Apprentice Hairdresser Wages 2026-27, First Year to Fourth
A first year apprentice hairdresser under 21 who has not completed Year 12 is paid $14.73 an hour ($559.55 a week) under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 from 1 July 2026, rising to $26.51 an hour in the fourth year. With Year 12 the first year is $16.20 an hour, and an adult apprentice, 21 or over at the start, is paid $23.56. Each year is a percentage of the $1,119.10 standard rate for a Hair and beauty employee level 3, the level of a qualified hairdresser. The award (MA000005) prints every junior figure, weekly and hourly, and each one here is matched against it.
The short answer
Apprentice hairdressers are paid $14.73 an hour, or $559.55 for a 38-hour week, in the first year when under 21 without Year 12. With Year 12 the first year is $16.20 an hour, and an adult apprentice is paid $23.56 an hour, then $27.81 from the second year. A fourth year, where the apprenticeship has one, pays $26.51 an hour. After income tax and the Medicare levy, the first year leaves about $526.03 a week.
First year, under 21
$14.73
An hour, no Year 12, $559.55 a week
First year, Year 12
$16.20
An hour, $615.51 a week
First year, adult
$23.56
An hour, 21 or over, $895.28 a week
Take-home a week
$526.03
On $559.55, before the tax offset
Every figure is the award minimum from 1 July 2026 for ordinary hours. Weekend and public holiday hours are paid at higher rates. An employer can pay more, and an enterprise agreement can set a higher rate.
Apprentice hairdresser wages by year.
An apprentice hairdresser earns $14.73, $17.67, $22.68 and $26.51 an hour in the first to fourth years without Year 12. Clause 18.1 sets the scale at 50%, 60%, 77%, 90% of the standard rate of $1,119.10 a week, and 55%, 65%, 77%, 90% for an apprentice who has completed Year 12. Clause 18.4 sets the adult rate. Each cell shows the hourly rate, the weekly rate for 38 ordinary hours, and what that week leaves after tax.
| Year | Under 21, no Year 12 | Under 21, Year 12 | Adult, 21 or over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st yearJunior: 50% or 55% | $14.73$559.55 a week$526.03 after tax | $16.20$615.51 a week$568.00 after tax | $23.56*$895.28 a week*$791.10 after tax |
| 2nd yearJunior: 60% or 65% | $17.67$671.46 a week$609.96 after tax | $19.14$727.42 a week$656.26 after tax | $27.81*$1,056.80 a week*$900.93 after tax |
| 3rd yearJunior: 77% | $22.68$861.71 a week$767.72 after tax | $22.68$861.71 a week$767.72 after tax | $27.81*$1,056.80 a week*$900.93 after tax |
| 4th year (if applicable)Junior: 90% | $26.51$1,007.19 a week$867.20 after tax | $26.51$1,007.19 a week$867.20 after tax | $27.81*$1,056.80 a week*$900.93 after tax |
- A 1st year apprentice hairdresser is paid $14.73 an hour, $559.55 a week, or $16.20 an hour with Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $23.56.
- A 2nd year apprentice hairdresser is paid $17.67 an hour, $671.46 a week, or $19.14 an hour with Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $27.81.
- A 3rd year apprentice hairdresser is paid $22.68 an hour, $861.71 a week, with or without Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $27.81.
- A 4th year apprentice hairdresser is paid $26.51 an hour, $1,007.19 a week, with or without Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $27.81.
Clause 18.1 prints every junior weekly and hourly figure, and Schedule B.5.3 prints the hourly again. Year 12 changes only the first and second years. The award labels the fourth year “if applicable”, and Schedule E.8 allows for an apprenticeship of three years instead of four. A figure marked * is worked out from the award’s rule, because the award prints no adult apprentice rate.
