Apprentice Plumber Wages 2026-27, First Year to Fourth
A first year apprentice plumber under 21 without Year 12 is paid $16.56 an hour ($629.23 a week) under the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2020 from 1 July 2026, rising to $28.93 an hour in the fourth year. With Year 12 the first year is $18.11 an hour, and an adult apprentice starts on $27.53. The award (MA000036) takes the year’s percentage of the trade rate plus the plumbing trade and tool allowances, then adds the full industry allowance. Every figure here is read from the award text and checked against the rates the award and the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide print.
The short answer
Apprentice plumbers make $16.56 an hour, or $629.23 for a 38-hour week, in the first year when under 21 without Year 12. With Year 12 the first year is $18.11 an hour, and an adult apprentice, 21 or over, is paid $27.53 an hour from the first year to the third. By the fourth year every apprentice is on $28.93 an hour. After income tax and the Medicare levy, the first year leaves about $578.29 a week.
First year, under 21
$16.56
An hour, no Year 12, $629.23 a week
First year, Year 12
$18.11
An hour, $688.01 a week
First year, adult
$27.53
An hour, 21 or over, $1,046.31 a week
Take-home a week
$578.29
On $629.23, before the tax offset
Every figure is the award minimum from 1 July 2026, and already includes the industry, plumbing trade and tool allowances. Fares and travelling time are paid on top. An employer can pay more, and an enterprise agreement can set a higher rate.
Apprentice plumber wages by year.
An apprentice plumber earns $16.56, $19.65, $22.75 and $28.93 an hour in the first to fourth years without Year 12. Clause 18.2(c) sets the junior scale at 50%, 60%, 70%, 90% of $1,175.63 a week, and 55%, 65%, 70%, 90% for an apprentice who has completed Year 12, plus the $41.41 industry allowance each week. Clause 18.3(b) sets the adult rate as the higher of the National Minimum Wage plus the industry allowance and the junior 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% | $16.56$629.23 a week$578.29 after tax | $18.11$688.01 a week$623.55 after tax | $27.53$1,046.31 a week$893.80 after tax |
| 2nd yearJunior: 60% or 65% | $19.65$746.79 a week$672.34 after tax | $21.20$805.57 a week$721.12 after tax | $27.53$1,046.31 a week$893.80 after tax |
| 3rd yearJunior: 70% | $22.75$864.35 a week$769.91 after tax | $22.75$864.35 a week$769.91 after tax | $27.53$1,046.31 a week$893.80 after tax |
| 4th yearJunior: 90% | $28.93$1,099.48 a week$929.95 after tax | $28.93$1,099.48 a week$929.95 after tax | $28.93$1,099.48 a week$929.95 after tax |
- A 1st year apprentice plumber is paid $16.56 an hour, $629.23 a week, or $18.11 an hour with Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $27.53.
- A 2nd year apprentice plumber is paid $19.65 an hour, $746.79 a week, or $21.20 an hour with Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $27.53.
- A 3rd year apprentice plumber is paid $22.75 an hour, $864.35 a week, with or without Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid $27.53.
- A 4th year apprentice plumber is paid $28.93 an hour, $1,099.48 a week, with or without Year 12. An adult apprentice is paid the same. That is about 91% of the unregistered tradesperson rate.
The award prints every hourly figure in Schedule E.2.1 and E.3.1. It prints no weekly figure for an apprentice, so each weekly rate here is worked out from clauses 18.2 and 18.3 and matched to the cent against the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide published 11 August 2026. Year 12 changes only the first and second years.
The plumbing first year, $16.56 an hour, sits above the $16.39 the electrical award pays on Apprentice Electrician Wages and above the $14.73 the vehicle award pays on Apprentice Mechanic Wages. Every award this site extracts is compared year by year on Apprentice Wages.
Mature age apprentice plumber wages.
A mature age apprentice plumber, 21 or over when the training agreement is signed (clause 13.14(a)), is paid $27.53 an hour ($1,046.31 a week) in each of the first three years, and $28.93 in the fourth. Clause 18.3(b)(iii) pays an adult apprentice at least the federal minimum wage plus the full industry allowance: $1,004.90 plus $41.41, which is $1,046.31 a week.
