Award Pay Rates in Australia: Minimum Wages by Industry

The National Minimum Wage is $26.44 an hour, or $1,004.90 a week for a 38-hour week, from 1 July 2026. A casual on that figure is paid $33.05 an hour, being the base plus the 25 per cent casual loading.

That figure only applies when no award and no registered agreement covers the job, which is uncommon. Most employees are covered by an award, and 16 of the 22 awards below start above the National Minimum Wage at their lowest adult classification. Entry rates run from $25.74 to $38.30 an hour. Who the floor itself covers, its casual and junior rates, and what it leaves after tax are on the National Minimum Wage page.

The lowest adult classification in each award, with the casual rate at the same level. Junior, apprentice and trainee scales sit below these and are on the award pages. Each figure is read from the award text, not from a summary. The junior percentages from every award, age by age, are compared on Junior Pay Rates.

Rates are the entry classification only. Every award below has its own page with every level and pay point, casual rates, and what each leaves after tax. Two awards are not in the table: the Electrical Award, whose grade rates add industry and tool allowances to the clause 16.2 minimums, on Electrical Award Pay Rates, and the Vehicle Repair Award, on Vehicle Repair Award Pay Rates.

A modern award is an industry or occupation-wide minimum set by the Fair Work Commission. It fixes the lowest lawful hourly rate for each classification, and it also sets casual loading, penalty rates, overtime and allowances. Most Australian employees are covered by one. A high salary does not take an employee outside their award without a written guarantee of annual earnings above the high income threshold, as High Income Threshold 2026-27 explains. Defence Force members and Commonwealth public servants are paid under instruments of their own, set out on Public Sector Pay Scales.

Each award divides work into levels, and most levels contain several pay points. Your level is set by the work you do, your qualifications and how much supervision you carry, not by your job title. Within a level you usually move up one pay point for each twelve months of experience until you reach the top. For the most common jobs, the award and levels the work sits on are worked through on Pay Rates by Occupation.

Each award below has its own page with every classification level and pay point, read directly from the award text and dated to the pay period it takes effect from. More awards are added once their rates have been verified the same way.

• Casual LoadingTwenty-five per cent in every award we publish. What differs is whether the award prints the casual rate or leaves it to be worked out.
• Junior Pay RatesThe percentage of the adult rate at each age under 21, in every award that sets one, with the National Minimum Wage junior rates and the December 2026 steps.
• Penalty RatesSaturday, Sunday and public holiday percentages from the three awards that publish them, and the rule that casual loading is absorbed rather than multiplied.
• Fitness Award Pay RatesGyms, fitness centres and instructors. Nine classifications including the separate Level 3A and Level 4A scales, MA000094.
• Road Transport Award Pay RatesTruck driving, distribution and oil distribution. Two working weeks, 38 hours and 35, MA000038.
• Hair and Beauty Award Pay RatesHairdressing and beauty salons. Six classification levels with casual rates, MA000005.
• Health Services Award Pay RatesHealth professionals and support services, both rate clauses, including the dental assistant and pathology collector transitional scales. MA000027.
• SCHADS Award Pay RatesSocial and community services, home care, disability support, crisis accommodation and family day care. Five separate rate scales, MA000100.
• Retail Award Pay RatesShops, supermarkets and general retail. Eight classification levels with casual rates, MA000004.
• Hospitality Award Pay RatesHotels, pubs, accommodation and catering, including restaurants run in those venues, plus a separate casino gaming scale. MA000009.
• Clerks Award Pay RatesClerical and administrative work in the private sector, including call centres. MA000002.
• Legal Services Award Pay RatesLaw firms and legal support businesses. Five clerical and administrative levels, law graduates and law clerks, MA000116.
• Fast Food Award Pay RatesFast food outlets and takeaway. Four adult classifications, MA000003.
• Nurses Award Pay RatesNursing assistants, enrolled and registered nurses, with a separate aged care scale. MA000034.
• Children's Services Award Pay RatesLong day care, preschool and family day care educators. This award publishes no hourly rates schedule, so its casual rates are derived. MA000120.
• Teachers Award Pay RatesEarly childhood teachers in preschools and long day care, and award-covered school teachers. Five salary levels, MA000077.
• Electrical Award Pay RatesElectrical, electronics and communications contractors. Ten grades whose rates include the industry allowance, and the tool allowance from grade 5, MA000025.
• Vehicle Repair Award Pay RatesWorkshops, dealerships, tyre and fuel businesses. Seven levels from R1 to R7, ten driver rows and the fuel retail and vehicle sales rules, MA000089.
• Restaurant Award Pay RatesRestaurants and cafes, with a separate cooking apprentice scale. MA000119.
• Cleaning Services Award Pay RatesContract and commercial cleaning. Three classification levels, MA000022.
• Security Award Pay RatesSecurity officers, guards and patrol work. Five officer levels, MA000016.
• Pharmacy Award Pay RatesPharmacy assistants, pharmacists, interns and managers. MA000012.
• Warehouse Award Pay RatesWarehousing, storage and wholesale distribution. Storeworker grades and wholesale levels, MA000084.
• Manufacturing Award Pay RatesMetal, engineering, food and general manufacturing. The C14 to C2 scale plus driver classifications, MA000010.
• Clubs Award Pay RatesRegistered and licensed clubs, including club managers. MA000058.
• Gardening and Landscaping Award Pay RatesGardening, landscaping and grounds maintenance. Six levels, MA000101.
• Aged Care Award Pay RatesResidential aged care. Direct care levels 1 to 6, general levels 1 to 7 and the senior food services rates, MA000018.

A casual has no paid leave, so awards add a loading to the base hourly rate to compensate, most commonly 25 per cent. Penalty rates apply on top for work at times the award treats as unsociable: evenings, weekends, public holidays, overtime and shift work. Both are set by the award and neither is optional. Penalty and overtime rates in an award have been protected from reduction by the Fair Work Commission since 30 August 2025, as Penalty Rates Protected by Law explains.

The Fair Work Commission runs an Annual Wage Review each year, and the outcome applies from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. A rate quoted without an effective date is close to useless, because rates published for three different financial years are usually all still online at the same time. What the 2026 review changed, including a larger rise at the two lowest classification rates, is set out on Minimum Wage Increase 2026. A single award can also be varied part-way through the year, as the Health Services and SCHADS awards are from October and December 2026, and those changes are listed by start date on Pay Rate News.

1. Identify the industry your employer operates in, not your own job title.
2. Search that industry in the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool.
3. Match your duties to a classification description in the award.
4. Confirm your pay point from your years of experience at that level.

Compare your hourly rate against the current pay guide for your award. If it falls short, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. The Ombudsman is free, and recovering underpaid wages is what it is there for.

Every award rate on this site is read from the award text published by the Fair Work Commission, with the date it takes effect from recorded alongside it. The National Minimum Wage figure comes from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Fair Work Ombudsman, award and agreement free wages and conditions, last updated 2026-08-07, retrieved 2026-09-11. Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.