Local Government Award pay guide 2026/2027

Casual rates for ordinary weekday hours, generated from the current Fair Work pay guide:

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

• The Local Government Industry Award 2020 [MA000112] covers council employees across operational, technical, administrative and professional roles, classified Levels 1–11.
• Minimums are reviewed each July. 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%.
• Example 2026/27 adult minimum pay:
  • Level 1: full-time/part-time $27.11/hr, casual $33.89/hr.
  • Level 5: full-time/part-time $31.30/hr, casual $39.13/hr.
• Penalties: Saturday +50%, Sunday +75%, public holidays +150% (full-time/part-time); casual rates are higher again.
• On-call, overtime and adverse-conditions allowances apply on top.
• Get level, employment type and shift type right for every employee.

The Local Government Award — full name the Local Government Industry Award 2020 [MA000112] — is the modern award that sets the legal minimum pay and conditions for its industry. It covers local councils and their employees across the whole organisation — depot and outdoor staff, libraries, childcare, customer service, planning and administration — in the states where the federal award applies. Several states run council staff under state-based instruments or enterprise agreements instead, so confirm coverage first.

Pay is built from four things, in this order: the classification level the employee’s duties fall into (11 in this award), their employment type (full-time, part-time or casual — casuals receive a 25% loading instead of paid leave), when the shift was worked (weekend, public holiday, evening or overtime penalties), and any allowances that apply. Get one of the four wrong and the pay is wrong.

The Local Government Award covers employees of councils and local government — outdoor/operational staff (parks, roads, waste, depots), indoor administrative and customer-service staff, technical officers, libraries, and professional and managerial roles, on a shared Level 1–11 scale.

Important — who’s covered by other awards: council-run childcare → Children’s Services Award; teachers → Teachers Award; some community/home-care staff → SCHADS Award. Many councils also operate under an enterprise agreement. Confirm coverage with Fair Work’s PACT tool.

A snapshot of the current FY2026/27 award rates, generated from the same data that powers the calculator above. Many councils pay above these minimums under an enterprise agreement.

Ordinary weekday rates for local government Levels 1–11:

Casuals receive the same base rate plus a 25% loading. Ordinary weekday casual rates:

Below is the 2026/27 ordinary hourly rate for each classification in the Local Government Award (full-time and part-time), with the casual rate (base + 25% loading) in brackets. Weekend, public-holiday and overtime penalties apply on top. Classification follows duties, qualifications and responsibility — not the job title.

Level 1 — $27.11/hour full-time/part-time (casual $33.89/hour, $1030.10/week full-time). Entry-level / labouring / basic admin.

Level 2 — $27.97/hour full-time/part-time (casual $34.96/hour, $1062.90/week full-time). Operational with some experience.

Level 3 — $29.03/hour full-time/part-time (casual $36.29/hour, $1103.00/week full-time). Skilled operational / admin support.

Level 4 — $29.45/hour full-time/part-time (casual $36.81/hour, $1119.10/week full-time). Trade / experienced operational.

Level 5 — $31.30/hour full-time/part-time (casual $39.13/hour, $1189.40/week full-time). Advanced trade / team leader.

Level 6 — $33.87/hour full-time/part-time (casual $42.34/hour, $1287.20/week full-time). Supervisor / technical officer.

Level 7 — $34.46/hour full-time/part-time (casual $43.08/hour, $1309.50/week full-time). Senior technical / coordinator.

Level 8 — $37.24/hour full-time/part-time (casual $46.55/hour, $1415.00/week full-time). Professional / senior coordinator.

Level 9 — $39.83/hour full-time/part-time (casual $49.79/hour, $1513.70/week full-time). Senior professional / manager.

Level 10 — $43.54/hour full-time/part-time (casual $54.43/hour, $1654.40/week full-time). Manager / senior specialist.

Level 11 — $49.09/hour full-time/part-time (casual $61.36/hour, $1865.60/week full-time). Senior manager.

Classification follows skill, qualifications and responsibility on a shared 11-level scale:

• Levels 1–4 cover entry-level and operational/administrative roles (labouring, depots, customer service).
• Levels 5–7 cover trades, team leaders, technical officers and coordinators.
• Levels 8–11 cover professional, managerial and senior-management roles.
• Many councils map their own positions onto these levels via an enterprise agreement.

Write each employee’s level and employment type into your payroll/rostering system. If unsure, confirm the right level.

Here’s how the most common roles map to classifications and 2026/27 rates. Use these as a starting point, then confirm the level against the employee’s actual duties.