That floor is higher than every junior rate in the first three years, so an adult apprentice is paid the same from the first year to the third. In the fourth year the junior rate, $1,099.48, passes the floor, so the adult rate rises with it and every apprentice is on the same figure. No share of the trade or tool allowance is added to the floor. The floor moves with the National Minimum Wage, which the Fair Work Commission reviews each year.
Moving to an apprenticeship with your current employer
An employee who becomes an adult apprentice with the same employer keeps the rate of their old classification if it is higher. Clause 18.3(b)(i) says they cannot have their pay cut by entering into a training agreement, and 18.3(b)(ii) keeps them on the rate of the work they did immediately before, including its all-purpose allowances, as it changes over time.
Which allowances are inside the rate.
Three allowances are already inside an apprentice plumber’s rate: the industry allowance in full, and a year’s share of the plumbing trade and tool allowances. Clause 18.2(c) starts from an aggregate of the Plumbing and mechanical services tradesperson Level 1 rate of $1,119.10 a week (clause 18.1), the plumbing trade allowance of $33.57 (clause 21.3(b)(ii)) and the tool allowance of $22.96 (clause 21.8(a)). Together they come to $1,175.63. The year’s percentage is taken of that total and rounded to the cent, and the industry allowance of $41.41 (clause 21.3(a)) is added in full, because clause 18.2(a) gives apprentices every allowance at the full rate unless the award says otherwise.
An adult apprentice in the first to third years gets only the industry allowance on top of the National Minimum Wage. The rate is all-purpose, so overtime, weekend and public holiday rates are worked out on it, as Penalty Rates explains.
| Year | Base | Base amount | Industry allowance | Weekly rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 21, no Year 12 | ||||
| 1st year | 50% of $1,175.63 | $587.82 | $41.41 | $629.23 |
| 2nd year | 60% of $1,175.63 | $705.38 | $41.41 | $746.79 |
| 3rd year | 70% of $1,175.63 | $822.94 | $41.41 | $864.35 |
| 4th year | 90% of $1,175.63 | $1,058.07 | $41.41 | $1,099.48 |
| Under 21, Year 12 | ||||
| 1st year | 55% of $1,175.63 | $646.60 | $41.41 | $688.01 |
| 2nd year | 65% of $1,175.63 | $764.16 | $41.41 | $805.57 |
| Adult, 21 or over | ||||
| 1st year | National Minimum Wage | $1,004.90 | $41.41 | $1,046.31 |
| 2nd year | National Minimum Wage | $1,004.90 | $41.41 | $1,046.31 |
| 3rd year | National Minimum Wage | $1,004.90 | $41.41 | $1,046.31 |
| 4th year | 90% of $1,175.63 | $1,058.07 | $41.41 | $1,099.48 |
The trade rate and the three allowances each match the award’s own summary in Schedule F. The National Minimum Wage of $1,004.90 is from the Fair Work Commission’s order PR799279, clause 4.1, because the award names “the federal minimum wage” without printing a figure.
The tool allowance, whether or not you bring tools
An apprentice plumber gets no separate tool allowance: $22.96 a week sits inside the aggregate, so the year’s share is paid whether or not the apprentice supplies tools. For a qualified plumber it is paid only where the employer requires the employee to provide tools. That is the opposite of the vehicle award on Apprentice Mechanic Wages, where the tool allowance is paid on top and only when the apprentice brings their own.
Allowances apprentices do not get
- Special fixed allowance, $7.70 a week (clause 21.3(d)(i)): the award pays it to employees other than apprentices.
- Registration allowance, $44.76 a week (clause 21.3(c)): paid only to a tradesperson registered under state legislation.
- Lost time loading for daily hire employees: clause 9.2 says daily hire does not apply to apprentices.
Fares and travelling time, paid on top.
An apprentice plumber who starts or finishes on the job gets a fares allowance of $16.24 a day (clause 21.9(b)) plus a standard travelling time component of 25% of the minimum hourly rate (clause 21.9(c)(i)). Clause 18.2(a) gives apprentices both in full. They are daily amounts, not part of the weekly rate, and clause 21.9(a) decides when each is paid:
- Starting or finishing on the job in your own vehicle or by public transport: both are paid.
