Vehicle Repair Award Pay Rates 2026-27: R1 to R7 and Drivers

Minimum rates under the Vehicle Repair, Services and Retail Award 2020 (MA000089), effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Every figure below is read from the award text and matched to the cent against the summary of hourly rates in Schedule B of the award.

MA000089 rates by level.

All seven wage groups in clause 16.2, from R1 to R7, with the casual rate for Monday to Friday daytime work and what each takes home after tax. The titles under each level are some of the classifications Schedule A places there.

The weekly and hourly figures are the ones clause 16.2 prints; each hourly rate is the weekly rate over 38 ordinary hours. The casual figure is the 125% rate for Monday to Friday between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm, as Schedule B.2.1 prints it. Take-home is an estimate for a single Australian resident for tax purposes with no study loan debt and no Medicare levy surcharge, worked out with the same Wage Calculator used across this site. Superannuation is paid on top and never deducted from these rates.

Driver rates.

Clause 16.3 sets its own rates for drivers of forklifts, mobile cranes, commercial and articulated vehicles and tow trucks. A tow truck driver is also paid a $28.20 a week allowance which, in the words of clause 16.4(c), “will stand alone and is not subject to penalty additions”, and drivers of heavier vehicles are paid per-tonne and trailer allowances under clause 16.4. How the clause 16.3 forklift rate compares with the transport, storage, retail and manufacturing awards is on Forklift Driver Salary.

Schedule B prints weekend, overtime, shift and casual rates for every driver row as well, on the same percentages as the levels below, and each was checked.

Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates.

Ordinary hours worked on a Saturday are paid at 150% of the minimum hourly rate, on a Sunday at 200% and on a public holiday at 250% (clause 23.2). These payments stand alone and are not included for any other purpose (clause 23.4). They do not apply to casuals, who are paid the loadings in the next section, or to console operators, driveway and roadhouse attendants and vehicle salespeople, who have their own rules below.

Casual rates by day and time.

A casual is paid the minimum hourly rate plus a loading that depends on when the work is done (clause 11.3(a)). The loadings are not cumulative: where more than one applies, the highest is paid (clause 11.3(b)). Casual overtime, after 10 hours in a day or an average of 38 a week, is paid at 175% for the first 3 hours and 225% after that, the same percentages as the Saturday and Sunday casual rates. A casual must be engaged and paid for at least 2 hours each time (clause 11.2).

Overtime rates.

Overtime is paid at 150% of the minimum hourly rate for the first 3 hours and 200% after that, 200% on a Sunday and 250% on a public holiday (clause 24.3), with each day’s overtime standing alone. Overtime on a Sunday or public holiday is paid for at least 4 hours (clause 24.5(b)). An employee in a garage or a tow or repair vehicle driver recalled for breakdown, accident or emergency work is paid 200% of the minimum hourly rate, with at least 2 hours for the first call-back in a day (clause 24.9).

Shift rates.

An afternoon shift is a shift commencing after noon and not later than 6.00pm; a night shift is a shift commencing after 6.00 pm and not later than 4.00 am (clause 25.5). Outside Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, a shiftworker is paid the percentages in clause 25.2, and 150% for an afternoon or night shift that does not continue for at least 5 successive working days (clause 25.3). Shift rates are not paid to casuals or vehicle salespeople (clause 25.1).

Console operators, driveway and roadhouse attendants.

Fuel retail has its own rules in clause 27. A permanent employee is paid 100% of the minimum hourly rate on a Saturday until noon, 150% after noon and on a Sunday, and 200% on a public holiday (clause 27.4). Overtime is 150% for the first 3 hours Monday to Saturday and 200% after that and on Sundays and public holidays (clause 27.5), with at least 3 hours paid for Sunday or public holiday overtime.

A casual in these jobs is paid a flat rate instead of the clause 11.3 loadings: 131.75% of the relevant minimum hourly rate Monday to Friday and 171.87% on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, plus 73.4% on top for overtime beyond 10 hours a day or an average of 38 a week (clause 27.3). A casual under 20 is paid a share of the adult casual rate: 75% at 19 years, 62.5% at 18 years, 50% at 17 years and 47.5% under 17 years.

Vehicle salespeople.

A vehicle salesperson is at R4 for the first 6 months and R6 after that (Schedule A). A casual salesperson is paid a 25% loading, 200% on a Sunday and 275% on a public holiday (clause 28.2). A permanent salesperson required to work on a Sunday that is not their rostered day off is paid $223.82 on top of the weekly rate for more than half a day, or $111.91 for half a day or less (20% and 10% of the R6 weekly rate, clause 28.3(c)). Work on a rostered day off is paid at double time and on a public holiday at double time and a half, counted in fractions of the weekly rate (clauses 28.3(a) and (b)). Whatever commission is agreed, the employer must pay at least the minimum hourly rate for every hour it requires to be worked, checked at least every 3 months (clause 28.5).

Allowances.

Junior rates.

An employee under 21 who is not an apprentice is paid a percentage of the Level 1 or Level 4 rate, depending on the classification (clause 16.6). Level 1 percentages apply to, among others, the car cleaner and/or washer, detailer, driveway attendant and tyre fitter classifications; Level 4 percentages to the console operator, brake serviceperson, windscreen fitter and/or repairer and fork-lift driver and mobile crane driver classifications.

Junior drivers of commercial vehicles and tow trucks not covered by clause 16.6 are paid a share of the adult driver rate: 70% under 19 years, 80% at 19 years and the full rate at 20 years and over (clause 16.7). That is $19.58 an hour under 19 years and $22.37 an hour at 19 years for commercial vehicles under 8 tonnes and tow trucks, classes 1 to 3, and $20.62 an hour under 19 years and $23.56 an hour at 19 years for tow trucks, class 4. The casual figures are the Monday to Friday daytime rate, 125% of the junior rate (Schedule B.2.2 and B.2.3).

Apprentices.

Apprentices in the 21 trades clause 13.2 lists, from motor mechanic and panel beater to automotive electrician and plant mechanic, are paid a percentage of the R6 rate by stage, and an adult apprentice moves through the Level 1 to Level 3 rates. Every stage is set out on Apprentice Mechanic Wages.

Who this award covers.

Where these figures come from.

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.

• Apprentices

  Junior, Year 12 and adult apprentice rates by stage, with the apprentice tool allowance, are on Apprentice Mechanic Wages.

• Other Schedule B tables

  Schedule B also prints shift and overtime rates for juniors and fuel retail employees, junior casual fuel retail rates and junior vehicle sales rates. The extraction checks every one of them; this page does not publish them.

• Other allowances

  Dirty work, confined spaces, hot and wet places, handling money, per-tonne and trailer, meal, travel and vehicle allowances are not published here. None of them is paid for all purposes.

• Commission

  Commission for vehicle salespeople is set by agreement with the employer (clause 28.4). The award sets only the minimum remuneration underneath it.

• Enterprise agreements and state awards

  An enterprise agreement can set higher rates than the award, and an employer in Western Australia outside the national system is covered by the state system. Neither is published here.

• Which level applies

  Schedule A sets the level by training modules, skills and the work performed, not by job title alone. This page publishes the rates, not the assessment.

Notice of termination is not on this page either. Clause 38.1 asks an employee who resigns for 1 to 4 weeks’ notice by continuous service, and lets an employer deduct up to a week’s wages from one aged 18 or over who gives less. The Notice Period Calculator works it out, with the notice an employer must give.

Vehicle Repair Award Pay Rates questions, answered.