Clerks Award Pay Rates 2026-27: Every Level
Minimum rates under the Clerks—Private Sector Award 2020 (MA000002), effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
The short answer
A Level 1 Year 1 clerical employee is paid $26.97 an hour or $1,024.70 a week full-time. A casual at the same classification is paid $33.71 an hour, including the 25% casual loading. On that full-time wage, take-home pay after income tax and the Medicare levy is $45,713 a year, or $1,758 a fortnight.
An office receptionist in the private sector is paid on this scale, and the levels that work sits at, with casual rates, are worked through on the Receptionist Pay Rate page. A medical or dental practice receptionist is on the Health Services Award instead, not this one, and its support services ladder is set out on Health Services Award Pay Rates.
MA000002 rates by classification.
All 10 classifications, with the casual rate the award publishes and what each one actually takes home after tax.
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1—Year 1 | $1,024.70 | $26.97 | $33.71 | $45,713 |
| Level 1—Year 2 | $1,073.10 | $28.24 | $35.30 | $47,425 |
| Level 1—Year 3 | $1,106.20 | $29.11 | $36.39 | $48,595 |
| Level 2—Year 1 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Level 2—Year 2 | $1,139.90 | $30.00 | $37.50 | $49,787 |
| Level 3 | $1,182.10 | $31.11 | $38.89 | $51,279 |
| Call centre principal customer contact specialist | $1,190.40 | $31.33 | $39.16 | $51,573 |
| Level 4 | $1,241.40 | $32.67 | $40.84 | $53,376 |
| Level 5 | $1,291.80 | $33.99 | $42.49 | $55,158 |
| Call centre technical associate | $1,415.10 | $37.24 | $46.55 | $59,518 |
Take-home is an estimate for a single Australian resident for tax purposes with no study loan debt and no Medicare levy surcharge, calculated with the same Wage Calculator used across this site. Superannuation is paid by your employer on top of these rates and is never deducted from them.
MA000002 junior rates by age.
The award pays a junior employee a percentage of the adult rate. The percentages below are read from the award text, and the dollar figures are worked out from the adult weekly rate. Each table says exactly how, and which of its figures were checked against rates the award itself prints.
Clause 16.4: Junior rates
What each percentage is a percentage of, in the words of the clause: “An employer must pay an employee who is aged as specified in column 1 of Table 4, Junior rates, at least at the percentage specified in column 2 of the minimum rate that would otherwise be applicable under Table 3, Minimum rates:”
| Age | Percentage of adult rate |
|---|---|
| Under 16 years of age | 45% |
| 16 years of age | 50% |
| 17 years of age | 60% |
| 18 years of age | 70% |
| 19 years of age | 80% |
| 20 years of age | 90% |
| Classification | Under 1645% | 1650% | 1760% | 1870% | 1980% | 2090% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1, Year 1 | $12.13$461.12 a week | $13.48$512.35 a week | $16.18$614.82 a week | $18.88$717.29 a week | $21.57$819.76 a week | $24.27$922.23 a week |
| Level 1, Year 2 | $12.71$482.90 a week | $14.12$536.55 a week | $16.94$643.86 a week | $19.77$751.17 a week | $22.59$858.48 a week | $25.42$965.79 a week |
| Level 1, Year 3 | $13.10$497.79 a week | $14.56$553.10 a week | $17.47$663.72 a week | $20.38$774.34 a week | $23.29$884.96 a week | $26.20$995.58 a week |
| Level 2, Year 1 | $13.25$503.60 a week | $14.73$559.55 a week | $17.67$671.46 a week | $20.62$783.37 a week | $23.56$895.28 a week | $26.51$1,007.19 a week |
| Level 2, Year 2 | $13.50$512.96 a week | $15.00$569.95 a week | $18.00$683.94 a week | $21.00$797.93 a week | $24.00$911.92 a week | $27.00$1,025.91 a week |
| Level 3 | $14.00$531.95 a week | $15.55$591.05 a week | $18.66$709.26 a week | $21.78$827.47 a week | $24.89$945.68 a week | $28.00$1,063.89 a week |
| Call centre principal customer contact specialist | $14.10$535.68 a week | $15.66$595.20 a week | $18.80$714.24 a week | $21.93$833.28 a week | $25.06$952.32 a week | $28.19$1,071.36 a week |
| Level 4 | $14.70$558.63 a week | $16.33$620.70 a week | $19.60$744.84 a week | $22.87$868.98 a week | $26.13$993.12 a week | $29.40$1,117.26 a week |
| Level 5 | $15.30$581.31 a week | $17.00$645.90 a week | $20.40$775.08 a week | $23.80$904.26 a week | $27.20$1,033.44 a week | $30.60$1,162.62 a week |
| Call centre technical associate | $16.76$636.80 a week | $18.62$707.55 a week | $22.34$849.06 a week | $26.07$990.57 a week | $29.79$1,132.08 a week | $33.52$1,273.59 a week |
Each cell is the hourly rate, with the full-time weekly rate beneath it. The award prints the percentages. The dollar figures are worked out from them, as follows.
