Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award pay guide: rates, penalties & classifications 2026/2027

Upstream oil & gas operations rely heavily on casual, contract and labour-hire crews for drilling campaigns and shutdowns. Here are the casual rates for ordinary weekday hours under the Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award 2020 [MA000062], generated from the current Fair Work pay guide:

If you only skim one section, make it this one:

• The Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award 2020 [MA000062] sets minimum pay and conditions for employees in Australia’s upstream oil & gas industry — exploration, drilling, well servicing, extraction, production and processing of hydrocarbons on and offshore — excluding maritime vessel crew, refining, the sale of refined products, and professional engineers, geologists and scientists.
• Minimums are reviewed each year after the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review. The FY2026/27 pay guide took effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, lifting all rates by 4.75%.
• Adult minimum rates run from $28.20/hr (Entry, $1,071.60/week) to $38.29/hr (Level 7 dual-trade instrument technician, $1,454.80/week) for a 38-hour week. These minimums include the all-purpose industry allowance.
• Casuals receive a 25% loading on top of these ordinary rates — e.g. a Level 3 competent operator is $39.01/hr casual for ordinary hours.
• On top of base rates you may also pay shift loadings (afternoon/night 15%, permanent night 30%), weekend and public-holiday penalties (Saturday 150%/200%, Sunday 200%, public holiday 250%) and overtime (150% first 2 hours, 200% after).
• Get four things right for every worker: award coverage, classification level (Entry + Levels 1–7), employment type (full-time, part-time, casual), and when they work (day, afternoon/night, weekend, public holiday, overtime).

Think of the Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award (MA000062) as the legal minimum standard you can’t go below for covered upstream oil & gas work.

It sets:

• Minimum hourly and weekly rates for Entry through Level 7 classifications, across five employee streams
• Extra pay for afternoon/night shifts, weekends, public holidays and overtime
• Allowances (the all-purpose industry allowance, electricians’ licence, leading-hand, living-away-from-home, tool and others)
• Rules about casuals, shiftwork (continuous vs non-continuous), cycle work, rostering, spans of hours and breaks
• A link into the National Employment Standards (NES) for leave and other basic rights

You can always pay more — and in upstream oil & gas, employers usually do, via enterprise agreements and site allowances — but you can’t legally pay less than the Award.

The Award is updated roughly every July after the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review. Your job as an employer is to work out whether your staff are covered, classify them correctly, pay at least the Award minimum (including shift loadings, penalties and allowances), and update rates when the pay guide changes.

In simple terms, the Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award covers employers and employees in the upstream hydrocarbons industry across Australia. Under clause 4 of the Award, it commonly applies to:

• Exploration and drilling for oil & gas — on and offshore, on rigs and platforms
• Well servicing and field development
• Extraction, separation, production and processing of hydrocarbons, and their piping, storage, distribution and transport
• Incidental on-site services — clerical, warehousing, medical, laboratory, and catering/cleaning/accommodation — when provided by the hydrocarbons-industry employer
• On-site maintenance and temporary labour supplied into those activities

Work is grouped into five classification streams: industry services; onshore drilling; offshore drilling; operations & processing; and modification & maintenance trades. Typical roles include roustabouts, roughnecks, derrickmen, drillers and drillers’ offsiders, production and process operators, control-room operators, fitters, boilermakers, electricians and instrument technicians.

The single biggest coverage trap is maritime crew. The people who crew the vessels that support offshore oil & gas are not covered by MA000062 — they have their own award (see below).

This is the distinction that trips up more offshore employers than any other, so it’s worth stating plainly:

• MA000062 (Hydrocarbons — Upstream) covers the rig, platform, drilling and production workforce — the people whose job is to explore, drill, extract, produce and process the hydrocarbons.
• MA000086 (Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas) covers the maritime vessel crew — officers, engineers, integrated ratings and catering crew on ships, barges, drilling vessels, rigs used in navigation, and supply, support and standby vessels (including FPSOs where the workforce is crewed as a vessel).

