Chef Pay Rate 2026-27
Kitchen work is covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award, which pays cooks and chefs across five cook grades. The trade qualification, not the job title on the roster, is what decides which one applies.
The short answer
A trade-qualified chef is paid $29.45 an hour at Level 4, cook grade 3, or $1,119.10 a week full-time. The scale runs to $32.13 an hour at Level 6, cook grade 5, a chef de partie. A casual at Level 4 is paid $36.81 an hour, including the 25% loading. A cook without a trade qualification starts lower, at $27.08 an hour on cook grade 1.
Award floor
$29.45
Level 4, cook grade 3, an hour
Highest cook grade
$32.13
Level 6, cook grade 5, an hour
Casual, at the floor
$36.81
Includes the 25% loading
Take-home a year
$49,051
$1,887 a fortnight, at the floor
These are legal minimums set by a modern award, not a market average. This site does not publish average or advertised salaries, because the number that matters on a payslip is the floor an employer cannot go below. Many employers pay more, and an enterprise agreement can set a higher rate again.
Cook and chef rates, grade by grade.
Five cook grades, sitting at Levels 2 to 6 of the award’s minimum rates table. The award rate table numbers the levels; the classification definitions are what name the cook grade against each one.
Cook grades 1 to 5
1 July 2026 · PR799290
Adult rates. Apprentices are paid a percentage of the relevant rate, which this site does not publish yet.
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 2, cook grade 1cooking duties, no trade qualification | $1,029.10 | $27.08 | $33.85 | $45,869 |
| Level 3, cook grade 2the higher of the two non-trade cook grades | $1,062.90 | $27.97 | $34.96 | $47,064 |
| Level 4, cook grade 3trade qualified, a commis chef or equivalent | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Level 5, cook grade 4a demi chef or equivalent | $1,189.40 | $31.30 | $39.13 | $51,537 |
| Level 6, cook grade 5a chef de partie or equivalent | $1,221.10 | $32.13 | $40.16 | $52,658 |
Hourly figures are the weekly rate over 38 ordinary hours. 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 by your employer on top of these rates and is never deducted from them.
Which award covers a chef, and which levels are cook grades.
The Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009) covers hotels, pubs, restaurants, cafes, caterers and accommodation, and with them the kitchens inside those businesses. Its minimum rates table is numbered by level, from an introductory level through Level 6, and covers every job in the venue rather than kitchen work alone.
The cook grades sit inside that same table. The award’s classification definitions attach cook grade 1 to Level 2, cook grade 2 to Level 3, cook grade 3 to Level 4, cook grade 4 to Level 5 and cook grade 5 to Level 6. That is why this page publishes Levels 2 to 6 and leaves out the introductory level and Level 1: those two are for food and beverage and kitchen attendant work rather than cooking duties. The casino gaming scale in the same award is a separate table and does not apply to kitchen classifications.
The dividing line inside the cook grades is the trade qualification. Grades 1 and 2 are for cooks who have not completed an apprenticeship. Grades 3, 4 and 5 all require a completed apprenticeship or an equivalent trade test, and correspond to a commis chef, a demi chef and a chef de partie. There is no classification above cook grade 5, so a sous chef, head chef or executive chef has no separate award minimum and is paid by agreement above the floor, frequently under an annualised wage arrangement.
One consequence is worth stating plainly. Because the award tops out at chef de partie, an award rate for a senior kitchen role tells you what an employer cannot go below, not what the role is worth. This page publishes the floor, and only the floor.
Every classification in this award, including the ones this page leaves out, is listed on the Hospitality Award Pay Rates page.
Where these figures come from.
Provenance
Verified- Award
- Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Determinations
- PR799280, PR799290, PR799447
- Retrieved
- 6 September 2026
- Ordinary hours
- 38 a week
Every rate above was read from the award text at the Fair Work award library and nothing on this page is copied from another pay site. 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 figure for part of the period.
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.
Apprentice cooks
An apprentice is paid a percentage of the adult rate that rises each year. Those percentages are not published on this site yet.
Junior rates
Employees under 21 are paid a percentage of the adult rate for their level, which is also not published here.
Penalty rates and overtime
Evening, weekend, public holiday, overtime and split shift loadings are set separately in the award and are not in this table.
Annualised wage arrangements
A salaried kitchen role can be paid under an annualised arrangement, which must still leave the employee no worse off than the award over the year.
Other hospitality classifications
Food and beverage attendants, kitchen attendants, front office and the casino gaming scale are all published on the award page.
Market or advertised pay
This page publishes the award floor only. It is not an average, a median, or what a given venue actually offers.
Chef Pay Rate questions, answered.
What is the hourly rate for a chef in Australia?
Under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award, a trade-qualified chef starts at $29.45 an hour at Level 4, cook grade 3, which is $1,119.10 a week for 38 ordinary hours. A demi chef at Level 5 is $31.30 an hour and a chef de partie at Level 6, the highest cook grade in the award, is $32.13 an hour.
What is the difference between a cook rate and a chef rate?
The award runs five cook grades across Levels 2 to 6. Grades 1 and 2, at Levels 2 and 3, are for cooks who have not completed an apprenticeship, and start at $27.08 an hour. Grades 3 to 5, at Levels 4 to 6, all require a completed apprenticeship or an equivalent trade qualification, and that is where the commis chef, demi chef and chef de partie rates sit. The trade qualification is what moves a cook onto the chef end of the scale.
Is there an award rate for a head chef, sous chef or executive chef?
No. The award stops at cook grade 5, a chef de partie or equivalent at Level 6, so there is no separate minimum for a sous chef, head chef or executive chef. Those roles are paid by agreement above the award floor, often under an annualised wage arrangement that rolls penalty rates and overtime into a salary. An annualised wage still has to leave the employee no worse off than the award would over the year.
What is the casual rate for a chef?
A casual is paid the hourly rate for their level plus a loading of 25 per cent, which the award publishes as its own figure. At Level 4, cook grade 3 that is $36.81 an hour, and at Level 6, cook grade 5 it is $40.16 an hour. Evening, weekend and public holiday penalties apply on top and are not included.
Do apprentice cooks get these rates?
No. An apprentice is paid a percentage of the relevant adult rate, rising with each year of the apprenticeship. Those percentages are set in the award but are not published on this site yet, so do not read a cook grade rate on this page as the minimum for an apprentice. Use the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool for an apprentice figure until they are.
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