Childcare and Pharmacy Awards Rose Twice in 2026
Two Fair Work Commission decisions landed two days apart. Minimum rates in the Children's Services Award 2010 and the Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 changed from the first full pay period on or after 30 June 2026 under the Gender-based undervaluation priority awards review, then changed again from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 under the Annual Wage Review 2026.
Published 11 September 2026 by Wage Calculator. Every figure below is traced to the government page that announced it, with that page’s own date.
The short answer
The rates in force now are the ones that took effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. In the Children's Services Award 2010 a Level 1 Introductory Educator is paid $28.81 an hour, and in the Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 a pharmacist is paid $41.74 an hour.
The 30 June 2026 figures were superseded within a day, so they are not reproduced here. Full tables for every classification are on Children's Services Award Pay Rates and Pharmacy Award Pay Rates.
Why two increases landed two days apart.
They came from two different decisions. The first is the Commission’s Gender-based undervaluation priority awards review, which varied a set of priority awards including both of these. The second is the Annual Wage Review 2026, which lifted minimum award wages by 4.75% across the whole system. One is an award-specific variation, the other is the yearly system-wide increase, and nothing coordinated their dates.
Both apply from the first full pay period starting on or after their date rather than from the date itself, which is why the gap between them can be a week rather than a day. The Fair Work Ombudsman works the case through on a weekly cycle running Tuesday to Monday: because Tuesday 30 June 2026 started a new cycle, the review rates applied to that entire period, and the wage review rates then applied from the next cycle, starting Tuesday 7 July 2026.
The practical effect is that an employer on a weekly cycle applied two new rate sets in consecutive pay periods, and an employee can hold two payslips a week apart at two different lawful minimums. Neither figure is wrong. They belong to different pay periods.
Which employees each change reached.
MA000120
The review changes took effect from 1 March 2026 and were not only about money. They introduced a new classification structure of eight Children’s Services Employee levels, with translation arrangements in Schedule I of the award for moving an employee from an old level to a new one, and they changed the percentages used to calculate some allowances.
The rate increases are staged. The first applied from the first full pay period on or after 1 March 2026, the next from the first full pay period on or after 30 June 2026, and further changes for certain classification levels follow on 30 June 2027, 30 June 2028 and 30 June 2029. An employee whose minimum rate on 28 February 2026 was higher than the new rate applying from 30 June 2026 keeps the higher rate.
Then came the wage review. Most employees received 4.75% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. For ongoing employees on the lowest rate in the award, which the Fair Work Ombudsman names Level 1.1 Support Workers, the rate became $1,004.90 a week or $26.44 an hour, the same floor as the National Minimum Wage.
MA000012
The review increase here is narrower. The Fair Work Ombudsman describes it as applying to pharmacists, including pharmacy interns, whose minimum rates rise 14.1% in three stages: 30 June 2025, 30 June 2026 and 30 June 2027. The second of those three stages is the 30 June 2026 change.
That page names no other classification. We do not state here what the review did or did not do to the pharmacy assistant and pharmacy student scales, because the page does not say, and the figures in the award text carry one operative date rather than a history.
The wage review then applied on top. The Fair Work Ombudsman states that pharmacists and pharmacy interns received a further 4.75% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, and that minimum award wages generally rose by the same 4.75% from that date.
What the rates are now.
Read from the award text at render time, so these figures cannot drift from the award pages on this site. Both awards are consolidated to 1 July 2026. The full tables, 12 classifications in one and 14 in the other, are on the award pages linked under each table.
Children's Services Award 2010
Effective from 1 July 2026
| Classification | Hourly | Weekly |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Introductory Educator | $28.81 | $1,094.80 |
| Level 8 Director | $46.12 | $1,752.70 |
| Level 1.1, the award floor | $26.44 | $1,004.90 |
Pharmacy Industry Award 2020
Effective from 1 July 2026
| Classification | Hourly | Weekly |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy assistant level 1 | $27.81 | $1,056.80 |
| Pharmacist | $41.74 | $1,586.30 |
| Pharmacist manager | $52.15 | $1,981.60 |
Why the 30 June figures are not on this page.
Because they are no longer the law, and because a page carrying two rate sets two days apart is how the wrong number reaches a payslip. The award files behind this site hold one rate per classification, the one operative now, dated 1 July 2026 and read from the award text rather than from another pay site.
