Apprentice Landscaper Wages 2026-27, First Year to Fourth
A first year apprentice landscaper under 21 who has not completed Year 12 is paid $14.73 an hour ($559.55 a week) under the Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 from 1 July 2026, rising to $27.98 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 rate for a Level 4 tradesperson, and the award (MA000101) prints every hourly figure, which each rate here is matched against.
The short answer
Apprentice landscapers 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. By the fourth year every apprentice is on $27.98 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, for an apprentice who started on or after 1 January 2014. 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 landscaper wages by year.
An apprentice landscaper earns $14.73, $17.67, $22.09 and $27.98 an hour in the first to fourth years without Year 12. Clause 15.3(b) sets the scale at 50%, 60%, 75%, 95% of the Level 4 rate of $1,119.10 a week, and 55%, 65%, 75%, 95% for an apprentice who has completed Year 12. Clause 15.4 names the adult rate for each year. 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 | $25.74$978.10 a week$847.42 after tax |
| 3rd yearJunior: 75% | $22.09$839.33 a week*$749.14 after tax | $22.09$839.33 a week*$749.14 after tax | $25.74$978.10 a week$847.42 after tax |
| 4th yearJunior: 95% | $27.98$1,063.15 a week*$905.25 after tax | $27.98$1,063.15 a week*$905.25 after tax | $27.98$1,063.15 a week$905.25 after tax |
- A 1st year apprentice landscaper 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 landscaper is paid $17.67 an hour, $671.46 a week, or $19.14 an hour with Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $25.74.
- A 3rd year apprentice landscaper is paid $22.09 an hour, $839.33 a week, with or without Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $25.74.
- A 4th year apprentice landscaper is paid $27.98 an hour, $1,063.15 a week, with or without Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid the same.
Schedule B.5.1 of the award prints every junior hourly figure and B.6.1 every adult figure, weekly and hourly. The award prints no junior weekly figure, so each one marked * is the percentage of the Level 4 rate, rounded to the cent. Year 12 changes only the first and second years.
The landscaping first year, $14.73 an hour, sits level with the $14.73 a hairdressing apprentice without Year 12 starts on, on Apprentice Hairdresser Wages, and below the $16.20 a cooking apprentice is paid on Apprentice Chef Wages. Against the motor and plumbing trades it sits level with the $14.73 a mechanic apprentice without Year 12 starts on, on Apprentice Mechanic Wages, and below the $16.56 a plumbing apprentice without Year 12 is paid on Apprentice Plumber Wages. Every award this site extracts is compared year by year on Apprentice Wages.
Mature age apprentice landscaper wages.
A mature age apprentice landscaper, 21 or over at the start of the apprenticeship and starting on or after 1 January 2014, is paid $23.56 an hour ($895.28 a week) in the first year, which is 80% of the Level 4 rate. In the second and third years the rate is the Introductory Level rate, $25.74 an hour ($978.10 a week), and in the fourth it is 95% of Level 4, $27.98 an hour.
Clause 15.4 names each adult rate outright instead of setting a floor with a greater-of test, and Schedule B.6.1 prints all four, so none of them is worked out here. In the fourth year the adult and junior rates are the same, $27.98 an hour.
Moving to an apprenticeship with your current employer
Clause 15.4(b) protects an employee who signs a training agreement as an adult apprentice with the employer they already work for: they cannot have their minimum wage cut by it, and keep the clause 15 rate of the classification they were in. It applies to someone employed for at least 6 months full-time, or 12 months part-time or as a regular casual, immediately before.
Which award covers a landscaping apprentice.
