ADF Pay Comparison Calculator
Put an Army, Navy or Air Force role beside a civilian job, or beside another rank, and compare what you actually keep: take-home pay, super and health costs, for 2026–27.
The comparison
Difference in yearly value (take-home pay plus super)
$2,381.38
Civilian job is ahead · $91.59 a fortnight
- Defence contributes 16.4% of salary to super; a civilian employer must pay at least the 12% super guarantee.
- A civilian job would need a salary of about $97,100 plus 12% super to match the Army Corporal’s take-home pay and super, after $2,500 a year of health costs.
- Allowances, bonuses, subsidised housing and other benefits are not included. They can add a lot to ADF pay depending on posting and role.
Rates checked 12 October 2026 against the ATO · How we calculate · Calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Side by side: tax, take-home pay and super
| Army Corporal | Civilian job | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | $86,966.00 | $100,000.00 |
| Income tax | $16,309.80 | $20,220.00 |
| Medicare levy and surcharge | Not payable | $1,980.00 |
| Take-home pay a year | $70,656.20 | $77,800.00 |
| Take-home pay a fortnight | $2,717.55 | $2,992.31 |
| Health insurance and medical costs | Covered by Defence | $2,500.00 |
| Employer super | $14,262.42 | $12,000.00 |
| Yearly value (take-home after health costs, plus super) | $84,918.62 | $87,300.00 |
What each package is made of
Salary plus super for each job, split into what you keep, tax and health costs. Bar length shows the size of the whole package.
Army Corporal
- Take-home pay $70,656
- Tax, Medicare and HECS $16,310
- Super $14,262
Civilian job
- Take-home pay $75,300
- Health costs $2,500
- Tax, Medicare and HECS $22,200
- Super $12,000
How the gap changes as you move up the pay range
Take-home pay plus super for your ADF rank from its lowest to its highest pay point. Hover across the chart to read both values.
- Army Corporal, lowest to highest pay point
- Civilian job
- Your ADF pay point: $84,919
Show as a table
| Pay point | Army Corporal | Civilian job |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | $84,919 | $87,300 |
| 10% | $89,246 | $87,300 |
| 20% | $93,572 | $87,300 |
| 30% | $97,899 | $87,300 |
| 40% | $102,226 | $87,300 |
| 50% | $106,554 | $87,300 |
| 60% | $110,881 | $87,300 |
| 70% | $115,208 | $87,300 |
| 80% | $119,535 | $87,300 |
| 90% | $123,862 | $87,300 |
| 100% | $128,115 | $87,300 |
Why salary alone undersells ADF pay
Comparing an ADF salary with a civilian salary misses three things that change what you keep:
- No Medicare levy. Permanent Forces members generally don’t pay the 2% levy, because Defence covers their medical needs.
- Higher super. Defence contributes 16.4% of salary, against the 12% super guarantee.
- Free health and dental care. A civilian pays for private cover and out-of-pocket costs from take-home pay.
On the default figures, an Army Corporal on $86,966 is worth $84,919 a year in take-home pay plus super. A civilian on $100,000 is worth $87,300 after $2,500 of health costs.
Sources: Defence Pay and financial benefits in the Permanent Forces and the Pay and Conditions Manual salary schedules; ATO super guarantee rate for 2026–27.
What the comparison leaves out
- Allowances and bonuses, which depend on posting, role and family, and can be large.
- Subsidised housing or rent assistance, and the cost of relocating with postings.
- Overtime, which civilians may be paid and ADF members generally aren’t.
- Conditions such as deployments, time away and the length of a service commitment.
Frequently asked questions
Is ADF pay better than a civilian job?
It depends on what you’d earn outside. An Army Corporal at the bottom of the range earns $86,966 (rates from 6 November 2025) and keeps more of it than a civilian on the same salary, because the Medicare levy generally isn’t payable. Defence also contributes 16.4% super instead of the 12% super guarantee and covers health care. On these figures a civilian job would need to pay about $97,100 plus super to match, before allowances.
How much is ADF super worth compared with a normal job?
Defence contributes 16.4% of salary for members who joined on or after 1 July 2016, against the 12% minimum a civilian employer pays in 2026–27. On a salary of $86,966 that is $3,826.50 a year more going into super.
How much more does a promotion to Sergeant pay?
At the lowest pay point, a Corporal earns $86,966 and a Sergeant $97,575 at the rates from 6 November 2025. After tax and with super, the promotion is worth about $9,166 a year, or $352.55 a fortnight. Choose “Another ADF rank” in the calculator to check any two ranks.