In short: if the worker’s role is to run the vessel, MA000086 applies; if their role is the drilling/production activity, MA000062 applies. When you have both awards on one field, classify by the job the person actually does, not the structure they stand on.

Clause 4.3 of MA000062 specifically excludes several groups that people often assume are “oil & gas”. You’ll need a different award (or an agreement) if the work is:

• Maritime officers, engineers, ratings and catering crew on offshore vessels → Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas Award [MA000086]
• Refining, and the manufacture of hydrocarbon products
• Transport, storage, marketing and sale of refined products — bulk liquid terminals, refineries, airports and depots
• Professional engineers, geologists, scientists and IT professionals → Professional Employees Award [MA000065]
• Security, catering, cleaning and accommodation staff — unless they are employed by a hydrocarbons-industry employer
• Aviation operations

When in doubt, check the Award on the Fair Work website and use Fair Work’s Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT), or work through our guide on how to find which award applies.

A quick side-by-side to place MA000062 against the awards it’s most often confused with.

One thing that makes MA000062 different from most awards: it groups employees into five streams, each with its own set of classification levels drawn from a single Entry–Level 7 ladder. A worker’s stream depends on the kind of work they do, and classification is decided by actual duties, not job title.

This section is a practical snapshot of the current FY2026/27 minimum rates so you can sanity-check payroll. All figures are minimums from the official Fair Work pay guide effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, and are generated from the same data that powers the calculator above. Adult rates include the all-purpose industry allowance. Rates assume correct award coverage and classification.

For adult employees, ordinary hours (based on a 38-hour week). These rates apply across all five streams:

Casuals receive the same base rate plus a 25% casual loading in place of paid leave. Adult casual rates for ordinary weekday hours:

The Award also sets junior rates for employees under 18: broadly 75% of the adult rate under 17 and 85% at 17, with the full adult rate from age 18. Trade-qualified juniors are paid the full adult rate regardless of age. Because the exact junior figure depends on age, stream and classification, match age + stream + classification + employment type against the Fair Work pay guide before paying.

Apprentice rates depend on when the apprenticeship started:

• Apprentices who started before 1 January 2014 are paid a percentage of the relevant adult rate — broadly 45%, 55%, 75% and 88% across years 1–4.
• Apprentices who started on or after 1 January 2014 are paid a percentage of the Level 3 rate: if they did not complete Year 12, roughly 50%, 60%, 75% and 88%; if they completed Year 12, roughly 55%, 65%, 75% and 88%.
• Adult apprentices are paid 80% of the Level 3 rate in year 1, then at least the lowest adult classification rate.

Because the exact dollar figure depends on the start date, year of apprenticeship and Year 12 status, always confirm the precise rate via Fair Work’s PACT or the current pay guide.

Getting the classification wrong is one of the most common causes of underpayment. The Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award uses an Entry level plus Levels 1–7, based on skill, responsibility, qualifications and autonomy — assessed on actual duties, not job title.

• Entry – inductees/new starters doing routine duties under direct supervision, usually for a limited period.
• Level 1–2 – basic to semi-skilled work across a range of plant and equipment, with routine supervision and growing autonomy.
• Level 3 – competent, trade-certificate (or equivalent) workers operating with limited supervision, who may direct others.
• Level 4 – advanced, in-depth or post-trade skills doing non-routine work; may supervise below Level 4.
• Level 5 – advanced specialists / trades with a prescribed post-trade course.
• Level 6 – dual-trade tradespersons.
• Level 7 – advanced dual-trade instrument technicians (the top classification).

For each employee, record the award, stream, level and employment type, for example:

This classification should appear in the employment contract, your HR/payroll system, and any award-interpretation software you use. If you’re unsure, read the classification definitions in the Award, or work through our guide on how to find which award applies.

Here’s how common upstream roles map to Award classifications. Remember these are Award minimums — enterprise agreements, offshore allowances and cycle-work packages usually push actual oil & gas wages well above these figures (see how offshore oil & gas workers are paid in Australia).

