Salary Sacrifice & Salary Packaging in WA (2026–27)

Quick answer: What you can salary package in WA depends on who employs you, not where you live. WA Health and other public hospital staff can package up to $9,010 of everyday expenses (rent, mortgage, bills) plus $2,650 of meal entertainment a year, tax-free. Charity and PBI staff can package up to $15,900 plus $2,650. Staff of WA Police, DFES, Justice, Communities, Education and local councils can't package living expenses, because government employers get no FBT exemption. Their main options are super, a novated lease (FBT-free for an eligible electric car) and work devices. Anyone can salary sacrifice into super up to the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026–27, which includes your employer's contributions.

Salary packaging in WA at a glance

The living-expense amounts are the ATO's grossed-up FBT caps converted into the salary you can actually package. The ATO cap is $17,000 a year for public and not-for-profit hospitals and public ambulance services, and $30,000 for public benevolent institutions (PBIs) and health promotion charities. Each is divided by the 1.8868 gross-up factor that applies at the 47% FBT rate, giving $9,010 and $15,900. The separate $5,000 grossed-up cap for salary-packaged meal entertainment converts the same way to $2,650.

Why government staff miss out on living-expense packaging

The difference comes down to FBT. When an employer pays your rent or mortgage from your pre-tax salary, that's a fringe benefit. A normal employer pays 47% FBT on it, which wipes out the income tax you saved. Hospitals and charities can provide these benefits FBT-free up to their cap, so the saving is real.

Government departments don't get that concession. The ATO says government bodies can't access the FBT exemptions or rebates available to not-for-profits. Public hospitals and public ambulance services are the exception. That's why a nurse at Fiona Stanley Hospital can package rent but a police officer or a Department of Communities case worker can't, even though both are paid by the WA Government.

The tax saving on whatever you do package is your marginal rate. Using 2026–27 resident rates plus the 2% Medicare levy:

WA Health and public hospital staff

WA Health's own careers page names Smartsalary and Paywise as its salary packaging providers. It lists car leases, superannuation, laptops, general living expenses, meal entertainment, mortgage repayments, rent, credit card payments and education resources as items you can package. It also notes that the items available to you "depend on the applicable Industrial Award and Agreement".

South Metropolitan Health Service, which runs Fiona Stanley and Fremantle hospitals, sets out the two caps: $9,010 for expenses such as credit card payments, rent or mortgage and health insurance, plus a $2,650 meal and entertainment benefit.

How it works in practice:

• Use the full $9,010 before 31 March. The cap runs on the FBT year (1 April to 31 March) and doesn't carry over.
• Meal entertainment is extra. The $2,650 sits on top of the $9,010. It covers things like restaurant meals and venue hire, not groceries.
• Super and a novated lease are on top again. Neither uses up the $9,010.
• It applies statewide. The same caps apply at metropolitan hospitals in Perth and through WA Country Health Service. Ask your health service's payroll team if you're unsure your role is covered.

Example: WA Health nurse on $95,000

The nurse packages $9,010 of rent and $2,650 of meal entertainment, $11,660 in total.

That's $3,731 a year more from the same salary, before the provider's administration fee. The figures use 2026–27 resident rates and leave out tax offsets.

WA Police, DFES, Justice, Communities and other state agencies

WA state agencies must buy salary packaging through the WA Government's common use arrangement, CUASPS2017, which it describes as "mandatory state-wide for State agencies". Five providers are on the panel: Kooya, Maxxia, Paywise, RemServ and Smartsalary. Each agency can engage one or more of them, so two departments can use different providers. The current arrangement runs from 1 May 2017 to 30 April 2027 with no extension options. That means agencies will move to a new arrangement next year, and your provider could change.

Under the CUA, what you can package is governed by the WA Government's Guidelines for Remuneration Packaging. In practice that means benefits that are FBT-exempt, concessionally taxed or otherwise tax-deductible.

We've only named a provider where the department publishes it itself. If your payslip already shows a packaging deduction, the provider's name will be on it.

What's worth packaging in a state agency

1. Super. This is usually the biggest saving; see the next section.
2. A novated lease on an electric car. An eligible electric car is FBT-exempt, so the whole lease and running costs come out of pre-tax salary with no FBT. The novated lease section below has the conditions.
3. Work devices, but only until 31 March 2027. A laptop or phone used mainly for work is currently FBT-exempt when packaged, generally limited to one item of each kind per FBT year unless it replaces one. From 1 April 2027, work-related items provided through salary sacrifice, including portable electronic devices, protective clothing and tools of trade, are no longer FBT-exempt. If you were planning to package a laptop, the 2026–27 FBT year (ending 31 March 2027) is the last one where it works.

Example: police officer or firefighter sacrificing into super

On a taxable income between $45,001 and $135,000 you pay 32% on each extra dollar, including Medicare levy. Salary-sacrificed super is taxed at 15% in the fund. So every $1,000 you sacrifice saves about $170. Between $135,001 and $190,000 the saving is about $240 per $1,000. Shift and overtime pay can push officers and career firefighters into that higher bracket.

