Apprentice Carpenter Pay in Australia: Year 1 to 4 (2026-27)

Apprentice Carpenter Pay by Year

These are the minimums for an apprentice carpenter on a standard four-year term, from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, as the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide prints them for the carpenter and joiner group. They include the tool and industry allowances, because the award makes both part of an apprentice’s ordinary rate. Your rate may be higher under an enterprise agreement or if your employer pays above the award; it cannot lawfully be lower.

General building, civil or engineering construction site

Residential building (single or dual occupancy, not multistorey)

How the Carpenter Rate Is Built

Clause 19.7(b) of the award sets the wage as a percentage of the $1,119.10 standard rate, and clause 19.7(c) adds the clause 21.1 tool allowance and the clause 22 industry allowance as part of the ordinary weekly rate for all purposes. The wage part alone is:

That wage table is the same for bricklayers and painters, because the award has one percentage scale for its apprentices. What differs is the tool allowance: $41.22 a week for carpenters. Adding it and the industry allowance to the wage gives the pay guide figure in every row:

Adult vs Junior Start

A person who starts as an adult apprentice and was not already employed by the same employer is paid the greater of the ordinary hourly rate for the lowest classification in clause 19.1 (Level 1 (a)) and the rate for their year (cl 19.8(d)). The award's ordinary hourly rate includes the industry allowance and any all-purpose allowance, so for a carpentry apprentice it includes the $41.22 tool allowance too. The Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide works this out at $29.52 an hour ($1,121.87 a week) on general building sites and $29.17 ($1,108.44) on residential work, in every year, because even the 90% fourth-year rate is lower. A person who was employed by the employer for at least 6 months full-time or 12 months part-time or as a regular casual before starting keeps the hourly rate they were on (cl 19.8(a) to (c)).

How Much Do Apprentice Carpenters Earn After Tax?

On the general building site minimum, which includes the tool and industry allowances, a first-year apprentice carpenter on a full-time 38-hour week is paid about $37,643 a year (Year 12 completed) and takes home about $666.65 a week. By fourth year the same hours give about $58,015 gross and $943.46 a week after tax. Apprentices pay the same income tax as everyone else, but the low income offset and the tax-free threshold mean the tax in the early years is small.

To see your own figure, put your hourly rate and hours into the calculator above, or use the take-home pay calculator to add overtime. Your hourly rate to a yearly salary is on the hourly to annual salary calculator.

What Is Specific to Carpenter Apprentices

The $41.22 is shared by everyone in the same line of clause 21.1(a): joiners, bridge and wharf carpenters, carpenter-divers, carvers, floor sanders, letter cutters, stonemasons, tilelayers and marble, slate and artificial stone workers. The Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide prints one apprentice table for that whole group, and the tables on this page are that table.

A qualified carpenter or joiner is a CW/ECW 3 classification (Schedule A.2.3). The award places a joiner special class at CW/ECW 4 ($1,154.40 a week) and a carpenter-diver at CW/ECW 8 ($1,286.70), and a carpenter-diver also gets $1.33 an hour for all purposes (cl 23.5). Once the apprenticeship is complete, clause 19.7(a) sets the floor at the $1,119.10 standard rate, so with the tool and industry allowances a carpenter on a general building site is on at least $1,227.47 a week.

The training plan that sets your stage dates is for the Certificate III in Carpentry. Apprentices who signed up under CPC30220 and those under its replacement CPC30326 progress the same way: stage 2 at 25% of the competencies in the training plan or 12 months after starting, stage 3 at 50% or 12 months after stage 2, stage 4 at 75% or 12 months after stage 3, whichever is earlier each time (cl 19.7(b)).

Qualification: CPC30326 Certificate III in Carpentry. training.gov.au released CPC30326 on 23 September 2026 (34 units: 27 core and 7 elective) and marked the previous CPC30220 superseded from 22 September 2026, listing the two as equivalent.

Once qualified, see carpenter pay rates (qualified). Other award detail: Building and Construction Award rates.

Check Your Payslip

1. Find your year of apprenticeship and whether you completed Year 12 and read the matching hourly figure in the first table for your type of site.
2. Your payslip may show the wage and the tool and industry allowances as separate lines; add them before comparing with the table. The payslip guide explains each line.
3. If you are paid less, ask your employer to explain which award or agreement they use, then contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. The backpay calculator shows what a shortfall adds up to.

Pre-2014 apprentices, three-year terms, school-based apprentices and trainees are paid under other schedules and are not covered here. Rates change each 1 July, so check the date on this page.

Other Apprentice Pay Guides

• Apprentice Pay Rates by Trade: every trade side by side
• Apprentice Electrician Pay: adult, junior and penalty rates
• Apprentice Bricklayer Pay
• Apprentice Painter Pay
• Apprentice Plumber Pay
• Apprentice Mechanic Pay
• Apprentice Hairdresser Pay
• Apprentice Chef Pay
• Apprentice Boilermaker Pay
• Apprentice Butcher Pay
• Junior Pay Rates for non-apprentices

Frequently Asked Questions