A parks and gardens keeper or works depot operator sits at Level 2–4 ($27.97–$29.45/hr) depending on plant tickets and experience, with team leaders at Level 5 — $31.30/hr.

A council customer service officer sits at Level 3 — $29.03/hr, and a council administration officer at Level 3–4 depending on responsibility.

A library officer typically sits at Level 4–5, with qualified professional staff at Level 8 — $37.24/hr and managers at Level 10–11 ($43.54–$49.09/hr).

Local Government Award penalties (on the ordinary rate):

• Saturday: 150% (full-time/part-time), 175% (casual)
• Sunday: 175% (full-time/part-time), 200% (casual)
• Public holiday: 250% (full-time/part-time), 275% (casual)
• Community-services work has its own Saturday/Sunday penalty variants.
• On-call, overtime and working-outside-ordinary-hours rates apply, plus adverse-working-conditions and camping allowances for specific work.

The calculator above covers ordinary, Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday rates. For on-call, overtime, community-services variants and any enterprise-agreement terms, use Fair Work’s PACT tool or award-interpreting software.

• Full-time is around 38 hours per week, ongoing; part-time has a regular agreed pattern.
• Both receive paid annual and personal/carer’s leave (pro-rata for part-time) and other NES entitlements. Enterprise agreements may provide additional entitlements (e.g. a 35-hour week, RDOs).

• Paid a 25% casual loading instead of paid leave, with a minimum engagement per shift.
• Casual weekend and public-holiday rates are higher than the permanent rates because the loading is added to the penalty (for example, casual Sunday is 200% of the base rate).

Common allowances under this award include:

• Adverse working conditions – from about $1.03/hr up to $14.73/hr for the worst conditions (e.g. septic/sewer work).
• First aid – about $0.54/hr (max $20.62/week).
• Camping – about $33.87 per night.
• On-call, vehicle and other allowances apply depending on the role.

Exact amounts update each pay guide (and may differ under an enterprise agreement) — see the Fair Work pay guide.

Leave comes from the National Employment Standards (NES), which apply on top of the award and cannot be reduced by it. Casual employees receive the loading instead of paid leave, but still get unpaid carer’s and compassionate leave, and paid family and domestic violence leave.

Four weeks per year for full-time employees, pro-rata for part-time, accruing progressively from the first day. Employees the award defines as shiftworkers receive a fifth week. Most awards also add annual leave loading — check the leave clause of this award for the rate that applies. See our annual leave guide for how accrual, cash-out and payout on termination work.

• Personal/carer’s leave: 10 days per year for full-time employees, pro-rata for part-time. It accrues and carries over year to year.
• Compassionate leave: 2 days per occasion.
• Family and domestic violence leave: 10 days per year, available to casuals as well, renewing each year rather than accruing.
• Parental leave: 12 months unpaid with a right to request a further 12, alongside the government paid parental leave scheme.
• Public holidays: employees are entitled to be absent on a public holiday; if they work it, the award’s public-holiday penalty applies.

Tracking accruals across mixed full-time, part-time and casual teams is where spreadsheets break down — leave management software keeps balances, requests and approvals in one place.

• Confirm the award (and any enterprise agreement) applies, and check coverage for childcare/teaching/community-services roles.
• Download the latest pay guide (FY2026/27).
• Classify each employee by level (or per the enterprise agreement).
• Set base rates and apply weekend/public-holiday penalties, on-call, overtime and allowances.
• Use award-interpreting software so penalties and on-call are calculated automatically, and keep records for 7 years.

These are the errors that show up most often when employers audit their own Local Government Award payroll.

Awards classify on what the employee actually does, their qualifications and their level of responsibility. Two people with the same title can sit on different levels, and someone doing higher duties is owed the higher rate for those hours.

Casual weekend and public-holiday rates are not the permanent penalty plus 25% bolted on afterwards. The award publishes a single casual figure for each penalty — use the rate sheet or the calculator above rather than stacking percentages by hand.

This award carries 3 common allowances. They are easy to overlook because they are not part of the hourly rate, but they are still legally owed — the rate sheet above lists every one.

Council employment is a patchwork — some states cover council staff under state instruments, and most large councils have an enterprise agreement that overrides the award. Check which instrument applies before using these rates.

• Levels 1–11 cover operational, technical, administrative and professional council roles.
• Saturday +50%, Sunday +75%, public holidays +150%.
• Many councils pay above the award under an enterprise agreement — always check.
• On-call, overtime and adverse-conditions allowances are easy to miss.
• Update every July and keep good records.

For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website.