Fitness Industry Award Pay Rates 2026-27

Fitness Industry Award Pay Rates by Level

Adult minimum rates for full-time and part-time employees under the Fitness Industry Award 2020. Part-time employees are paid the same hourly rate as full-time employees at their classification — the difference is hours, not rate. The casual column adds the 25% loading (cl 12.1(a); 30% on weekends, cl 12.1(b)).

Weekly rates are the award’s minimum weekly rate for a full-time employee (cl 15.1); hourly is the weekly rate divided by 38.

Which level am I?

• Level 1: Works under direct supervision with specific instructions: counter and reception duties, tidying and cleaning, assisting higher grades, and structured training.
• Level 2: Has completed the lesser of 456 hours of training or 6 months at Level 1, or holds a swim and water safety teacher or coach qualification, or a Gymnastics Australia Coach Accreditation (Schedule A.2).
• Level 3 and 3A: Works under general supervision within defined areas; includes qualified swimming teachers, pool lifeguards and gymnastics coaches. Level 3A is a Level 3 who holds an AQF Certificate III in Fitness or Sport Coaching.
• Level 4 and 4A: Works under limited supervision; includes senior pool lifeguards. Level 4A is a Level 4 with an AQF Certificate IV, employed as a tennis centre club professional.
• Level 5: Holds an AQF Diploma in Fitness, Management or Sport Coaching and works as a fitness trainer or fitness specialist, able to develop programs for special groups (Schedule A.7).
• Levels 6 and 7: Supervisory roles: Level 6 supervises front desk and floor staff or oversees day-to-day operations; Level 7 supervises, trains and coordinates employees with substantial responsibility (Schedule A.8–A.9).

Worked example: a casual and a permanent employee on a Sunday

Both Alex (casual) and Jo (permanent) are Level 3 employees ($27.97 an hour) and each works 4 ordinary hours on a Sunday.

1. Alex, casual: the loading on a Sunday is 30%, so $27.97 × 130% = $36.36 an hour → $145.44.
2. Jo, permanent: Sunday is 150%, so $27.97 × 150% = $41.96 an hour → $167.84.
3. Alex is paid $22.40 less for the same 4 hours, because the casual loading is the only extra a casual receives and it replaces the leave and notice entitlements they do not get.

Try your own hours in the overtime pay calculator or the casual loading calculator, add up a full week in the weekly pay calculator, or check the public holiday pay guide.

Fitness Industry Award Pay Guide 2026-27: Every Level, Every Day

The hourly rate for each classification at each penalty band, in the layout of the Fair Work pay guide. Find your level, then the day you worked.

Full-time and part-time

Casual

Casual columns marked “of casual rate” apply the percentage to the casual hourly rate; the others are a percentage of the minimum rate that already includes the loading. Figures are rounded to the cent. A dash means the column does not apply to that classification.

Fitness Industry Award Penalty Rates

Ordinary hours can be worked between 5.00 am and 11.00 pm Monday to Friday and 6.00 am and 9.00 pm on Saturday and Sunday (cl 13.1). Work outside those spans is overtime.

Casual loadings differ by day: 25% Monday to Friday and 30% on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays (cl 12.1). Schedule B.2 therefore shows casuals at 125% on weekdays and 130% on weekends — and a casual's Sunday rate is lower than a permanent employee's 150%.

The casual public holiday rate: cl 26.3(c) points casuals to the 30% loading in cl 12.1(b), and Schedule B.2 lists 130% for Saturday, Sunday and public holidays together. Because that sits so far below the permanent 250%, we do not print a dollar rate for it; confirm with Fair Work before relying on it.

Fitness Industry Award Overtime Rates

Overtime is time outside the spread of hours, over an average of 38 a week over 4 weeks, or over 10 hours on any day (cl 19.1). Casual loadings are not paid on overtime (cl 19.2 NOTE / 12.2).

An employee who has to resume work without a 10-hour break between shifts is paid 200% of the minimum hourly rate until they have had that break (cl 19.3).

Fitness Industry Award Junior Rates

Junior rates are a percentage of the adult rate for the classification (cl 15.2), and apply to the adult rate for the classification appropriate to the work performed. The dollar columns apply the percentage to Level 1 ($978.10 a week) and divide by 38. The full adult rate applies from age 20.

For how junior scales compare across awards and against the National Minimum Wage, see our junior pay rates guide.

Fitness Industry Award Allowances

Fixed-dollar allowances in cl 17, operative from 1 July 2026. Each is paid only where the clause’s conditions are met.

Minimum Shifts and Hours

• A casual must be engaged for a minimum of 3 hours, but a casual instructor, trainer or tennis coach at Level 2 to 5, or a trainee on practical work, can be engaged for as little as 1 hour (cl 12.3).
• Ordinary hours cannot exceed 10 in a day. A broken shift can have no more than 2 parts, must total at least 3 hours and span no more than 12 hours (cl 13.3–13.4).
• Level 6 is paid less than Level 5 in the award's own table ($1,276.00 against $1,287.20 a week). That is what cl 15.1 says; it reflects how the classifications were merged, not an error on this page.

What This Page Does Not Cover

These parts of the award carry rules or rates we have not verified line by line, so we publish no figures for them:

• The casual public holiday rate (see the penalty notes above)
• Sleepover and broken-shift arrangements beyond the allowance amounts shown (cl 17.3(e))
• National Training Wage (Schedule E of the Miscellaneous Award) trainee rates

An enterprise agreement, if one covers your workplace, replaces these award rates — though it must leave you better off overall.

When These Rates Took Effect

Applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, not universally 1 July. If your pay period began before 1 July 2026, the previous rate lawfully applies to that whole period and the rise starts with the next one. The award was varied by determination PR799374 following the Annual Wage Review 2026. If you have been paid below these rates, our backpay calculator works out what is owed.

Frequently Asked Questions