Registered & Licensed Clubs 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 Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 [MA000058] covers club staff — bar, gaming, food and beverage, clerical and operational — on a shared Introductory + Level 1–5+ structure.
• 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 award rates by 4.75%.
• Example 2026/27 adult minimum pay:
  • Introductory: full-time/part-time $25.74/hr, casual $32.18/hr.
  • Level 4: full-time/part-time $29.45/hr, casual $36.81/hr.
• Penalties: Saturday +50%, Sunday +75%, public holidays +150%; the casual loading is not stacked on weekend/PH penalties.
• Evening and late-night loadings, broken shifts and the cook’s tool allowance apply on top.
• Get level, stream, employment type and shift type right for every employee.

The Clubs Award — full name the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 [MA000058] — is the modern award that sets the legal minimum pay and conditions for its industry. It covers registered and licensed clubs — RSL, bowling, golf, sporting and community clubs — and their employees across bars, gaming, food service, functions, clerical and grounds work. Pubs and hotels are covered by the Hospitality Award instead, and the two are easy to confuse.

Pay is built from four things, in this order: the classification level the employee’s duties fall into (6 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 Clubs Award covers registered and licensed clubs — RSL, leagues, bowling, golf, surf and community clubs. Staff across bar, gaming, food and beverage, clerical, grounds and operational roles share the same level structure (Introductory and Levels 1 and up), with the level set by the role’s stream and grade.

Important — who’s covered by other awards: pubs, hotels and bars → Hospitality Award; standalone restaurants → Restaurant Award; fast food → Fast Food Award. Confirm coverage with Fair Work’s PACT tool before applying rates.

A snapshot of the current FY2026/27 rates, generated from the same data that powers the calculator above. The levels apply across the clerical, food-and-beverage, gaming and other streams.

Ordinary weekday rates for the club employee levels:

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

Juniors are paid a percentage of the adult rate for the classification they actually work in — not a separate junior classification. Under the Clubs Award the bands are 60% under 18, 70% at 18 and 85% at 19, with the full adult rate from 20.

Cooking and maintenance/horticulture apprentices are paid 55%, 65%, 80% and 95% of the Level 4 cook (tradesperson) rate across their four years.

Waiting apprentices run on a different scale — four six-month stages rather than years, at 70%, 85%, 96% and 98%. Check the pay guide for that stream rather than reading it off the table below.

Below is the 2026/27 ordinary hourly rate for each classification in the Clubs 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.

Introductory — $25.74/hour full-time/part-time (casual $32.18/hour, $978.10/week full-time). Entry-level / induction (up to 3 months).

Level 1 — $26.44/hour full-time/part-time (casual $33.05/hour, $1004.90/week full-time). Food & beverage attendant grade 1, basic duties.

Level 2 — $27.08/hour full-time/part-time (casual $33.85/hour, $1029.10/week full-time). Clerical grade 1 / F&B grade 2 / glasshand.

Level 3 — $27.97/hour full-time/part-time (casual $34.96/hour, $1062.90/week full-time). Clerical grade 2 / F&B grade 3 / gaming.

Level 4 — $29.45/hour full-time/part-time (casual $36.81/hour, $1119.10/week full-time). Clerical grade 3 / F&B grade 4 / cook.

Level 5 — $31.30/hour full-time/part-time (casual $39.13/hour, $1189.40/week full-time). Clerical supervisor / senior operational.

Classification follows the stream and grade — all mapped onto a shared level scale:

• Introductory covers the first few months / induction.
• Levels 1–5+ apply across food & beverage (attendant grades), gaming, clerical/administration, grounds and cooks — the level reflects skill and responsibility within the stream.
• A bar/food attendant typically sits around Levels 1–3; supervisors and cooks higher.

Write each employee’s stream, 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 bar attendant doing basic bar duties sits at Level 1 — $26.44/hr (casual $33.05/hr), moving to Level 2 — $27.08/hr with experience. A gaming attendant sits at Level 3 — $27.97/hr.

A functions coordinator and senior food-and-beverage staff sit at Level 4 — $29.45/hr, the same level as a cook. Glasshands and entry food-service staff sit at Level 2.

A duty manager or clerical supervisor sits at Level 5 — $31.30/hr (casual $39.13/hr). A club manager is usually engaged above the award or under an enterprise agreement — check before applying Level 5.

Clubs Award penalties (on the ordinary rate):

• Saturday: 150% (full-time/part-time and casual)
• Sunday: 175% (full-time/part-time and casual)
• Public holiday: 250% (full-time/part-time and casual)
• Casual loading: the 25% loading applies to ordinary hours but is not stacked on top of the weekend/public-holiday penalties, so casual weekend/PH rates equal the permanent rates.
• Evening / late-night loadings: Monday–Friday work between 7pm and midnight, and midnight to 7am, attracts loadings on the ordinary rate.
• Overtime: time-and-a-half then double time; double time on Sundays and public holidays.

The calculator above covers ordinary, Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday rates. For evening/late-night loadings and overtime, 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.

• Paid a 25% casual loading on ordinary hours instead of paid leave, with a minimum engagement per shift.
• On weekends and public holidays, the penalty applies without the loading stacked on top — so casual Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday rates equal the permanent rates.

Common allowances under this award include:

• Broken shift – about $4.48 per day (not casuals).
• First aid – about $0.35 per hour.
• Meal – about $17.42 per meal.
• Cook’s tool allowance – about $2.03 per day (max $9.94/week).
• Club manager laundry – about $10.27/week; vehicle – about $1.01 per km.

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 applies (registered/licensed club; not a pub/hotel or standalone restaurant).
• Download the latest pay guide (FY2026/27).
• Classify each employee by stream and level.
• Set base rates and apply weekend/public-holiday penalties, evening/late-night loadings, broken shifts and overtime.
• Use award-interpreting software so evening and weekend rates are calculated automatically, and keep records for 7 years.

These are the errors that show up most often when employers audit their own Clubs 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 6 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.

The two awards have different levels and different evening loadings. A club that copies its neighbour pub’s pay setup will get both the classification and the penalty structure wrong.

• Shared level structure (Introductory + Levels 1–5+) across bar, gaming, food and clerical streams.
• Saturday +50%, Sunday +75%, public holidays +150% — casual loading not stacked on these.
• Evening and late-night loadings apply Mon–Fri.
• Broken shifts and cook’s tool allowance are easy to miss.
• Update every July and keep good records.

For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website.