Mining Award pay guide: rates, penalties & classifications 2026/2027

Mining operations rely heavily on casual and labour-hire operators. Here are the casual rates for ordinary weekday hours under the Mining Industry Award 2020 [MA000011], generated from the current Fair Work pay guide:

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

• The Mining Industry Award 2020 [MA000011] sets minimum pay and conditions for many mining, exploration and quarrying employees in Australia (excluding black coal mining).
• Minimums are reviewed each July 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 $26.44/hr (Introductory, $1,004.90/week) to $36.53/hr (Level 7 dual-trade instrumentation, $1,388.10/week) for a 38-hour week. These minimums include the industry disability allowance.
• Casuals receive a 25% loading on top of these ordinary rates — e.g. a Level 3 competent operator is $36.81/hr casual.
• On top of base rates you may also pay shift loadings (afternoon/night 15%, permanent night 30%), weekend and public-holiday penalties (Sunday 200%, public holiday 250%), overtime (150% first 3 hours, 200% after), and the underground allowance ($1.97/hr).
• Get four things right for every worker: award coverage, classification level (Introductory + Levels 1–7), employment type (full-time, part-time, casual), and when they work (day, afternoon/night, weekend, public holiday, overtime).

Think of the Mining Industry Award (MA000011) as the legal minimum standard you can’t go below for covered mining work.

It sets:

• Minimum hourly and weekly rates for Introductory through Level 7 classifications
• Extra pay for afternoon/night shifts, weekends, public holidays and overtime
• Allowances (underground allowance, industry disability allowance and others)
• Rules about casuals, shiftwork (continuous vs non-continuous), rostering and breaks
• A link into the National Employment Standards (NES) for leave and other basic rights

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

The Mining 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 Mining Industry Award covers employers and employees in the general mining industry. It commonly applies to:

• Metalliferous mining (gold, iron ore, copper, nickel, bauxite, mineral sands, etc.)
• Oil and gas extraction and associated operations
• Exploration (drilling, sampling, survey)
• Quarrying and extraction of construction materials
• On-site processing of extracted minerals

Typical roles include haul-truck and loader operators, drillers and drillers’ offsiders, process/plant operators, fitters, boilermakers, electricians and instrument technicians working on site, trades assistants, and exploration field crews.

The single biggest coverage trap is black coal. Black coal mining is not covered by MA000011 — it has its own award, the Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2010 [MA000001], with different (generally higher) rates and conditions. Confirm which award applies before setting pay.

You may need a different award (or an agreement) if:

• The work is black coal mining → Black Coal Mining Industry Award [MA000001].
• The employee is a senior staff/managerial professional whose duties sit clearly above Award classifications.
• The work is really off-site manufacturing (→ Manufacturing Award), standalone construction (civil/building), or road transport of product away from the mine (→ logistics/road transport).
• On-site electrical, plumbing or trades work performed by a contractor may instead fall under the Electrical Award or Plumbing Award depending on the employer and the work.

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

A quick side-by-side to place MA000011 against the awards it’s most often confused with.

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 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 industry disability allowance. Rates assume correct award coverage and classification.

For adult employees, ordinary hours (based on a 38-hour week):

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

The Mining Award also sets junior percentages, apprentice progression rates and supported/trainee wages. Because those tables are long and depend on age, stage and classification, download the latest Mining Industry Award pay guide from Fair Work and match age + stage + classification + employment type before paying.

Getting the classification wrong is one of the most common causes of underpayment. The Mining Award uses an Introductory level plus Levels 1–7, based on skill, responsibility, qualifications and autonomy.

• Introductory – trainees/new starters doing basic tasks under close supervision, usually for a limited period.
• Level 1–2 – routine operating tasks with direction; growing experience and autonomy.
• Level 3 – competent operators (e.g. haul-truck or loader operators) working with limited supervision.
• Level 4 – advanced operators and single-trade tradespersons.
• Level 5 – advanced specialists / trades with extra skills or supervisory duties.
• Level 6 – dual-trade tradespersons.
• Level 7 – advanced dual-trade instrument technicians (the top classification).

For each employee, record the award, 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 confirm the right classification level with our free checker.

Here’s how common mining roles map to Award classifications. Remember these are Award minimums — enterprise agreements and site allowances usually push actual mine wages well above these figures (see how much mining and FIFO workers earn).

