Restaurant Award Pay Rates 2026-27: Every Level
Minimum rates under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119), effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
The short answer
A Level 1 restaurant employee is paid $26.44 an hour or $1,004.90 a week full-time. A casual at the same classification is paid $33.05 an hour, including the 25% casual loading. On that full-time wage, take-home pay after income tax and the Medicare levy is $45,013 a year, or $1,731 a fortnight.
MA000119 rates by classification.
All 11 classifications, with the casual rate for each and what each one actually takes home after tax.
Minimum rates
1 July 2026 · PR799399
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introductory Level | $978.10 | $25.74 | $32.18 | $44,066 |
| Level 1 | $1,004.90 | $26.44 | $33.05 | $45,013 |
| Level 2 | $1,029.10 | $27.08 | $33.85 | $45,869 |
| Level 3 | $1,062.90 | $27.97 | $34.96 | $47,064 |
| Level 4 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Level 5 | $1,189.40 | $31.30 | $39.13 | $51,537 |
| Level 6 | $1,221.10 | $32.13 | $40.16 | $52,658 |
Junior apprentice—cooking trade minimum rates
1 July 2026 · PR799399
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st year | $615.51 | $16.20 | $20.25* | $29,536 |
| 2nd year | $727.42 | $19.14 | $23.93* | $34,125 |
| 3rd year | $895.28 | $23.56 | $29.45* | $41,137 |
| 4th year | $1,063.15 | $27.98 | $34.98* | $47,073 |
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. A casual rate marked * is not published in the award and is the minimum hourly rate plus the 25% loading.
Where these figures come from.
Provenance
Verified- Award
- Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Determinations
- PR799280, PR799399, PR799554
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-09
- Cross-checked
- 7 of 11 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 except where marked *, which the award does not publish. 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 loadings are set separately in the award.
Junior rates
Employees under 21 are paid a percentage of the adult rate for their level.
Allowances
Every allowance the award sets sits in a separate clause. No allowance figure is published here.
Adult apprentices
The apprentice table above is the junior cooking trade scale. Apprentices who start as adults are paid on a separate scale not published here.
Restaurant Award Pay Rates questions, answered.
What is the hourly rate under the Restaurant Industry Award?
The scale starts at $25.74 an hour at the introductory classification, then $26.44 an hour at Level 1, and runs to $32.13 an hour at Level 6. A Level 1 casual is paid $33.05 an hour, which includes the 25% casual loading.
What is Level 2 pay in a restaurant?
A Level 2 employee is paid $1,029.10 a week, $27.08 an hour full-time, or $33.85 an hour as a casual. Which duties sit at Level 2 is set by the classification definitions in the award, not by a job title on a roster, so check the definitions before comparing your payslip.
What does an apprentice cook get paid?
The second table above is the junior apprentice cooking trade scale. It runs from $615.51 a week, $16.20 an hour, in the first year to $27.98 an hour in the fourth year. Rates for apprentices who start as adults are set separately and are not published on this page.
Are restaurant award rates different in NSW or Victoria?
No. The Restaurant Industry Award is a national instrument, so one set of minimum rates applies in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and every other state and territory. There are no state-specific restaurant award rates.
Do the restaurant award rates include penalty rates?
No. The figures on this page are ordinary-hours minimum rates. Evening, weekend, public holiday and overtime work attracts a higher rate set separately in the award. No penalty rate is shown here that has not been read from the award text.
When do restaurant award rates change?
Award rates change from the first full pay period on or after 1 July each year, following the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review. The 11 rates on this page take effect from 1 July 2026.
See what an award rate leaves you with.
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