The Australian Public Service has eight levels below the Senior Executive Service: APS 1 to APS 6, then Executive Level 1 (EL 1) and Executive Level 2 (EL 2). At the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC), base pay from 12 March 2026 runs from $57,497 at the bottom of APS 1 to $174,790 at the top of EL 2, with 15.4% super paid on top. Every agency sets its own pay points in its enterprise agreement, so the same level pays differently from one agency to the next.
What does each APS level do?
The APSC's Work Level Standards describe the work expected at each level:
- APS 1 is routine, basic work under close direction. Senior staff check your work closely and no one reports to you.
- APS 2 is straightforward work under routine direction with some autonomy. You may coach newer colleagues.
- APS 3 is straightforward work with some complexity, under general direction, including some basic research and analysis. Some roles deal with the public.
- APS 4 is work of moderate complexity. You organise your own workflow, make decisions within set limits and may supervise a small team.
- APS 5 is moderately complex to complex work under limited direction, including policy advice in your specialist area, research, analysis and investigations.
- APS 6 is complex work with reasonable autonomy. You give detailed technical, professional or policy advice on complex problems and may help with strategic planning and project management.
- EL 1 is very complex or sensitive work under broad direction. It is a leadership role that produces high level policy advice and may manage one or more teams.
- EL 2 is work of high complexity or sensitivity. You influence strategy and policy, advise senior management and Ministers, and may lead a team or teams.
Above EL 2 sit the three Senior Executive Service bands.
What are the APS salary bands?
The APSC's own enterprise agreement lists every pay point. These are its salary bands for each level, as base salaries from 12 March 2026, after that year's 3.4% increase:
| Level | Lowest pay point | Highest pay point |
|---|---|---|
| APS 1 | $57,497 | $60,946 |
| APS 2 | $62,775 | $69,317 |
| APS 3 | $72,397 | $76,820 |
| APS 4 | $79,731 | $86,246 |
| APS 5 | $89,463 | $97,837 |
| APS 6 | $101,855 | $111,701 |
| EL 1 | $123,996 | $142,116 |
| EL 2 | $155,479 | $174,790 |
Base salary a year at the Australian Public Service Commission from 12 March 2026, from Attachment A of the APSC Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027. Super is paid on top.
You move up a level's pay points one at a time. Under the APSC agreement, staff below the top of their level can move up one pay point on 1 July if they have at least six months of eligible service in the performance cycle and their performance is satisfactory.
Do all agencies pay the same for each level?
No. Each agency's pay points are in its own enterprise agreement, and 98% of APS staff were covered by one at 31 December 2025, across 102 agencies. The ATO, for example, lists APS 4 pay from $84,028 up to $91,199 on its graduate page, while the APSC's APS 4 range is $79,731 to $86,246.
The APSC calls the difference between agencies' ranges for the same level pay fragmentation. The 2023 APS-wide bargaining round reduced it, and in 2025 about 70 agencies made small increases of 0.1% to 1% to their minimum and maximum pay to move closer to service-wide pay ranges.
The APSC's latest pay data shows the spread for graduates and at each level across every agency:
| Level | Low end | Median | High end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate | $72,951 | $79,176 | $86,724 |
| APS 1 | $54,516 | $58,408 | $62,600 |
| APS 2 | $59,520 | $64,595 | $71,037 |
| APS 3 | $67,974 | $72,951 | $78,705 |
| APS 4 | $76,714 | $82,906 | $88,200 |
| APS 5 | $86,034 | $92,324 | $96,239 |
| APS 6 | $97,316 | $108,092 | $115,199 |
| EL 1 | $124,861 | $135,701 | $149,271 |
| EL 2 | $151,518 | $168,064 | $190,446 |
Base salary a year across all APS agencies at 31 December 2025, before the March 2026 increase. Low end and high end are the 5th and 95th percentiles, so 90% of staff in each row were paid between them. From the APSC's 2025 remuneration data, Tables 26 to 34.
What is the APS level 6 salary?
At the APSC, an APS level 6 salary runs from $101,855 to $111,701 from 12 March 2026. Across every agency, the median APS 6 base salary was $108,092 at 31 December 2025. APS 6 is the most common level: of the 187,279 APS employees in that pay data, 47,297 were APS 6.
How much super do APS employees get?