Take a state employee on $110,000 with 12% super guarantee ($13,200). They have $19,300 of room under the $32,500 cap.

• Taken as salary, $19,300 leaves $13,124 after 32% tax.
• Sacrificed into super, it leaves $16,405 after 15% contributions tax.
• That's $3,281 more a year, though it stays locked in super until you reach preservation age.

GESB: salary sacrifice for WA government super

Most state government employees have super with GESB, and which GESB scheme you're in changes how salary sacrifice works:

Untaxed schemes are taxed at a different rate when the money comes out, so the maths isn't the same as for a normal fund. Read GESB's fact sheet for your scheme before increasing contributions. The Superannuation Calculator models a standard taxed fund.

Charities, PBIs and NFP employers in WA

If you work for a charity endorsed as a public benevolent institution (PBI) or health promotion charity, you have WA's most generous packaging cap: $15,900 of living expenses plus $2,650 of meal entertainment each FBT year. Disability, aged care, homelessness, mental health and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations often hold one of these endorsements, but not every charity does.

Checking your employer:

• ABN Lookup shows whether an organisation is endorsed for FBT exemption.
• The ACNC Charity Register shows whether it's registered as a PBI or health promotion charity.

Other charities that aren't PBIs are often "rebatable" instead. They pay FBT but get a 47% rebate on it, so packaging still helps, just less.

Example: WA charity worker on $80,000

They package the full $15,900 of living expenses plus $2,650 of meal entertainment, $18,550 in total.

Their employer also pays $9,600 of super guarantee (12%). That leaves $22,900 of room under the $32,500 concessional cap if they want to sacrifice into super as well.

Local councils and shires

WA councils are government bodies, so the same rule applies: no FBT exemption or rebate. Council staff can generally package super, a novated lease and, until 31 March 2027, work devices, but not rent or mortgage payments. Councils aren't bound by the state CUA, so each council chooses its own provider and what it offers. Ask your payroll team.

Private sector, mining and FIFO

Private employers pay FBT at 47% on non-exempt benefits, so living-expense packaging doesn't save tax. The useful options are the same as for state staff: super, an EV novated lease, and work devices until 31 March 2027. Mining and FIFO enterprise agreements sometimes include their own packaging terms, so check the remuneration clause in yours.

Remote area concessions

Remote area concessions matter more in WA than in most states. They are concessions on benefits your employer provides, not things you choose to package. To count as remote for FBT, a location generally has to be at least 40 km from a town with a 1981 census population of 14,000 to 130,000, and at least 100 km from a town of 130,000 or more.

Source: ATO remote area FBT concessions.

The zone tax offset is separate: it's a personal tax offset you claim in your own return. You claim it if your usual place of residence was in zone A or B for at least 183 days of the income year. FIFO workers who live in Perth and fly to site usually don't qualify, because their usual residence isn't in the zone.

Novated leases and electric cars

Every WA employer type can offer a novated lease. Whether it's FBT-free depends on the car:

• Battery electric (and hydrogen fuel cell) cars are FBT-exempt if they were first held and used on or after 1 July 2022 and luxury car tax has never been payable on them. For 2026–27 the luxury car tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles is $91,661.
• Plug-in hybrids have generally been excluded since 1 April 2025, unless the lease was already in place before then.
• Petrol and diesel cars still attract FBT. Providers usually reduce it to nil by deducting part of the lease from your after-tax pay. Any saving then comes mainly from GST on the car and running costs.

The exemption still produces a reportable fringe benefits amount on your income statement.

Example: FIFO worker, $65,000 electric car

Gross salary is $180,000, a 39% marginal rate. The lease and running costs are $22,000 a year.

• Paid from after-tax pay, $22,000 needs about $36,066 of gross salary.
• Packaged on an exempt EV novated lease, the whole $22,000 comes from pre-tax salary with no FBT.
• The tax saving is about $8,580 a year, before the lease provider's fees and interest.

Before you sign up

1. Check the reportable amounts. Packaged benefits (other than super) appear as a reportable fringe benefits amount on your income statement, and extra super appears as reportable employer super contributions. Both count towards HELP repayment income, the Medicare levy surcharge and family payment income tests, even though you don't pay income tax on them.
2. Count the fees. Each provider charges an administration fee, and novated leases add finance and management costs. Compare them against your saving.
3. Sign before you earn it. A salary sacrifice arrangement only works for pay you haven't yet earned. You can't sacrifice wages already paid.
4. Watch the end of the FBT year. Living-expense caps reset on 1 April. Unused cap is lost, and spending over it triggers FBT.

The Pay Calculator shows your take-home pay at your salary, and the Income Tax Calculator gives your marginal rate.

Frequently asked questions

Related calculators and guides

• Pay Calculator
• Income Tax Calculator
• Superannuation Calculator
• Salary packaging in Australia
• Salary sacrifice in Australia
• Salary sacrifice into super 2026–27
• Reportable fringe benefits amount (RFBA)
• Fringe benefits tax for employees
• Overtime pay in WA

This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. Consult a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser before making decisions based on this information.