The hairdressing first year, $14.73 an hour, sits level with the $14.73 the gardening award pays on Apprentice Landscaper Wages and below the $16.20 a cooking apprentice starts on, set out on Apprentice Chef Wages. It is also level with the $14.73 a mechanic apprentice without Year 12 is paid under the vehicle repair award, on Apprentice Mechanic Wages. Every award this site extracts is compared year by year on Apprentice Wages.
Beauty therapy apprentice wages.
A beauty therapy apprentice is paid under the same award on its own scale in clause 18.2, which differs from hairdressing only in the third year: 80%, $23.56 an hour, against 77%, $22.68 for a hairdressing apprentice. The first year is $14.73 an hour without Year 12 and $16.20 with it, and the adult rates follow the same clause 18.4 rule. A qualified beauty therapist's adult rate, level 4 with a Certificate IV, is on Beauty Therapist Salary.
| Year | Under 21, no Year 12 | Under 21, Year 12 | Adult, 21 or over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st yearJunior: 50% or 55% | $14.73$559.55 a week$526.03 after tax | $16.20$615.51 a week$568.00 after tax | $23.56*$895.28 a week*$791.10 after tax |
| 2nd yearJunior: 60% or 65% | $17.67$671.46 a week$609.96 after tax | $19.14$727.42 a week$656.26 after tax | $27.81*$1,056.80 a week*$900.93 after tax |
| 3rd yearJunior: 80% | $23.56$895.28 a week$791.10 after tax | $23.56$895.28 a week$791.10 after tax | $27.81*$1,056.80 a week*$900.93 after tax |
| 4th year (if applicable)Junior: 90% | $26.51$1,007.19 a week$867.20 after tax | $26.51$1,007.19 a week$867.20 after tax | $27.81*$1,056.80 a week*$900.93 after tax |
Clause 18.2 prints every junior figure, and Schedule B.5.5 prints the hourly again.
Mature age apprentice hairdresser wages.
A mature age apprentice hairdresser, 21 or over at the start of the apprenticeship, is paid $23.56 an hour ($895.28 a week) in the first year and $27.81 an hour ($1,056.80 a week) from the second year to the end. Clause 18.4(a) pays the greater of 80% of the standard rate and the first year rate, and 18.4(b) the greater of the lowest rate in clause 17.1, Hair and beauty employee level 1, and the rate for the year.
The adult floor is higher than every junior rate in every year, so an adult apprentice out-earns a junior one from start to finish. From the second year the adult rate is about 94% of the qualified hairdresser’s $1,119.10. The award prints none of these figures, so each is worked out from clause 18.4 and marked * in the tables above.
Moving to an apprenticeship with your current salon
An employee who signs a training agreement as an adult apprentice with the employer they already work for keeps the clause 17 minimum rate of the classification they were in, under clause 18.4(d). Clause 18.4(c) limits that to someone employed for at least 6 months full-time, or 12 months part-time or as a regular casual, immediately before.
Take-home pay after tax, year by year.
A first year apprentice hairdresser on $29,097 a year keeps about $27,354 after tax. The figures below are for an Australian resident for tax purposes, working the full year with no study loan and no Medicare levy surcharge. Superannuation is paid by the employer on top, at the rate the Super Guarantee Calculator uses.
| Year | Under 21, no Year 12 | Under 21, Year 12 | Adult, 21 or over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st year | $27,354 a year$526.03 a week$3,492 super | $29,536 a year$568.00 a week$3,841 super | $41,137 a year$791.10 a week$5,587 super |
| 2nd year | $31,718 a year$609.96 a week$4,190 super | $34,125 a year$656.26 a week$4,539 super | $46,848 a year$900.93 a week$6,594 super |
| 3rd year | $39,921 a year$767.72 a week$5,377 super | $39,921 a year$767.72 a week$5,377 super | $46,848 a year$900.93 a week$6,594 super |
| 4th year (if applicable) | $45,094 a year$867.20 a week$6,285 super | $45,094 a year$867.20 a week$6,285 super | $46,848 a year$900.93 a week$6,594 super |
These are the figures a payslip withholds against, worked out with the same Wage Calculator used across this site. The low income tax offset is applied at tax time instead: on the first year rate it is worth $700 for the year, lifting the week to about $539.49. The Income Tax Calculator shows any year’s income bracket by bracket, and an apprentice with a HECS or HELP debt can check the compulsory repayment on the HECS Repayment Calculator.