On a weekly cycle starting Tuesday 30 June 2026, the review table was the lawful minimum for exactly one pay period. If you are reconstructing a payslip from that week, the primary source is the 30 June 2026 pay guide, which the Fair Work Ombudsman links from its own page for each award. We link those pages rather than retype a superseded table.
One cross-check we can publish: determination PR810424 and determination PR810422, the two that carry the review increases, both appear in the consolidation list of the award text we read. The wage review determinations PR799400 and PR799293 appear alongside them, which is what an award consolidated to 1 July 2026 should look like.
What this article does not cover.
Penalty rates
Weekend, evening, public holiday and overtime work is paid above the rates here. Those percentages are on Penalty Rates.
Worker Retention Payment
A grant-funded early childhood service has a higher floor again, set by the Commonwealth rather than by the award. The figures and eligibility are on Children's Services Award Pay Rates, and are deliberately not repeated here.
Allowances and junior rates
Both awards set allowances in separate clauses, and the review changed some allowance percentages in the MA000120. No allowance or junior figure is published here.
Where these figures come from.
Provenance
Verified- Awards changed
- MA000120 and MA000012
- First change
- First full pay period on or after 30 June 2026
- Second change
- First full pay period on or after 1 July 2026
- Wage review increase
- 4.75%
- Review determinations
- PR810424 and PR810422
- Wage review determinations
- PR799400 and PR799293
- Award text consolidated to
- 1 July 2026
- Award text retrieved
- 6 September 2026 and 9 September 2026
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Minimum wages increase from 1 July 2026The page gave its own last updated date as 1 July 2026. Retrieved 11 September 2026.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Changes to the Children’s Services AwardThe page gave its own last updated date as 17 June 2026. Retrieved 11 September 2026.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Changes to the Pharmacy AwardThe page gave its own last updated date as 25 June 2026. Retrieved 11 September 2026.
- Fair Work award library, MA000120 award textThe page gave its own last updated date as 1 July 2026. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
- Fair Work award library, MA000012 award textThe page gave its own last updated date as 1 July 2026. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
Nothing on this page is copied from another pay site, and no figure here was taken from a search result summary. How every rate on this site is sourced and checked is set out on the Methodology page.
Childcare and Pharmacy Award Rises questions, answered.
Why did the Children’s Services Award increase twice in 2026?
Because two separate Fair Work Commission decisions took effect two days apart. The Gender-based undervaluation priority awards review lifted minimum rates in the award from the first full pay period on or after 30 June 2026, and the Annual Wage Review 2026 lifted minimum award wages by 4.75% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Neither decision replaced the other. The rates in force now are the wage review rates, which were calculated on top of the 30 June 2026 figures.
Did the pharmacy award increase apply to every classification?
The Fair Work Ombudsman describes the undervaluation review increase as applying to pharmacists, including pharmacy interns, rising 14.1% in three stages on 30 June 2025, 30 June 2026 and 30 June 2027. That page names no other classification, and we do not state here what the review did to the pharmacy assistant or pharmacy student scales, because the page does not say. The 4.75% wage review increase from 1 July 2026 applies to minimum award wages generally.
What is the gender undervaluation award review?
It is a Fair Work Commission case, the Gender-based undervaluation priority awards review, under which the Commission has varied a set of priority awards including the Children’s Services Award and the Pharmacy Award. The Children’s Services Award changes took effect from 1 March 2026 and included a new classification structure of eight Children’s Services Employee levels, changes to minimum rates, and changes to the percentages used to calculate some allowances. The rate increases are applied in stages rather than all at once.
Which rate applies if my pay period started before 30 June 2026?
Both changes apply from the first full pay period starting on or after their date, not from the date itself. The Fair Work Ombudsman gives the worked case of a weekly cycle running Tuesday to Monday: because Tuesday 30 June 2026 was the start of a new cycle, the review rates applied to that whole period, and the wage review rates then applied from the next cycle, starting Tuesday 7 July 2026. On a cycle that straddles a date, the old rate runs to the end of that period.
Are there more increases still to come?
Yes, in both awards. The Children’s Services Award has further rate changes for certain classification levels from 30 June 2027, 30 June 2028 and 30 June 2029. The Pharmacy Award has a third and final undervaluation stage for pharmacists and pharmacy interns from 30 June 2027. Those figures are not published on this site until the Commission publishes them and we have read them from the award text.
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