- Starting or finishing on the job with transport provided or offered: travelling time only.
- Starting and finishing at the workshop: neither, and neither is paid on annual leave, personal leave or public holidays.
The travelling time component covers travel within 50 kilometres of the employer’s centre of employment. The award prints no apprentice figure for it, so this page does not work one out. A job beyond 50 kilometres adds a further travelling time component, and allowances for particular tasks and conditions, such as multistorey or toxic substances work, are paid on top as well. Where an employer pays the fares allowance as an award transport payment, tax is withheld from each payment made on or after 1 October 2026, as Award Transport Payments 2026 explains.
Take-home pay after tax, year by year.
A first year apprentice plumber on $32,720 a year keeps about $30,071 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, and they exclude fares and travelling time. 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 | $30,071 a year$578.29 a week$3,926 super | $32,425 a year$623.55 a week$4,293 super | $46,478 a year$893.80 a week$6,529 super |
| 2nd year | $34,961 a year$672.34 a week$4,660 super | $37,498 a year$721.12 a week$5,027 super | $46,478 a year$893.80 a week$6,529 super |
| 3rd year | $40,035 a year$769.91 a week$5,394 super | $40,035 a year$769.91 a week$5,394 super | $46,478 a year$893.80 a week$6,529 super |
| 4th year | $48,358 a year$929.95 a week$6,861 super | $48,358 a year$929.95 a week$6,861 super | $48,358 a year$929.95 a week$6,861 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 $591.75. The Income Tax Calculator shows any year’s income bracket by bracket. An apprentice with a HECS or HELP debt also has a compulsory repayment withheld once income passes the repayment threshold, which is not deducted here and which the HECS Repayment Calculator works out.
How the pay moves up.
The Plumbing award sets a nominal term of four years (clause 13.7), and the rate steps up with each year served. Four clauses shape what that year means for pay:
- Time at a Registered Training Organisation counts as time worked when wages are worked out, and the apprentice is released to attend during ordinary hours without loss of pay (clause 13.12).
- Fees for prescribed courses and prescribed textbooks are reimbursed within 6 months of the start of the apprenticeship or stage, or within 3 months of training starting if that is later, unless progress is unsatisfactory (clause 13.13).
- Each day of absence without the employer’s consent can be added to the end of that year if the employer requires it, subject to state or territory law, and the next year does not begin until it is served (clause 13.11).
- An apprentice under 18 cannot be required to work overtime or shiftwork unless they choose to, and no apprentice can be required to work overtime that stops them attending training (clause 13.9).
A school-based apprentice is paid the hourly rates 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 G.4). School-based apprentices move 12 months up the scale for each 2 years of employment (G.8). How training contracts and competency-based progression work under other awards is on Apprentice Wages.
From apprentice to qualified plumber.
A qualified plumber under the award is a Tradesperson Level 1, paid $31.63 an hour not registered and $32.80 registered. With the industry, special fixed and plumbing trade allowances the all-purpose rate is $1,201.78 a week. A plumber registered under state legislation also gets the $44.76 registration allowance (clause 21.3(c)), which lifts it to $1,246.54 a week. A fourth year apprentice on $1,099.48 is on about 91% of the unregistered rate. Both qualified figures match Schedule C.1.3 of the award and the pay guide.
| Under the Plumbing award | Weekly | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Adult apprentice, first year | $1,046.31 | $27.53 |
| Apprentice, fourth year | $1,099.48 | $28.93 |
| Tradesperson Level 1, not registered | $1,201.78 | $31.63 |
| Tradesperson Level 1, registered | $1,246.54 | $32.80 |
Where these figures come from.
Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2020 (MA000036)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 16 September 2026
- Determinations
- PR814392, PR814410
- Retrieved
- 25 September 2026
- Printed rate figures matched
- 36
- Rates worked out, not printed
- None
Read from the Fair Work award library, with every hourly rate matched to Schedule E and every weekly and hourly rate matched to the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide published 11 August 2026 and retrieved 25 September 2026. The National Minimum Wage is from Fair Work Commission order PR799279, made 19 June 2026.
