Meat Industry Award pay guide 2026/2027

Casual rates for ordinary weekday hours in a meat processing establishment, generated from the current Fair Work pay guide:

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

• The Meat Industry Award 2020 [MA000059] covers three establishment types — meat processing (abattoirs, boning rooms), meat manufacturing (smallgoods) and meat retail (butcher shops) — across Levels 1–7.
• 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 (meat processing):
  • Level 1: full-time/part-time $25.74/hr, casual $32.18/hr.
  • Level 7: full-time/part-time $29.45/hr, casual $36.81/hr.
• Weekend penalties are 150% (Saturday) and 200% (Sunday); public holidays from 250%.
• Junior, apprentice, shiftwork and cold-work rates all apply on top — see below.
• Get establishment type, level, employment type and shift type right for every employee.

The Meat Industry Award — full name the Meat Industry Award 2020 [MA000059] — is the modern award that sets the legal minimum pay and conditions for its industry. It covers abattoirs, boning rooms, smallgoods manufacturers and retail butcher shops. Classification follows demonstrated competency at slaughtering, boning and slicing tasks, so employees move up as they are signed off on each task rather than by time served.

Pay is built from four things, in this order: the classification level the employee’s duties fall into (7 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 Meat Industry Award covers employers and employees in three establishment types:

• Meat processing establishment: abattoirs, slaughtering, boning rooms and wholesale meat processing.
• Meat manufacturing establishment: smallgoods, bacon, ham and processed-meat manufacturing.
• Meat retail establishment: retail butcher shops and the meat departments of independent retailers.

Important — who’s covered by other awards: general food and factory manufacturing may fall under the Manufacturing Award; meat departments in larger supermarkets/retailers may fall under the General Retail Award; and on-farm livestock work under the Pastoral Award. Confirm coverage with Fair Work’s PACT tool before applying rates.

A snapshot of the current FY2026/27 meat processing rates, generated from the same data that powers the calculator above. Meat manufacturing and retail establishments use the same Levels 1–7 base rates — check the pay guide for the weekend windows that apply to each establishment type.

Ordinary weekday rates for meat processing classifications:

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

Apprentice rates (meat processing, started on or after 1 January 2014, did not complete year 12). Apprentices who completed year 12 are paid higher rates — see the pay guide.

Below is the 2026/27 ordinary hourly rate for each classification in the Meat Industry 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 — $25.74/hour full-time/part-time (casual $32.18/hour, $978.10/week full-time). Entry-level: labouring, packing, general hands.

Level 2 — $26.44/hour full-time/part-time (casual $33.05/hour, $1004.90/week full-time). Basic slaughtering/boning duties, some experience.

Level 3 — $26.60/hour full-time/part-time (casual $33.25/hour, $1010.90/week full-time). Slaughtering, boning, slicing with competency.

Level 4 — $27.23/hour full-time/part-time (casual $34.04/hour, $1034.60/week full-time). Skilled slaughtering/boning, multi-task operators.

Level 5 — $27.71/hour full-time/part-time (casual $34.64/hour, $1052.90/week full-time). Advanced skilled operators, leading hands.

Level 6 — $28.28/hour full-time/part-time (casual $35.35/hour, $1074.50/week full-time). Highly skilled / supervisory operators.

Level 7 — $29.45/hour full-time/part-time (casual $36.81/hour, $1119.10/week full-time). Trade-qualified / specialist meat workers.

Classification follows duties, skills and responsibility — not job title.

• Levels 1–7 progress from entry-level labouring and packing (Level 1) through competent slaughtering, boning and slicing roles to highly skilled, leading-hand and trade-qualified meat workers (Levels 6–7).
• Establishment type matters: the same level can attract different weekend windows in a processing vs manufacturing vs retail establishment.
• Juniors (under 20) are paid a percentage of the adult rate; trade-qualified juniors must be paid the full adult rate.
• Apprentices are paid stage/year-based rates.