Entry crews typically start around Entry–Level 1 and move to Level 3 (competent) as they run equipment and plant with limited supervision:

• Entry-level roustabout (casual): $35.25/hr ordinary hours
• Level 1 (casual): $36.65/hr ordinary hours
• Level 3 competent operator (permanent): $31.21/hr — casual: $39.01/hr ordinary hours
• Afternoon/night shift loadings and weekend penalties apply on top — use the calculator above.

Drillers, offsiders and derrickmen sit in the onshore or offshore drilling streams, usually Level 2–4 depending on experience and responsibility. Fly-in fly-out (FIFO) roster patterns and cycle work (on/off swings) don’t change the Award minimum, but often attract site or enterprise-agreement allowances and a living-away-from-home allowance on top. Fatigue management also matters on long swings — see managing fatigue on FIFO rosters.

Trade-qualified workers sit at the top of the scale (the modification & maintenance trades stream, Levels 3–7):

• Level 4: single-trade tradesperson (fitter, boilermaker, electrician) — $33.18/hr permanent, $41.48/hr casual
• Level 6: dual-trade tradesperson — $36.87/hr permanent, $46.09/hr casual
• Level 7: advanced dual-trade instrument technician — $38.29/hr permanent, $47.86/hr casual

The Award works alongside the national definitions of full-time, part-time and casual employment.

• Full-time is generally an average of 38 ordinary hours per week (often averaged over a roster cycle for shiftworkers — up to a 26-week averaging period).
• Part-time employees work fewer, regular hours with an agreed pattern.
• Both accrue paid annual leave and personal/carer’s leave under the NES (pro-rata for part-time).

• No firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern.
• Paid a 25% casual loading instead of paid leave.
• Common on drilling campaigns and shutdowns via direct casual engagement and labour hire.

Because so much upstream oil & gas runs around the clock and on remote swings, it pays to know the Award’s hours rules before you build a roster:

• Ordinary hours average 38 per week, and can be averaged over a cycle of up to 26 weeks.
• Day-work span is 6am–6pm; ordinary hours can run up to 12 hours a day.
• Shiftworkers can work up to 12 consecutive hours on any shift.
• Cycle work / FIFO swings — expressly provided for, with defined on-duty and off-duty periods — is central to offshore rosters, where crews work a block of days on a platform or rig and then travel home for an off-duty block.

The Award loads shift work as follows:

• Afternoon shift – finishes after 7pm → 15% loading.
• Night shift – finishes after midnight → 15% loading.
• Permanent night shift – an employee who works night shift only, or on a fixed, non-rotating night roster → 30% loading.

This distinction changes how overtime is paid, so confirm it before you calculate:

• Continuous shiftworkers run a process that operates 24/7 and are regularly rostered on Sundays and public holidays. They get 5 weeks’ annual leave and all overtime at 200%.
• Non-continuous shiftworkers use the tiered overtime rates below (150% first 2 hours, 200% after).

The safest options are Fair Work’s Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) or award-interpreting software that already has the Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award rules built in.

Upstream oil & gas runs around the clock, so shift loadings and penalties are where the real cost — and most underpayment risk — sits. The key rules under MA000062:

• Afternoon and night shifts: a 15% loading on ordinary rates.
• Permanent night shift: a 30% loading for employees who work a fixed, ongoing night roster.
• Saturday: the first 2 hours are paid at 150%, then 200%.
• Sunday: ordinary hours are paid at 200%.
• Public holidays: 250%.
• Overtime (Mon–Sat): 150% for the first 2 hours, 200% after; Sunday overtime is 200% and public-holiday overtime is 250%.

Continuous shiftworkers are paid 200% for all overtime and are rostered across weekends and public holidays as part of the 24/7 cycle.

Overtime is triggered when an employee works beyond their ordinary rostered/averaged hours or outside the agreed span, exceeds daily/weekly limits, or works through required breaks. If you roster long swings or make lots of last-minute changes, check overtime rules — not just base rates. See our guide to calculating overtime costs, or model weekend and overtime rates with our overtime penalty rate calculator.