The APSC pays an employer contribution of 15.4% of ordinary time earnings for staff in the Public Sector Superannuation Accumulation Plan (PSSap) and other accumulation funds, and salary sacrifice does not reduce it. Across the APS, the median employer contribution in 2025 was 15.4% of base salary at every level from APS 1 to EL 2. The legal minimum, the super guarantee, has been 12% since 1 July 2025.
Super is paid on top of salary. On the APSC's lowest APS 6 pay point of $101,855, 15.4% adds about $15,686 a year.
When does APS pay go up?
APS agencies now share one pay increase date, the first full pay period on or after 1 March. The 2023 APS-wide deal set three increases: 4.0% in March 2024, 3.8% in March 2025 and 3.4% in March 2026.
The APSC's agreement reaches its nominal expiry date on 28 February 2027. The next round of APS-wide bargaining began on 2 July 2026, in two parts: common conditions across the APS first, then bargaining agency by agency. The next increase will come out of that round.
How do APS interviews work?
The APSC says you may be asked a range of questions using the job description as a guide. These include behavioural questions, which usually start with "Tell us about a time when..." or "Describe a situation where...", and hypothetical questions, which set a work problem for you to solve. It suggests a mock interview using the job description to think up likely questions.
The APSC's work level standards set out the work expected at each level, under five headings: leadership and accountability, job context and environment, independence and decision-making, stakeholder management, and management diversity and span.
What do APS 6 interview questions test?
At APS 6 the standard expects you to give specialist advice and anticipate problems, set priorities for your work area and keep the team working together, make decisions on complex and sensitive work under limited direction, manage stakeholders and support them through change, and supervise and coach staff at lower levels.
What do EL 1 interview questions test?
At EL 1 it steps up to expert policy advice and issues management, recommending strategic directions, managing competing priorities and ambiguity, representing the agency at cross-agency meetings, resolving conflict with stakeholders, and building a team's capability through coaching, performance feedback and conflict resolution.
Answer behavioural questions with a specific example, structured with the STAR method. The APSC says it is okay to take time to think, to ask the panel to rephrase a question and to bring a copy of your application or notes.
What do APS graduates earn?
At the APSC, graduates start on the first APS 4 pay point, $79,731 from 12 March 2026. They move to the first APS 5 pay point once they complete the program and show they work at APS 5 level. DFAT's 2027 graduates start at APS 4 on $84,115 and finish at APS 5 on $92,753. The ATO starts its graduates on $75,431 and promotes them to APS 4 on $84,028 at the end of the program.
Our guide to public service graduate programs covers who can apply and how selection works. For pay outside the public service, our graduate salary survey has what Australian graduates are paid.
Pay points change with each enterprise agreement. Check the agreement of the agency you are applying to for its exact rates.
Sources
- APSC Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 (pay points from 12 March 2026 in Attachment A, the 4.0%, 3.8% and 3.4% increases and the 1 March common date at clauses 20 and 21, pay point progression at clauses 30 and 31, 15.4% employer super and salary sacrifice at clauses 42 and 44, graduates at APS 4 then APS 5 at clauses 93 to 97, nominal expiry of 28 February 2027 in the Fair Work Commission approval)
- APSC, APS Remuneration Data 31 December 2025 (187,279 employees, classifications under the Public Service Classification Rules 2000, published 7 August 2026)
- APSC, Key findings for 2025 (98% covered by an enterprise agreement across 102 agencies, pay fragmentation, about 70 agencies' 0.1% to 1% adjustments, the 3.8% increase in March 2025)
- APSC, 2025 Remuneration Data Tables 1-37 (low end, median and high end base salary by level in Tables 26 to 34, APS 6 headcount in Table 32, median employer super of 15.4% in Table 8)
- APSC, Work level standards: APS Level and Executive Level classifications (what each level does, the five headings, the APS 6 and EL 1 characteristics, last updated 18 December 2024, read 8 October 2026)
- APSC, Cracking the code: interview and other assessment (questions drawn from the job description, behavioural and hypothetical questions, mock interviews, what is okay at the interview, published 13 December 2020, read 8 October 2026)
- APSC, Next round of APS-wide bargaining commences (bargaining began 2 July 2026, Part A common conditions and Part B agency bargaining)
- ATO, ATO Graduate Program (graduate salary of $75,431, APS 4 from $84,028 up to $91,199, last updated 10 April 2026)
- ATO, Super guarantee (general rate of 12% from 1 July 2025, last updated 17 April 2026)
- DFAT, Graduate program (APS 4 on $84,115 at the start, APS 5 on $92,753 on completion)
Spotted an error? Correct something.