Write each employee’s establishment type, level, age/apprentice stage 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.

Entry-level labouring, packing and general hands sit at Level 1 — $25.74/hr (casual $32.18/hr), moving to Level 2 — $26.44/hr with basic slaughtering or boning duties.

A competent slaughterer, boner or slicer sits at Level 3 — $26.60/hr, a skilled multi-task operator at Level 4 — $27.23/hr, and advanced operators and leading hands at Level 5 — $27.71/hr.

A trade-qualified butcher or specialist meat worker sits at Level 7 — $29.45/hr (casual $36.81/hr), with highly skilled and supervisory operators at Level 6 — $28.28/hr.

Meat processing establishment penalties (on the ordinary rate):

• Saturday: 150% (full-time/part-time and casual)
• Sunday: 200% (full-time/part-time and casual)
• Public holiday: 250% for most public holidays (300% on Christmas Day, Anzac Day, and Good Friday after the first 4 hours); casual public-holiday work is generally 200%.
• Shiftwork loadings (separate from the calculator): afternoon shift (starts at/after 2pm, finishes at/before midnight) and night shift (finishes after midnight and at/before 9am) attract a loading, with a higher fixed night shift loading. Non-continuous shifts of fewer than 5 successive shifts attract a higher loading again.
• Overtime: time-and-a-half for the first 3 hours then double time; all Sunday overtime at double time.

The calculator above covers ordinary, Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday rates for the meat processing establishment. For shiftwork, overtime and the meat manufacturing/retail windows, 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. Part-time hours should be agreed in writing.
• Daily hire is a distinct engagement type used in some meat processing establishments — check the award for daily-hire conditions.

• Paid a 25% casual loading on the ordinary rate instead of paid leave, with a minimum engagement per shift.
• Under this award, casual weekend rates are defined as flat amounts (the loading is not stacked on top of the weekend penalty) — casual Saturday is 150% and Sunday 200%, the same headline as permanents, while casual ordinary weekday work is 125%.

The Meat Industry Award has some distinctive allowances, especially for cold work:

• Cold work – about $0.77/hr (below 0°C), rising with temperature: $1.33/hr (below −16°C), $1.88/hr (below −18°C) and $2.56/hr (below −21°C).
• Clothing – about $0.74 per day (max $3.70/week) in a meat processing establishment.
• First aid – about $4.18 per day.
• Leading hand – about $17.91/week (supervising 3–9 employees) or $25.74/week (10 or more).
• Meal allowance (overtime) – about $19.14.

Exact amounts update each pay guide — 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 establishment type (meat processing, manufacturing or retail; not Manufacturing, General Retail or Pastoral).
• Download the latest pay guide (FY2026/27).
• Classify each employee by establishment type, level and age/apprentice stage.
• Set base rates and apply Saturday/Sunday/public-holiday penalties, shiftwork loadings, cold-work and overtime.
• Use award-interpreting software so shiftwork and overtime are calculated automatically, and keep records for 7 years.

These are the errors that show up most often when employers audit their own Meat Industry 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.

Junior rates are a percentage of the adult rate that steps up on each birthday, and stop applying entirely at 21. A birthday that passes unnoticed in payroll becomes an underpayment from that day.

Apprentice rates step up at each stage or year of the apprenticeship. Progression is automatic under the award whether or not anyone updates payroll.

This award carries 9 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.

This award classifies on competency. Once an employee is competently performing a Level 4 task, they are a Level 4 employee — waiting for a formal review cycle creates back pay.

• Three establishment types: meat processing, meat manufacturing and meat retail — confirm which applies.
• Levels 1–7 plus junior and apprentice scales — trade-qualified juniors get the full adult rate.
• Cold work and shiftwork are distinctive to this award and easy to miss.
• Sunday is 200% in meat processing — higher than many awards.
• Update every July and keep good records.

For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website.