musical accompanying, clinical nurse education, marking and other.
- 4 cl. 16.2 clinical loadings - medical-full (43.9% of A.1), medical-para (29.3%), medical-pre (22%) and dental (22%) - flat annual amounts on top of base.
- Doctoral / subject-coordination floor at A.6 (cl. 16.1 fn 2) and the three casual base anchors (B.2 / A.6 / A.2) per cl. 16.4(b).
- 3-day compassionate leave (cl. 21.2 - overrides the NES default of 2) and the 12-month parental-leave parameter.
Known limitations
No outstanding gaps at this revision - re-verify on the next Fair Work pay-guide release.
Setup & special instructions
- There are no penalties, no overtime and no shift loadings in this award. Academics are salaried (cl. 15) - don't expect time-and-half or weekend rates.
- Casual academic rates are duty-typed, not hour-typed. A 'lecture' is one figure that already includes prep time and the 25% casual loading - don't apply a separate loading.
- Casual minimum engagement is 2 hours per occasion, inclusive of the prep time built into the cl. 16.4(a) formulae.
- Hourly-rate formula uses (annual × 6 / 313) / 38, reflecting an academic year of 52.166 weeks rather than 52.
- • Higher education
- • Universities
- • Academic staff
- • Tertiary education
The consolidated award text is the authoritative source. Always confirm specific obligations against the award itself - Mployr's implementation status reflects what we've seeded; it does not replace legal advice.
Want to see this award running on your data?
We can demo a pay run on the higher ed academic award using sample employees in a sandbox tenant - including any of the special-instruction steps above so you can see exactly what your team's day-to-day looks like.
Book a demo