The employer decides the award. Clause 4.2 of the Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 covers the design, preparation and installation of pavements, landscape features, lawns and gardens in parklands, public domain and recreation areas; maintenance and establishment work after completion; laying out, building and keeping gardens at private houses; landscape and environmental rehabilitation on private or public land; and gardens, grounds and turf at sports fields. Clause 4.3 then leaves out employers covered by nine other awards.
| Employer | Award | First year, under 21 |
|---|---|---|
| Landscaping, gardening or grounds maintenance business | Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 (MA000101), the rates on this page | $14.73$16.20 with Year 12 |
| Registered club, for greenkeeping and gardening on bowling greens and golf courses | Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 (MA000058), maintenance and horticulture apprentices, clause 18.5(a) | $16.20No Year 12 split |
| An employer covered by the building award, such as a builder | Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020. Not published: it builds allowances into apprentice pay and prints no figure to check against | Not shown |
| An employer covered by the local government award, such as a council | Local Government Industry Award 2020. Not extracted by this site | Not shown |
| Farm, orchard or production nursery | Generally the Horticulture Award. Not extracted by this site | Not shown |
The club scale is the one the Clubs award also pays cooking apprentices: 55%, 65%, 80%, 95% of the same $1,119.10 Level 4 rate, which is $16.20, $19.14, $23.56 and $27.98 an hour, with an adult apprentice on $23.56, $25.74, $25.74 and $27.98. The Clubs award prints those hourly figures in Schedule B.6. Every level of the club award is on Clubs Award Pay Rates.
Take-home pay after tax, year by year.
A first year apprentice landscaper 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, on ordinary hours only. 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 | $44,066 a year$847.42 a week$6,103 super |
| 3rd year | $38,955 a year$749.14 a week$5,237 super | $38,955 a year$749.14 a week$5,237 super | $44,066 a year$847.42 a week$6,103 super |
| 4th year | $47,073 a year$905.25 a week$6,634 super | $47,073 a year$905.25 a week$6,634 super | $47,073 a year$905.25 a week$6,634 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.
How the pay moves up.
The rate steps up with each year of the apprenticeship. Schedule E.9 says the award’s scales are based on a standard four year apprenticeship, unless the apprenticeship is of three years’ duration. Clause 15.5 sets the conditions that shape what a year means for pay:
- An apprentice is released to attend training and assessment without loss of continuity, is paid for it, and the time counts as time worked (clause 15.5(j)).
- Training fees for prescribed courses and prescribed textbooks are reimbursed by the later of 6 months after the apprenticeship or stage starts and 3 months after training starts, unless progress is unsatisfactory (clause 15.5(f) to (h)).
- Block release training that needs an overnight stay comes with the excess reasonable travel, accommodation and meal costs paid by the employer (clause 15.5(b) to (e)).
- Except in an emergency, an apprentice cannot be required to work overtime or shiftwork that would stop them attending training (clause 15.5(l)).
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.8).
From apprentice to qualified landscaper.
A qualified gardener or landscaper is paid at least the Level 4 rate, $29.45 an hour or $1,119.10 a week (clause 15.1). Schedule A.5.1 puts an employee at Level 4 once they have completed an apprenticeship in horticulture and hold a trade qualification, or hold a Parks and Gardens, Landscaping or Greenkeeping Certificate III or equivalent, or have at least 3 years of practical horticulture experience with the skills for the level. A fourth year apprentice on $1,063.15 is on 95% of it. Every level of the award, with casual rates, is on Gardening and Landscaping Award Pay Rates.
| Under the Gardening and Landscaping award | Weekly | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Apprentice, first year, under 21 | $559.55 | $14.73 |
| Adult apprentice, first year | $895.28 | $23.56 |
| Apprentice, fourth year | $1,063.15 | $27.98 |
| Level 4 tradesperson, qualified | $1,119.10 | $29.45 |
Where these figures come from.
Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 (MA000101)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Determinations
- PR799280, PR799381, PR799536
- Retrieved
- 9 September 2026
- Printed figures matched
- 16
- Weekly rates worked out
- 8
Read from the Fair Work award library. Every hourly rate matches Schedule B.5.1 or B.6.1, every adult weekly rate matches B.6.1, and the junior weekly rates are the clause 15.3(b) percentages of the Level 4 rate. The club rates are read from the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 and matched to its Schedule B.6.
