South Australian Government Employed Nurse vs Private Sector vs Non-For Profit Sector

There are many different employment arrangements nurses may have with many different companies in different sectors. 

This blog post is just to highlight a few advantages that you may get with different “salary packing/sacrifice” options.

When comparing salaries offered through different sectors, it is also important to compare the various benefits in each sector.

Salary Sacrifice to superannuation

One first big consideration for an SA government employed nurse is the fact they have access to the SuperSA Triple S Scheme. This enables you to contribute concessionally to superannuation via salary sacrifice up to $1.705 million over your lifetime (as at 2023/2024 financial year and also includes employer contributions). Where as any other employer outside of this you are limited to only $27,500 per year (as at 2023/2024 financial year and also includes employer contributions). This may not be so important for a younger nurse who has a large mortgage with not much capacity to contribute but may be more beneficial to those with extra surplus cash flow or the ability to commence Transition to Retirement strategies (TTR). Salary sacrifice to superannuation, depending on your wage can considerably reduce the tax you pay meaning your salary in the public sector may “go further due to less tax paid” when compared to the same salary in the private or non-for profit sector. 

Salary packaging (sometimes called salary sacrifice also)

This is a benefit that is generally applicable to those employed in the public health sector or in the non-for profit health sector. You will need to confirm at the time with your employer. Salary packaging in these sectors can be used for paying for things like your mortgage or rent with pre-tax dollars. Currently in the non-for profit sector health (public health limit is lower) you can package up to $15,900 of your salary (plus some other small benefits on top of this). For example if you are earning a salary of $75,000 p.a. gross. Your current marginal tax rate is 32.5 cents. So if you were paid the $15,900 in your pocket you will see approximately $5,167.50 go in tax every year (plus Medicare levy on top of this). If you salary package this – that can result in an extra $5,176.50 per annum go towards paying your rent or paying down your mortgage as an example. 

Summary

When continuing or starting a new employment arrangement, there is many things to consider like the work environment, career progression and work arrangements, however the financial benefits can sometimes be a bit trickier to compare, so even if the salary is the same at two potential jobs you are comparing – it may be worth digging a bit deeper into other benefits that may apply.