Pharmacy Award Pay Rates 2026-27: Every Level
Minimum rates under the Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 (MA000012), effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
The short answer
A Pharmacy assistant level 1 is paid $27.81 an hour or $1,056.80 a week full-time. A casual at the same classification is paid $34.76 an hour, including the 25% casual loading. On that full-time wage, take-home pay after income tax and the Medicare levy is $46,848 a year, or $1,802 a fortnight.
That is the assistant floor. A pharmacy assistant level 2 is paid $28.45 an hour, level 3 $29.45 and level 4 $30.66, and a casual at those levels $35.56, $36.81 and $38.33 an hour respectively. A pharmacist is paid at least $41.74 an hour, or $1,586.30 a week, rising to $52.15 an hour for a pharmacist manager. A pharmacy intern is paid $33.99 an hour in the first half of training and $35.14 in the second, and a pharmacy student from $27.81 to $30.66 an hour by year of course. The pharmacist and intern rows carry both the 30 June 2026 gender undervaluation instalment and the 1 July 2026 wage review, so the figure shown is the combined 1 July rate; the two dates are explained on the Childcare and Pharmacy Award Rises page. Hospital and public sector pharmacists sit outside this award: a public hospital pharmacist is usually on a state instrument, and a pharmacist employed in the national system outside community pharmacy may be on the health professional ladder published on the Health Services Award Pay Rates page.
MA000012 rates by classification.
All 14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy assistant level 1 | $1,056.80 | $27.81 | $34.76 | $46,848 |
| Pharmacy assistant level 2 | $1,081.00 | $28.45 | $35.56 | $47,704 |
| Pharmacy assistant level 3 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Pharmacy assistant level 4 | $1,165.10 | $30.66 | $38.33 | $50,678 |
| Pharmacy student—1st year of course | $1,056.80 | $27.81 | $34.76 | $46,848 |
| Pharmacy student—2nd year of course | $1,081.00 | $28.45 | $35.56 | $47,704 |
| Pharmacy student—3rd year of course | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Pharmacy student—4th year of course | $1,165.10 | $30.66 | $38.33 | $50,678 |
| Pharmacy intern—1st half of training | $1,291.50 | $33.99 | $42.49 | $55,147 |
| Pharmacy intern—2nd half of training | $1,335.50 | $35.14 | $43.93 | $56,703 |
| Pharmacist | $1,586.30 | $41.74 | $52.18 | $65,572 |
| Experienced pharmacist | $1,737.40 | $45.72 | $57.15 | $70,914 |
| Pharmacist in charge | $1,778.40 | $46.80 | $58.50 | $72,364 |
| Pharmacist manager | $1,981.60 | $52.15 | $65.19 | $79,549 |
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.
MA000012 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 16.2: Junior rates (pharmacy assistants levels 1 and 2 only)
What each percentage is a percentage of, in the words of the clause: “An employer must pay an employee, who is classified as a pharmacy assistant level 1 or level 2 and aged as specified in column 1 of Table 4, Junior rates (pharmacy assistants levels 1 and 2 only), 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% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy assistant level 1 | $12.51$475.56 a week | $13.91$528.40 a week | $16.69$634.08 a week | $19.47$739.76 a week | $22.25$845.44 a week | $25.03$951.12 a week |
| Pharmacy assistant level 2 | $12.80$486.45 a week | $14.22$540.50 a week | $17.07$648.60 a week | $19.91$756.70 a week | $22.76$864.80 a week | $25.60$972.90 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.
The award prints no junior dollar figures to check these against. Fair Work’s pay guide may round differently, so a figure here can differ from it by a cent.
Already decided, not yet in force
Fair Work Commission determination PR813656, made on 26 August 2026 following [2026] FWCFB 75 and [2026] FWCFB 222, replaces clause 16.2 with the table below. It comes into operation on 1 December 2026, so none of the figures above use it yet. In the determination’s words: “Percentages in the above table take effect in relation to a particular employee from the start of the employee’s first full pay period starting on or after the specified date.”
The new clause also says: “An employer must pay a junior employee in any other classification under this award the minimum adult rate applicable under Table 3, Minimum rates.”
| Age | From 1 December 2026to 30 June 2027 | From 1 July 2027to 30 June 2028 | From 1 July 2028to 30 June 2029 | From 1 July 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 16 years of age | 45% | 45% | 45% | 45% |
| 16 years of age | 50% | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| 17 years of age | 60% | 60% | 60% | 60% |
| 18 years of age and employed by the employer for 6 months or less | 70% | 70% | 70% | 70% |
| 18 years of age and employed by the employer for more than 6 months | 75% | 85% | 95% | 100% |
| 19 years of age and employed by the employer for 6 months or less | 80% | 80% | 80% | 80% |
| 19 years of age and employed by the employer for more than 6 months | 85% | 95% | 100% | 100% |
| 20 years of age and employed by the employer for 6 months or less | 90% | 90% | 90% | 90% |
| 20 years of age and employed by the employer for more than 6 months | 95% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
No dollar figures are shown for these dates, because the adult rates the percentages apply to can change before then. Source: determination PR813656, retrieved 14 September 2026.
Where these figures come from.