Beyond hourly pay and penalties, the Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award includes allowances that apply in specific situations. The most important for upstream payroll are the all-purpose industry allowance (already in the base rate) and the living-away-from-home allowance for remote work. Current FY2026/27 amounts:

The Award sits on top of the National Employment Standards (NES), which set minimum leave for permanent employees.

Permanent employees are entitled to, among other things:

• Paid annual leave – 4 weeks per year based on ordinary hours, or 5 weeks for continuous shiftworkers. Annual leave is paid with 17.5% leave loading (or the shift/weekend penalties the employee would have earned, whichever is greater).
• Paid personal/carer’s leave (sick leave) – 10 days per year based on ordinary hours.
• Compassionate leave, parental leave, family and domestic violence leave, and other NES entitlements.

• No paid annual or personal/carer’s leave.
• Instead, they receive the 25% casual loading.

Because continuous shiftworkers earn extra annual leave, confirm the shift category before finalising leave balances — read the relevant clauses or seek advice for complex rosters.

A simple process you can actually follow.

• Confirm your operation is covered by MA000062 and not maritime vessel crew (MA000086), refining or downstream product sale, or professional roles (MA000065).
• Check whether a registered enterprise agreement applies — if so, its terms generally replace the Award (but must beat it on the BOOT).

• Grab the official Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award pay guide from Fair Work and save it as your “price list”.

For each worker, write down: the award (MA000062), the stream (industry services, onshore drilling, offshore drilling, operations & processing, or maintenance trades), the level (Entry or Level 1–7), employment type (full-time, part-time, casual) and shift type (continuous vs non-continuous). Match this to their actual duties, not just their job title.

• Enter the correct base rate per classification, and configure the living-away-from-home, leading-hand, electricians’ licence and tool allowances so they’re easy to apply.

Use Fair Work’s PACT each pay run, or use award-interpreting rostering/payroll software with payroll integration that understands the Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award and calculates shift loadings, weekend/public-holiday penalties and overtime automatically from the roster and timesheets.

Keep rosters, timesheets, pay records and contracts, and capture exact start and finish times with time and attendance tools. Make sure payslips clearly show ordinary hours, shift loadings, penalties, overtime and allowances.

The traps that trip up upstream employers most often.

Applying upstream rig/production rates to maritime vessel crew (or vice versa) is the most common, costly error on offshore fields — vessel crew are covered by MA000086, not MA000062. The same goes for treating a professional engineer or geologist as an operator (they’re under the Professional Employees Award).

Paying flat rates for afternoon/night shifts, or forgetting the 30% permanent night-shift loading for employees on a fixed night roster.

The industry and electricians’ licence allowances are all-purpose — they must be added to the base before penalties and overtime. Treating them as flat add-ons understates penalty pay.

The two categories are paid differently for overtime and annual leave. Guessing leads to under- or over-payment.

Regular, ongoing casuals on fixed swings can create backpay and casual-conversion risk.

Still paying last year’s rates. Download the new pay guide every July and compare it to your payroll.

Applying the Hydrocarbons (Upstream) Award correctly is a legal requirement — but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming:

• Confirm coverage first: MA000062 (rig/platform/production workforce) vs the Maritime Offshore Oil and Gas Award (vessel crew), refining/downstream, and the Professional Employees Award — and check for an enterprise agreement.
• Classify correctly: the right stream, then Entry + Levels 1–7 based on skill and responsibility.
• Don’t ignore shift loadings, penalties and cycle-work rules: this is where most underpayments happen. You can estimate weekend and overtime costs before you publish a roster.
• Update every July and keep good records.
• Remember the Award is the floor — enterprise agreements usually set actual upstream wages higher (see how offshore oil & gas workers are paid).

For official guidance, see the Hydrocarbons Industry (Upstream) Award [MA000062] on Fair Work, the Fair Work pay guide and PACT.