How the pay moves up.
The rate steps up with each year of the apprenticeship. Schedule E.8 says the award’s scales are based on a standard four year apprenticeship, unless the apprenticeship is of three years’ duration, and the training contract says which. Four clauses shape what a year means for pay:
- The employer releases an apprentice to attend training and assessment without loss of pay, and that time counts as time worked when wages are worked out (clause 12.5(a) and (b)).
- Fees paid to the training organisation and the cost of required textbooks are reimbursed, or paid directly, by the later of 6 months after the apprenticeship or stage starts and 3 months after training starts, provided progress is satisfactory (clause 12.5(c) to (e)).
- Block release training that needs an overnight stay comes with reasonable travel, accommodation and meal costs paid by the employer (clause 12.6).
- Except in an emergency, an apprentice cannot be required to work overtime or shiftwork that would stop them attending training (clause 12.4).
A school-based apprentice is paid the apprentice hourly rate for every hour worked, including off-the-job training, which for a full-time school student is 25% of the hours worked on the job each week (Schedule E.3 and E.4). School-based apprentices move 12 months up the scale for every 2 years of employment (E.7). How other awards handle Year 12 and adult apprentices is on Apprentice Wages.
Apprentice barbers.
The Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 covers barber shops: clause 4.2 puts hair cutting, hair trimming, shaving and beard trimming inside the hair and beauty industry. It sets no separate barbering scale. Its apprentice rates are written for a hairdressing apprenticeship (clause 18.1) and a beauty therapy apprenticeship (clause 18.2), and an adult apprentice under either is paid under clause 18.4.
On the hairdressing scale a first year apprentice under 21 is paid $14.73 an hour, or $16.20 with Year 12, and an adult apprentice $23.56. Check the apprenticeship the training contract names before relying on a figure, because this page does not decide which scale a barbering contract falls under.
From apprentice to qualified hairdresser.
A qualified hairdresser with a Certificate III is a Hair and beauty employee level 3, paid at least $29.45 an hour, $1,119.10 a week. That is the award’s standard rate (clause 17.1), the figure every apprentice percentage is taken from, so the fourth year apprentice on $1,007.19 is on 90% of it. The Certificate IV level, casual rates and weekend rates for qualified hairdressers are on Hairdresser Pay Rate, and every classification in the award is on Hair and Beauty Award Pay Rates.
| Under the Hair and Beauty award | Weekly | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice, first year, under 21 | $559.55 | $14.73 |
| Apprentice, fourth year, under 21 | $1,007.19 | $26.51 |
| Adult apprentice, second year on | $1,056.80 | $27.81 |
| Qualified, Hair and beauty employee level 3 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 |
Where these figures come from.
Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 (MA000005)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Determinations
- PR799280, PR799286, PR799444
- Retrieved
- 9 September 2026
- Printed rate figures matched
- 48
- Rates worked out, not printed
- 8 adult rates
Read from the Fair Work award library. Every junior weekly and hourly rate matches the figure clause 18 prints, and every junior hourly rate matches Schedule B.5 as well. The adult apprentice rates are worked out from clause 18.4 and the clause 17.1 rates, because the award prints none.
Nothing here is copied from another pay site. The extractor refuses to write a figure that differs by a cent from the one the award prints. Rates change from the first full pay period on or after the effective date, so a payslip covering the changeover can lawfully carry the older rate for part of the period.
What this page does not cover.
