However, the various types of pay and process for each State, local health district or health service region (or even hospital) can vary dramatically and be as complex as breaking the Da Vinci Code.

Blugibbon feels your pain, so here is our best attempt at demystifying the world of locum doctor pay in plain English:

NEW SOUTH WALES

Who pays who?

• The Hospital / Local Health District (LHD) pays you directly to your bank account on receipt of an authorised timesheet.

How long does it take to get paid?

• Generally if all paperwork is correct and completed it can take 14-28 working days.
• NSW Health has a fortnightly pay cycle so it will depend on when you submitted your authorised timesheet.
• Please note if you have credentialing paperwork missing or similar that has not been provided to the agency this can hold up you being paid.

What pay options / types are there?

• For Specialists / Consultants
• The majority of the time it is via Pay As You Go (PAYG), this system withholds income tax from a contractor's salary or wages.
• For Junior Doctors / Registrars
• via Pay As You Go (PAYG), this system withholds income tax from your salary or wages and NSW will pay your superannuation separately to your nominated fund.

Quirks to watch out for?

• V-Money
• Some individual Hospitals / LHDs have a pay option called VMoney which allows Doctors (Specialists / Consultants only) with an Australian Business Number (ABN) to be paid by ABN Tax Invoice (please always ask your locum recruiter this before accepting locum shifts).
• This option has a monthly pay cycle and hours / days worked can only be lodged at the start of the following month.
• For example, if you worked on the 1st June you can only lodge on the 1st July, and you will be paid within two weeks of the lodgement day.
• Your locum recruiter will not see the physical account or contract so for any queries you can email HSNSW-vmoprocessing@health.nsw.gov.au

• Recruitment and Onboarding Platform (aka ROB)
• To complicate things a little more, some Hospitals / LHDs in NSW Health opt to use a payment system called ROB.
• Your locum recruiter will tell you if this is the case long before you head off on your locum job but you need to keep an eye out for important emails direct from the ROB system to make sure your profile is set up correctly so you can be paid as quickly as possible.
• I-Expenses
• If you have incurred any expenses due to be paid to you, like fuel or accommodation or travel costs that you booked directly with approval, you will be asked to set up an I-Expenses account to submit these to.
• Your locum recruiter can guide you through this and provide more detail.

QUEENSLAND / VICTORIA / TASMANIA / AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY / NORTHERN TERRITORY

Who pays who?

• 
  The agency will generally always pay you directly to your bank account on receipt of an authorised timesheet and / or an ABN Tax Invoice.

How long does it take to get paid?

• 
  Depending on the agency you are engaged through this could be weekly or fortnightly, if you are submitting an authorised timesheet and ABN Tax Invoice promptly each week (Blugibbon have a weekly payroll function that runs like clockwork).

What pay options are there?

• 
  You can be paid either by (1) PAYG or by (2) PTY LTD or Family Trust ABN.
• Bear in mind that all rates are usually inclusive of superannuation for PAYG and generally if you are registered for GST you can charge this if paid via ABN on top of the hourly / daily rate.
• Please also note that according to ATO guidelines on on-hire labour agreements recruitment agencies cannot pay Sole Trader ABNs, and can only pay PTY LTD or Family Trust ABNs (if another medical recruitment agency says otherwise, please seek further advice to avoiud any nasty surprises!).

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Who pays who?

• 
  The Hospital / Area Health Service pays you directly to your bank account on receipt of an authorised timesheet and / or Tax Invoice.

How long does it take to get paid?

• Depending on the agency you are engaged through this could be weekly or fortnightly, if you are submitting an authorised timesheet and ABN Tax Invoice promptly each week).

What pay options are there?

• You can be paid either by (1) PAYG or by (2) PTY LTD or Family Trust ABN or by (3) Sole Trader ABN.
• It is important to note South Australia can pay Sole Trader ABNs but this will incur a 10% superannuation deduction if you opt to be paid this way.
• If paid via PAYG all rates are inclusive of superannuation.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Who pays who?

• The Hospital / Regional Health Service pays you directly to your bank account on receipt of an authorised timesheet and / or ABN Tax Invoice.
• It is important to note that as of 2020, Western Australia can pay Sole Trader ABNs but it is the your responsibility to gain appropriate tax advice from their Accountant and / or Financial Advisor before doing so.

How long does it take to get paid?

• Generally if all paperwork is correct it can take up to 28 working days, depending on the efficiency of the health service’s finance department and how quickly you submitted the timesheet and / or ABN Tax Invoice.

What pay options are there?

• You will need to be paid via ABN, either PTY LTD ABN, Family Trust ABN or Sole Trader.
• Bear in mind if you are registered for GST you can charge this on top of the hourly / daily rate.

Other Important Information

Please make sure you get a great Accountant and / or Financial Advisor as it is the Doctor’s responsibility to gain appropriate tax advice.

If you do not have one, ask us at Blugibbon and we may be able to suggest a trusted contact.

Some other things to watch out for and ask your locum recruiter about are paid or unpaid breaks, overtime rates and on-call rates. Again, this can vary dramatically for each and every one of your locum jobs,,so it's best to be crystal clear before heading off on your locum adventure!

If you want to chat more about all things locumming and money, reach out to Blugibbon on hello@blugibbon.com or 02 8960 6445.