Each weekly figure is the adult weekly rate multiplied by the percentage, rounded to the nearest cent with an exact half cent rounding up. Each hourly figure is that weekly figure divided by the 38 ordinary hours in a full-time week, rounded to the nearest cent.
Every figure in this table matches the award. All 60 junior rates are printed in Schedule B of the award, and each printed figure agrees to the cent.
Where these figures come from.
Provenance
Verified- Award
- Clerks—Private Sector Award 2020 (MA000002)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Determinations
- PR799280, PR799283, PR799440
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-06
- Cross-checked
- 10 of 10 rates against Schedule B
Every rate above was read from the award text at the Fair Work award library and then checked a second time against Schedule B of the same award, which republishes the hourly rates. Casual rates are the award’s own published figures rather than our multiplication, because the award rounds differently from a calculator. The junior percentages were read from the award in the same way. The junior dollar figures are worked out from them, and each junior table says which of its figures were checked against rates the award itself prints. Nothing here is copied from another pay site.
What this page does not cover.
Listed as plainly as what it does, because a rate page that hides its gaps is how the wrong number ends up on a payslip.
Penalty rates
Overtime, weekend and shift loadings are set separately in the award.
Junior casual and penalty rates
The junior figures on this page are ordinary-hours minimums. Casual loading, weekend, public holiday and overtime rates for juniors are not worked out here.
Allowances
First aid, meal and vehicle allowances are published separately.
Clerks Award Pay Rates questions, answered.
What are the clerks' pay rates for 2026?
The Clerks—Private Sector Award starts at $1,024.70 a week, $26.97 an hour, for a Level 1 Year 1 employee from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. The scale runs to $37.24 an hour for a call centre technical associate.
Who gets a pay rise in July 2026?
Everyone paid at an award minimum. The Fair Work Commission runs an Annual Wage Review each year and the result applies from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. It lifts the National Minimum Wage and every modern award rate, including this one. If you are paid above the award minimum, your employer is not required to pass the increase on. What the 2026 review decided is set out on Minimum Wage Increase 2026.
What are the legal Clerks award rates for 2026?
There is no single legal rate. Each modern award sets its own minimums by classification, and which award covers you depends on your industry and the work you do. The figures on this page are the legal minimums for clerical and administrative work in the private sector under the Clerks—Private Sector Award, and the levels an office receptionist sits at are worked through on the Receptionist Pay Rate page. It stands aside for the industry awards listed in clause 4.4, the Fitness Industry Award among them, whose Level 1 takes in reception and bookings as general counter duties (its Schedule A.1.1), so a gym front desk is paid on Fitness Award Pay Rates.
What is the average salary for a clerk in Australia?
An average is a market figure, not a legal one, and this page does not publish one. What it publishes is the floor: the least an employer may lawfully pay for each classification. Many clerical roles pay above it, but none may lawfully pay below it.
Can I work from home under the Clerks Award?
Only if your employer agrees. On 27 August 2026 the Fair Work Commission decided to add a clause letting an employee make a written request to work from home and an employer agree to it, but not a right to work from home, and that clause is still a draft and not yet in force. What it would change is on Clerks Award Working From Home. It changes none of the rates on this page.
Does the clerks award cover call centre work?
Yes. The award carries call centre classifications alongside the general clerical levels, from principal customer contact specialist through to call centre technical associate at $1,415.10 a week. All are listed in the table above.
See what an award rate leaves you with.
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