Summary:
- How much do relief teachers get paid in Adelaide?
- When do relief teachers get paid in Adelaide?
- Does relief teachers’ pay increase?
- How do the pay rates for relief teachers in SA compare to elsewhere in Australia?
How much do relief teachers get paid in Adelaide?
How much you get paid as a relief teacher in Adelaide depends on what kind of school you go to. If you are working for the Department for Education, you will get paid according to the current Enterprise Agreement. Currently, a starting teacher will get paid $350.09 per day as a relief teacher.
This is only if you are in your first year of teaching, though. If you work for the Department for Education, you will go up a tier on the pay scale for every full year (200 days) that you teach. As a relief teacher, it may take you a bit longer than a year to reach the full 200 days to go up to the next tier.
If you are a relief teacher, the pay that you will get each day is in the following table:
Tier | Pay per day |
1 | $350.09 |
2 | $368.14 |
3 | $386.20 |
4 | $404.24 |
5 | $422.35 |
6 | $440.40 |
7 | $458.45 |
8 | $482.87 |
9 | $507.75 |
See more: Teacher Salaries in SA Public Schools
If you are just starting teaching and haven’t taught for 200 days in a school yet, you will be on tier 1. For every 200 days that you work in a school as a teacher, you will go up a tier. This is true whether you are teaching in a public or a private school, however if you have done work in a private school, you will need to send the Department for Education a statement of service to let them know how many days you have taught for. Private schools will be able to give you a statement of service if you ask their Administration team.
In South Australian Catholic schools, the pay for relief teachers is not on a scale. This means that every relief teacher gets paid the same amount regardless of how many days they have taught for. The pay for a relief teacher in Catholic schools is currently $353.013. This means that while you will get slightly more money per day as a beginning teacher if you work in Catholic schools, more experienced teachers will earn more working for the Department for Education.
If you work for another independent school, the pay for relief teachers will depend on the school. If you haven’t been paid or believe that you have had too much of your pay withheld for tax, it is worth contacting your school or payroll in case there is an issue.
When do relief teachers get paid in Adelaide?
Relief teachers in Adelaide get paid every fortnight. If you work for the Department for Education, you will usually get your payslip on alternate Saturdays before you get paid on Thursday morning. Your payslips will come through your Department for Education email.
Most Catholic schools use a program for distributing payslips that you will need to log in to before you can see them. To get your login information, you will need to talk to the finance team of one of the Catholic schools that you work at.

Sometimes when you view your payslip, you may notice that you are not getting paid for every day that you worked. This can be difficult for a relief teacher, but this is because each school needs to submit which relief teachers they hired for each day to payroll before the end of the pay period. Schools sometimes forget to do this, or they submit their numbers a little too late. If this is the case, check with the school that they submitted your pay for the fortnight. You will get paid for these days in the next pay period.
Does relief teachers’ pay increase?
For both Department for Education and Catholic schools in Adelaide, your pay will increase every year. How much your pay increases each year will depend on what is in the Enterprise Agreement for either the Department for Education or for Catholic Education South Australia. Your pay will increase by a percentage each year, usually in May.
If you work for the Department for Education, your pay will also increase as you go up the pay scale. While Catholic Education South Australia does not have tiers for relief teachers, relief teachers in public schools will find that they will get another pay increase for every 200 days that they work in either public or private schools. This will happen automatically until you get to tier 8, as you need to apply to move to tier 9.
How do the pay rates for relief teachers in SA compare to elsewhere in Australia?
Click on the below links to find out how relief teachers are paid in other states and territories around Australia:
Hi, I was a tier 6 teacher before I moved to child protection, and the resigned from the department for a private industry role. I’ve now returned to relief teaching. Will my tier reset or does my experience still count. I was out of teaching for 2 years.
Hi Jon,
As far as I know, your experience will still count. You may need to get a statement of service from your previous schools which will show how many years you worked for them.
Because of this tier systems, all schools should be prepared to create this docuement 🙂