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 and B.6 of the award print apprentice rates for Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and overtime. This page shows ordinary hours only and does not reproduce them.
Apprentices who started before 2014
Clause 15.3(a) keeps an older junior scale for apprentices who started before 1 January 2014. It is not shown.
Builders, councils and nurseries
An employer covered by the building, local government or another award named in clause 4.3 is outside this award, and so is farm, orchard and nursery growing work under the Horticulture Award. None of those rates is published here.
Allowances
The award sets allowances on top of these rates. None of them is included or published here.
Trainees
Traineeships are paid under the National Training Wage in Schedule E of the Miscellaneous Award, not these rates.
Enterprise agreements and above-award pay
An enterprise agreement can set higher apprentice rates, and many landscaping businesses pay above the award. Everything here is a minimum.
Apprentice Landscaper Wages questions, answered.
What is a 1st year apprentice landscaper 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 and started on or after 1 January 2014. With Year 12 it is $16.20 an hour, $615.51 a week. Those are 50% and 55% of the $1,119.10 Level 4 tradesperson rate under the Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020. An adult apprentice is paid $23.56 an hour. Take-home on the junior rate is about $526.03 a week after income tax and the Medicare levy.
What does a mature age landscaping apprentice get paid?
$23.56 an hour in the first year, $895.28 a week, then $25.74 an hour in the second and third years and $27.98 in the fourth. Clause 15.4 names each year's adult rate outright, from 80% of the Level 4 rate in the first year to 95% of the Level 4 rate in the fourth, and Schedule B.6.1 prints every one. It applies to an apprentice who is 21 or over at the start and began on or after 1 January 2014. Someone who worked for the same employer for 6 months full-time, or 12 months part-time or as a regular casual, keeps the rate of their old classification instead.
Does Year 12 change a landscaping apprentice wage?
Yes, in the first and second years only. An apprentice under 21 who has completed Year 12 is paid 55% of the Level 4 rate, $16.20 an hour, in the first year and 65% of the Level 4 rate, $19.14 an hour, in the second year, against 50%, $14.73 and 60%, $17.67 without it. From the third year both scales pay the same.
Is a landscape construction apprentice covered by this award?
Usually, when the employer is a landscaping business. Clause 4.2 of the Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 names the design, preparation and installation of pavements, landscape features, lawns and gardens in parklands, public domain and recreation areas, and the laying-out and construction of gardens at private houses, so a landscape construction apprentice doing that work is paid the rates on this page. The exception is an employer covered by the Building and Construction General On-site Award, which clause 4.3 leaves out. That award builds allowances into apprentice pay and prints no apprentice figure to check against, so this site does not publish its rates.
Is a greenkeeping apprentice at a golf or bowls club paid the same?
Not quite. A registered club is covered by the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 instead, which clause 4.4 applies to greenkeepers and gardeners on bowling greens and golf courses. Its maintenance and horticulture apprentices share the cooking apprentice scale: 55%, 65%, 80%, 95% of the Level 4 rate, so $16.20 an hour in the first year and $23.56 in the third, with no Year 12 split. That is higher than the gardening award's scale without Year 12 in the first, second and third years.
What is a 4th year apprentice landscaper paid?
$27.98 an hour, $1,063.15 a week, for every fourth year apprentice: with or without Year 12, and junior or adult, because each scale reaches 95% of the Level 4 rate in the fourth year. That is $55.95 a week below the qualified tradesperson rate.
What does a landscaper earn once qualified?
At least $29.45 an hour, $1,119.10 a week, at Level 4, the tradesperson classification every apprentice percentage is taken from. Schedule A puts a gardener or landscaper at Level 4 once they have completed an apprenticeship in horticulture with a trade qualification, or hold a Landscaping, Parks and Gardens or Greenkeeping Certificate III or equivalent. Every level of the award, with casual rates, is on Gardening and Landscaping Award Pay Rates.