Entry operators typically start around Level 1–2 and move to Level 3 (competent) as they run equipment with limited supervision:

• Level 1 operator (casual): $34.45/hr ordinary hours
• Level 3 competent operator (casual): $36.81/hr ordinary hours
• Afternoon/night shift loadings, weekend penalties and the underground allowance apply on top — use the calculator above.

Drillers, offsiders and exploration field crews are usually Level 2–4 depending on experience and responsibility. Fly-in fly-out (FIFO) roster patterns and remote work don’t change the Award minimum, but often attract site or enterprise-agreement allowances on top.

Trade-qualified workers sit at the top of the scale:

• Level 4: single-trade tradesperson (fitter, boilermaker, electrician) — $39.28/hr casual
• Level 6: dual-trade tradesperson — $43.89/hr casual
• Level 7: advanced dual-trade instrument technician — $45.66/hr casual

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

• Full-time is generally around 38 ordinary hours per week (often averaged over a roster cycle for shiftworkers).
• 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 mine sites via direct casual engagement and labour hire.

Mining runs around the clock, so shift loadings and penalties are where the real cost — and most underpayment risk — sits. The key rules under MA000011:

• 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 3 hours are paid at 150% for non-continuous shiftworkers, then 200%.
• Sunday: ordinary hours are paid at 200%.
• Public holidays: 250%.
• Overtime (non-continuous shiftworkers, weekdays and Saturdays): 150% for the first 3 hours, 200% after.

The Award treats continuous shiftworkers (operations running 24/7 without interruption) differently from non-continuous shiftworkers for overtime and weekend work. Which category a worker falls into changes how Saturday, Sunday and overtime are paid, so confirm the shift type before calculating — the safest options are Fair Work’s Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) or award-interpreting software that already has the Mining Award rules built in.

Overtime is triggered when an employee works beyond their ordinary rostered hours or outside the agreed span, exceeds weekly/averaged 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.

Beyond hourly pay and penalties, the Mining Award includes allowances that apply in specific situations:

• Underground allowance – an extra $1.97 per hour for non-underground employees who are required to work underground.
• Industry disability allowance – compensates for the disabilities of the mining industry. It is an all-purpose allowance already built into the minimum rates in this guide, so it’s included when penalties and overtime are calculated.
• Other allowances may apply for first aid, leading hand/supervisory duties, meals (overtime), travel and living-away/FIFO arrangements — the exact dollar figures are updated with each pay guide and listed under “Allowances” in the Fair Work pay guide.

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 – generally 4 weeks per year based on ordinary hours (shiftworkers may be entitled to additional annual leave under the Award/NES).
• Paid personal/carer’s leave (sick leave) 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.

Certain shift patterns can affect leave (e.g. extra annual leave for qualifying shiftworkers), so read the relevant clauses or seek advice for complex rosters.

A simple process you can actually follow.

• Confirm your operation is covered by MA000011 and not black coal (MA000001), manufacturing or construction.
• 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 Mining Industry Award pay guide from Fair Work and save it as your “price list”.

For each worker, write down: the award (MA000011), the level (Introductory or Level 1–7), employment type (full-time, part-time, casual), shift type (continuous vs non-continuous), and whether underground work applies. Match this to their actual duties, not just their job title.

• Enter the correct base rate per classification, and configure the underground allowance and any leading-hand/first-aid 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 Mining Award and calculates shift loadings, weekend/public-holiday penalties and overtime automatically from the roster and timesheets.

Keep rosters, timesheets, pay records and contracts. Consider HR software with digital employment contracts to keep everything organised, and make sure payslips clearly show ordinary hours, shift loadings, penalties, overtime and allowances.

The traps that trip up mining and quarrying employers most often.

Applying Mining Industry Award rates to black coal workers (or vice versa) is a costly, common error — the awards have different rates and conditions.

Paying flat rates for afternoon/night shifts, or forgetting the $1.97/hr underground allowance when surface employees are sent underground.

The two categories are paid differently for Saturday, Sunday and overtime. 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 Mining Award correctly is a legal requirement — but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming:

• Confirm coverage first: MA000011 vs black coal (MA000001), and check for an enterprise agreement.
• Classify correctly: Introductory + Levels 1–7 based on skill and responsibility.
• Don’t ignore shift loadings, penalties and the underground allowance: 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 mine wages higher.

For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Mining Industry Award summary.