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 or the pay guide prints. The pay guide’s allowance list says apprentices get a percentage of the industry allowance, but its own rate tables, the award’s Schedule E and clause 18.2(a) all pay it in full, and only the full amount reproduces the printed rates. Rates change from the first full pay period on or after the effective date. Award rates for the other trades are on Apprentice Wages.
What this page does not cover.
Fire sprinkler pipe-fitting apprentices
Sprinkler apprentices are on their own scale in Schedule E.2.2, built on different allowances, with no separate industry allowance added. The rates here are for plumbing and mechanical services and irrigation installer apprentices only.
Apprentices who started before 2014, and trainee apprentices
Clause 18.2(b) keeps an older scale for apprentices who started before 1 January 2014, and trainee apprentices have their own percentages. Neither is published here. School-based and Peak Sports apprenticeships follow Schedules G and H.
Roof plumbers and other awards
A roof plumber or drainer employed by a builder can be covered by the Building and Construction General On-site Award instead, with different apprentice pay. The award that covers the employer decides the rate.
Enterprise agreements and above-award pay
Union and company agreements can set higher apprentice rates, and many plumbing businesses pay above the award. Everything here is a minimum.
Penalty rates, overtime and shiftwork
Weekend, public holiday, overtime and shift rates are worked out on the all-purpose rate and are not shown. Schedule E of the award prints them for apprentices.
Task allowances
Allowances for particular work, such as multistorey, height, toxic substances or welding, are paid on top when the work is done and are not in these rates.
Apprentice Plumber Wages questions, answered.
What is a 1st year apprentice plumber paid in 2026-27?
$16.56 an hour, or $629.23 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 $18.11 an hour, $688.01 a week. The rate is 50% of $1,175.63, which is the tradesperson Level 1 rate plus the plumbing trade and tool allowances, with the full $41.41 industry allowance added. Take-home is about $578.29 a week after income tax and the Medicare levy.
What does a mature age apprentice plumber get paid?
An adult apprentice is paid the National Minimum Wage of $1,004.90 a week plus the full industry allowance of $41.41, which is $1,046.31 a week or $27.53 an hour. That rate does not move from the first year to the third. In the fourth year the junior rate of $1,099.48 is higher, so an adult apprentice gets that instead. Someone who worked for the same employer before signing the training agreement keeps the all-purpose rate of their old job if it is higher.
What is a 4th year apprentice plumber paid?
$28.93 an hour, $1,099.48 a week, for every fourth year apprentice: with or without Year 12, and adult or junior, because the 90% rate is higher than the adult floor. That is about 91% of the $1,201.78 a qualified plumber who is not registered earns under the same award.
How much does a plumber earn after the apprenticeship?
$31.63 an hour, $1,201.78 a week, as a Plumbing and mechanical services tradesperson Level 1 who is not registered, and $32.80 an hour, $1,246.54 a week, once registered under state legislation, because clause 21.3(c) then adds the $44.76 registration allowance. Both are award minimums from 1 July 2026 and include the industry, special fixed and plumbing trade allowances. An electrician's award rate is built the same way, from a clause minimum plus allowances paid for all purposes, as Electrician Wage shows.
Does an apprentice plumber get the tool allowance on top?
No. The tool allowance of $22.96 a week is already inside the apprentice rate, at the year's percentage, because clause 18.2(c) adds it to the trade rate before the percentage is taken. That holds whether or not the apprentice supplies tools. The vehicle award works the other way: there the tool allowance is paid on top, and only where the apprentice has to bring their own tools, as Apprentice Mechanic Wages sets out.
Does a roof plumbing apprentice get the same rate?
Only if the employer is covered by the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award. A roof plumber working for a builder or roofing contractor can fall under the Building and Construction General On-site Award instead, which sets apprentice pay differently and prints no apprentice figure to check against. Check which award covers the employer before relying on the rates here. Apprentice rates under other awards are on Apprentice Wages.
Is an apprentice plumber paid fares and travel time?
Yes, where the employer has the apprentice start or finish on the job instead of at the workshop. Clause 21.9 then pays a fares allowance of $16.24 a day, unless the employer provides or offers transport, and a standard travelling time component of 25% of the minimum hourly rate for each day. Both are paid on top of the rates on this page, and neither is paid on a day that starts and finishes at the workshop.