Weekend, public holiday and overtime rates
Schedule B.5.3 and B.5.5 of the award print Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and rostered day off rates for each apprentice year, and B.5.4 prints overtime. This page does not reproduce them.
Pre-apprentices
Clause 18.3 sets a separate pre-apprentice scale in six-month steps, with and without Year 12. It is not shown here.
Western Australia
A Western Australian salon that is not a constitutional corporation, a sole trader or partnership for instance, can sit in the state system rather than under this award. No state rate is published here.
Trainees
Traineeships are paid under the National Training Wage in Schedule E of the Miscellaneous Award, which clause 17.4 of this award takes in. Those rates are not these.
Retail and theatre work
Clause 4.4 leaves out hair and beauty work in general retailing, theatrical, amusement and entertainment businesses, which are covered by other awards.
Enterprise agreements and above-award pay
An enterprise agreement can set higher apprentice rates, and many salons pay above the award. Everything here is a minimum.
Apprentice Hairdresser Wages questions, answered.
What is a 1st year apprentice hairdresser paid in 2026-27?
$14.73 an hour, or $559.55 a week full-time, for an apprentice under 21 who has not completed Year 12. With Year 12 it is $16.20 an hour, $615.51 a week. Those are 50% and 55% of the $1,119.10 standard rate, and clause 18.1 of the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 prints both figures. Take-home is about $526.03 a week after income tax and the Medicare levy.
What is a 2nd year apprentice hairdresser paid?
$17.67 an hour, $671.46 a week, without Year 12, and $19.14 an hour, $727.42 a week, with it. That is 60% or 65% of the standard rate. From the third year Year 12 no longer changes the rate: both scales pay $22.68 an hour in the third year and $26.51 in the fourth. An adult apprentice in the second year is paid $27.81 an hour.
What is a mature age hairdressing apprentice paid?
$23.56 an hour in the first year, $895.28 a week, and $27.81 an hour from the second year on, $1,056.80 a week. Clause 18.4 pays an apprentice who is 21 or over at the start the greater of 80% of the standard rate and the first year rate, then the greater of the award's lowest adult rate, Hair and beauty employee level 1, and the rate for the year. The award prints no adult apprentice figure, so these are worked out from that rule. Someone who worked for the same salon for 6 months full-time, or 12 months part-time or as a regular casual, keeps the rate of their old classification instead.
What is an apprentice barber paid?
The award sets no separate barbering scale. It covers barber shops, because clause 4.2 puts hair cutting, shaving and beard trimming inside the hair and beauty industry, and its apprentice rates are set for a hairdressing apprenticeship (clause 18.1) and a beauty therapy apprenticeship (clause 18.2). On the hairdressing scale a first year apprentice under 21 is paid $14.73 an hour, or $16.20 with Year 12, and an adult apprentice $23.56. Check which apprenticeship the training contract names before relying on a figure.
Do beauty therapy apprentices get the same rates as hairdressing apprentices?
In every year but the third. A beauty therapy apprentice is paid 80% of the standard rate, $23.56 an hour, where a hairdressing apprentice is paid 77%, $22.68. The first, second and fourth years, and the adult rates, are the same for both trades.
Is a hairdressing apprenticeship three years or four?
The award allows for both. It labels the fourth year of each scale "if applicable", and Schedule E says its apprentice scales are based on a standard four year apprenticeship unless the apprenticeship is of three years' duration. The training contract sets the length. In a three year apprenticeship the pay steps from $14.73 to $17.67 to $22.68 an hour without Year 12, and the $26.51 fourth year rate is never reached.
What does a hairdresser earn after the apprenticeship?
At least $29.45 an hour, $1,119.10 a week, once qualified with a Certificate III, which Schedule A of the award places at Hair and beauty employee level 3. That is the standard rate every apprentice percentage is taken from, so a fourth year apprentice on $1,007.19 is on 90% of it. Level 5, for a Certificate IV, and the casual and weekend rates are on Hairdresser Pay Rate.