Provenance
Verified- Award
- Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 (MA000012)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Determinations
- PR810422, PR799280, PR799293, PR799450
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-09
- Cross-checked
- 14 of 14 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
Evening, weekend, public holiday and overtime work is paid above the rates above.
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
Allowances the award sets on top of these rates are published separately.
Hospital and public sector pharmacists
The award covers community pharmacy only. A pharmacy owned by a hospital or public institution is outside it, and its pharmacists are on a state award, an enterprise agreement or the Health Services Award instead. No figure for any of those is published here.
Pharmacy Award Pay Rates questions, answered.
What are the pharmacy award pay rates for 2026?
The Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 runs from $27.81 an hour for a pharmacy assistant level 1 to $52.15 an hour for a pharmacist manager, from 1 July 2026. All 14 classifications are in the table above, including the student, intern and pharmacist scales.
What is the pharmacy assistant pay rate at each level?
From 1 July 2026, a full-time or part-time pharmacy assistant is paid at least $27.81 an hour ($1,056.80 a week) at level 1, $28.45 an hour ($1,081.00 a week) at level 2, $29.45 an hour ($1,119.10 a week) at level 3 and $30.66 an hour ($1,165.10 a week) at level 4. A casual pharmacy assistant is paid $34.76 an hour at level 1, $35.56 an hour at level 2, $36.81 an hour at level 3 and $38.33 an hour at level 4, including the 25 per cent loading, and those casual figures are the award's own rather than worked out here. An assistant under 21 at level 1 and level 2 is paid a percentage of the adult rate under clause 16.2, set out in the junior table on this page. Those percentages rise for 18 to 20 year olds with more than 6 months of service from 1 December 2026, as Pay Changes from 1 December 2026 explains. These are the same in every state and territory, and an employer may pay above them but never below. The award covers community pharmacy employers, so a pharmacy assistant working the shop floor is on these rates rather than those on Retail Award Pay Rates.
How much do pharmacists get paid in Australia per hour?
The award floor for a pharmacist is $41.74 an hour. It rises to $45.72 for an experienced pharmacist, $46.80 for a pharmacist in charge and $52.15 for a pharmacist manager. A casual pharmacist is paid $52.18 an hour. Every one of those is a minimum. An employer may pay above it, and many do, but none may lawfully pay below it.
What is the intern pharmacist pay rate in 2026?
A pharmacy intern is paid at least $33.99 an hour, or $1,291.50 a week full-time, in the first half of training, and $35.14 an hour, or $1,335.50 a week, in the second half. A casual intern is paid $42.49 and $43.93 an hour respectively, including the 25 per cent loading. The Fair Work Ombudsman's library article on payment for internships in the Pharmacy Award, reference K600083, states that an intern is paid for all time worked during the internship, including training the employer requires that is not part of the internship, and that off-site training done as part of the intern training program is not paid time. Both intern rows carry the 30 June 2026 undervaluation instalment as well as the 1 July 2026 wage review.
Do pharmacy students and interns have their own rates?
Yes. The award pays a pharmacy student by year of course, from $27.81 an hour, and an intern by half of the training year, from $33.99 an hour. Both scales sit in the table above, between the assistant levels and the pharmacist rates, so a student is not paid an assistant rate by default.
Is the pharmacist rate the 30 June or the 1 July 2026 figure?
The 1 July figure. Two increases reached the pharmacist and pharmacy intern rows one day apart: the second instalment of the Fair Work Commission's gender undervaluation increase, from the first full pay period on or after 30 June 2026, and the Annual Wage Review, from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. The rates on this page are read from the award text consolidated to 1 July 2026, so they carry both, and the determinations behind them, PR810422, PR799280, PR799293, PR799450, are listed in the provenance block. A pharmacist figure published for 30 June was superseded the next day, which is why articles and pay guides dated in June 2026 show a lower number than $41.74.
Are hospital pharmacists covered by the Pharmacy Award?
No. The Fair Work Ombudsman's summary of MA000012 states that the award covers employers in the community pharmacy industry, and that pharmacies owned by a hospital or public institution, and pharmacies operated by the government that do not sell to the public, are not covered. A pharmacist in a public hospital is usually on a state award or an enterprise agreement, such as the Health Employees' Pharmacists (State) Award in New South Wales. A pharmacist employed in the national system outside community pharmacy, in a private hospital for instance, may instead be a health professional employee under the Health Services Award, MA000027, whose summary from the Ombudsman lists pharmacists among the employees it covers; that award has its own page on this site. No hospital pharmacist figure is published here, because none of those instruments is this award.
What is the current award rate for a pharmacist in NSW?
The same as everywhere else in Australia. This is a national instrument, so a pharmacist is paid at least $41.74 an hour, $1,586.30 a week full-time, in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and every other state and territory. There is no separate NSW pharmacy award rate. The award covers community pharmacy, so if you work somewhere else, a hospital pharmacy for instance, check coverage before using these figures.
Is pharmacy oversaturated in 2026?
This page will not answer that, because nothing on it measures it. What it publishes is the legal floor read from the award: the least a community pharmacy may lawfully pay each classification. Graduate numbers, vacancy counts and what employers actually pay above the floor are labour market questions, and no figure here speaks to them. Read the pharmacist rate above as a minimum, not as a market rate.
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