Mining Award Pay Rates 2026-27

Mining Award Pay Rates by Level

Ordinary hourly rates (the cl 15.1 minimum rate plus the $41.41 all-purpose industry allowance) for full-time and part-time employees under the Mining 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 11.2(b)).

Weekly = the cl 15.1 minimum weekly rate plus the $41.41 industry allowance paid for all purposes (cl 18.2(b)); hourly = that total divided by 38. This is the "ordinary hourly rate" every percentage in the award applies to (Schedule B.1.1). Before the electrician's licence, leading hand, underground and other allowances.

Which level am I?

• Entry level to Level 3: Introductory, basic, intermediate and competent mining operations employees. Level 3 (competent) has a minimum weekly rate of $1,119.10 before the industry allowance (cl 15.1, Schedule A).
• Levels 4 and 5: Advanced and advanced specialist operators and technicians with broader skills and responsibility (Schedule A).
• Levels 6 and 7: Dual trade, and dual trade instrumentation, the highest classifications (Schedule A).
• Pay point arrangements: The award has no pay points: you are paid by the level you are classified at (cl 15.1).

FIFO, camp and roster pay beyond the award

The Mining Industry Award sets the safety net. Most mine and FIFO workers are paid under enterprise agreements, with rostered 12-hour shifts, camp conditions and different rates. The FIFO pay guide explains how those arrangements work and how to compare take-home pay.

• Mining and FIFO pay guide — How FIFO rosters and agreement rates work

Worked example: a Level 3 operator's Saturday and Sunday

Lee is a permanent Level 3 operator ($30.54 ordinary hourly rate including the industry allowance: $1,119.10 + $41.41 = $1,160.51 a week, divided by 38). He works 6 hours on a Saturday morning, then 8 hours on Sunday.

1. Saturday before noon: the first 3 hours at 150%, $30.54 × 1.5 = $45.81 → $137.43.
2. The next 3 hours at 200%: $61.08 → $183.24.
3. Sunday: all hours at 200%, 8 × $61.08 = $488.64.
4. Total for the weekend: $809.31 before tax.

For FIFO workers on rostered 12-hour shifts, see the FIFO pay guide: much of FIFO pay is set by an enterprise agreement above these award rates.

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.

Mining 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 figures apply each percentage to the casual ordinary hourly rate (the minimum rate plus 25%), as this award requires. Figures are rounded to the cent. A dash means the column does not apply to that classification.

Mining Award Penalty Rates

Ordinary hours of a day worker can be up to 10 a day, between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm, Monday to Sunday (cl 12.4(a)); shiftworkers can work a shift of up to 10 consecutive hours on any day (cl 12.5). The weekend and public holiday rates in cl 21.3 are paid in substitution for the other penalties (cl 21.4).

For casuals EVERY percentage in this award applies to the casual ordinary hourly rate, which already includes the 25% loading and the industry allowance (Schedule B.2.1). So a casual Saturday first-3-hours rate is 150% of the casual rate, which is 187.5% of the minimum ordinary rate, and a casual public holiday is 250% of the casual rate, or 312.5%.

The casual loading forms part of the all-purpose rate (cl 11.3).

Mining Award Overtime Rates

A casual's overtime is a percentage of the casual ordinary hourly rate, which includes the 25% loading (cl 20.1 NOTE). A continuous shiftworker is an employee in a continuous process who is rostered regularly on Sundays and public holidays (cl 21.1).

Meal allowance of $22.04 on each occasion an employee is entitled to a rest break during overtime, unless a meal was provided or notice was given by the previous day or shift (cl 18.3(a)).

Mining Award Junior Rates

The Mining Industry Award allows junior employees only where the law permits them to work in mining, at 75% of the adult rate for under 17s, 85% at 17 and 100% from 18 (cl 15.2). The award does not publish junior dollar rates and the interaction with the industry allowance is not tabulated, so this page does not either. Any age-percentage table attributed to the Mining Award is not from the award.

Mining Award Allowances

Fixed-dollar allowances in cl 18, 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 and paid for at least 2 consecutive hours each time they attend work (cl 11.6).
• A full-time employee's ordinary hours are an average of 38 a week, and can be averaged over up to 26 weeks (cl 12.1, 12.3). Day workers can be required to work up to 10 hours a day, 6.00 am to 6.00 pm, Monday to Sunday (cl 12.4).
• Where an employee is paid by the hour, a weekly allowance is paid as 1/38th of the weekly amount for each hour (cl 18.1).

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:

• Mainline locomotive drivers' rail allowance, which is 30% of the minimum rate (cl 18.2(g)), and any other all-purpose allowance you may be owed on top of these rows
• Recall to work for employees who are not continuous shiftworkers (cl 20.3) and rostering arrangements (cl 13)
• Apprentice, school-based apprentice and trainee rates (cl 15.4–15.5, Schedules D and E)
• Whether the award covers you at all: it covers mining operations and not, for example, ancillary work covered by another award

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 PR799292 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