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

Security relies heavily on casual and part-time officers to cover 24/7 rosters, one-off events and short-notice shifts. Here are the casual rates for ordinary weekday hours under the Security Services Industry Award 2020 [MA000016], generated from the current Fair Work pay guide:

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

• The Security Services Industry Award 2020 [MA000016] sets minimum pay and conditions for employees in Australia’s security services industry — patrol, static guarding, access control, crowd control, control-room and CCTV monitoring, alarm response, cash-in-transit and aviation security work.
• 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 $28.42/hr (Security officer level 1, $1,080.10/week) to $31.20/hr (Security officer level 5, $1,185.70/week) for a 38-hour week.
• Casuals receive a 25% loading on top of these ordinary rates — e.g. a level 1 officer is $35.53/hr casual for ordinary weekday hours.
• On top of base rates you may also pay night-shift loadings (rotating night span ≈ +21.7%, permanent night +30%), weekend and public-holiday penalties (Saturday 150%, Sunday 200%, public holiday 250%) and overtime (150% first 2 hours, 200% after).
• Get four things right for every officer: award coverage, classification level (levels 1–5), employment type (full-time, part-time, casual), and when they work (day, night, weekend, public holiday, overtime).

Think of the Security Services Industry Award (MA000016) as the legal minimum standard you can’t go below for covered security work.

It sets:

• Minimum hourly and weekly rates for Security officer levels 1–5
• Extra pay for night shifts, weekends, public holidays and overtime
• Allowances (aviation, firearm, first aid, broken shift, supervision, meal and vehicle allowances)
• Rules about casuals, shiftwork, broken shifts, 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, 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 night loadings, penalties and allowances), and update rates when the pay guide changes.

In simple terms, the Security Services Award covers employers and employees in the security services industry across Australia. It commonly applies to:

• Static guarding and access control — guarding people, premises and property
• Mobile patrol — patrolling sites and responding to alarms
• Crowd control — event security, licensed-venue security and crowd controllers
• Control-room and CCTV monitoring — alarm monitoring, camera operation and dispatch
• Cash-in-transit — the collection, transport and delivery of cash and valuables
• Aviation and airport security — screening and guarding at airports (which attracts the aviation allowance)
• Bodyguarding and dog handling — close personal protection and canine-assisted security

Typical roles include security officers, guards, patrol officers, crowd controllers, control-room/CCTV operators, cash-in-transit officers, aviation screening officers and security supervisors. Classification is decided by actual duties, not job title.

Not every worker who does something “security-related” is covered by MA000016. You’ll usually need a different award (or an agreement) if the work is:

• In-house security performed as part of another business (for example a guard employed directly by a retailer or hospital) — the employer’s main-industry award (such as the Miscellaneous Award) may apply instead
• Security equipment installation and wiring — technicians who install alarm, camera or access-control systems can be covered by an electrical or technical award rather than MA000016
• Roles already covered by another modern award that specifically deals with the work

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.

The Security Services Award uses five adult classifications — Security officer levels 1 to 5 — based on skill, responsibility, autonomy and the complexity of the work. A worker’s level is decided by their actual duties, not their 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. 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:

Getting the classification wrong is one of the most common causes of underpayment. The Security Services Award uses levels 1–5, based on skill, responsibility, qualifications and autonomy — assessed on actual duties, not job title.

• Level 1 – basic patrol, static guarding and access control under routine supervision.
• Level 2 – guarding with added responsibility: monitoring, patrols and some autonomy.
• Level 3 – control-room/CCTV monitoring, crowd control, alarm response and operation of security equipment.
• Level 4 – senior officer on complex sites, who may supervise and coordinate other officers.
• Level 5 – advanced or senior functions, dog handling, or coordination of security operations.

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 work through our guide on how to find which award applies.

Here’s how common security roles map to Award classifications. Remember these are Award minimums for ordinary hours — night loadings, weekend and public-holiday penalties, overtime and allowances usually push actual security pay higher.

Entry-level static guards and patrol officers typically start at level 1 and move up as they take on monitoring and patrol responsibility:

• Security officer level 1 (permanent): $28.42/hr — casual: $35.53/hr ordinary weekday hours
• Security officer level 2 (permanent): $29.24/hr — casual: $36.55/hr ordinary weekday hours
• Night loadings and weekend penalties apply on top — use the calculator above.

Control-room and CCTV operators, alarm responders and crowd controllers generally sit at level 3:

• Security officer level 3 (permanent): $29.73/hr — casual: $37.16/hr ordinary weekday hours
• Crowd controllers at licensed venues and events almost always work nights and weekends, so most of the pay comes from night loadings, Saturday and Sunday penalties and, on public holidays, the 250% rate.

Senior officers, site supervisors, dog handlers and coordinators sit at levels 4–5:

• Security officer level 4 (permanent): $30.23/hr — casual: $37.79/hr
• Security officer level 5 (permanent): $31.20/hr — casual: $39.00/hr
• Supervising other officers also attracts a weekly supervision allowance (see allowances below).

The Award works alongside the national definitions of full-time, part-time and casual employment — and in security, casual and part-time officers are the backbone of most 24/7 rosters.

• Full-time is generally an average of 38 ordinary hours per week.
• 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 for events, one-off jobs and short-notice cover.

Because security operates around the clock, night work is normal rather than exceptional, and the Award prices it through shift loadings rather than a single time-of-day penalty:

• Ordinary hours average 38 per week.
• Security officers can be rostered across the day, evening, night and weekend as part of the industry’s 24/7 nature.
• Night work is loaded based on the roster pattern — whether the officer rotates through a night span or works permanent nights (see below).

The Award loads night work in two ways, and the loading depends on the roster pattern, not just the clock:

• Rotating night span shift — where an officer’s shift falls within the night span as part of a rotating roster → a loading of roughly +21.7% on the ordinary rate (about 121.7%).
• Permanent night shift — an officer who works nights only, on a fixed, non-rotating night roster → a +30% loading (130% of the ordinary rate).

Because these loadings depend on how the roster is structured rather than a fixed time window, they aren’t a simple “after 6pm” penalty — they’re applied to the officer’s whole night shift according to the pattern they work. Casual night rates are additive: the night-span loading plus the 25% casual loading.

Security runs seven days a week, so weekend penalties and night loadings are where the real cost — and most underpayment risk — sits. The key rules under MA000016:

• Night span (rotating): roughly +21.7% on the ordinary rate.
• Permanent night shift: a +30% loading for officers on a fixed, ongoing night roster.
• Saturday: ordinary hours are paid at 150%.
• Sunday: ordinary hours are paid at 200%.
• Public holidays: 250%.
• Overtime (Mon–Fri): 150% for the first 2 hours, 200% after; Saturday overtime is 150% then 200%; Sunday overtime is 200%; and public-holiday overtime is 250%.

Overtime is triggered when an officer works beyond their ordinary rostered hours or outside the agreed span, exceeds daily/weekly limits, or works through required breaks. Last-minute cover, extended events and no-shows are common overtime triggers in security. 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 Security Services Award includes allowances that apply in specific situations. The most important for security payroll are the aviation, firearm, first aid, broken shift and supervision allowances. 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 (5 weeks for defined shiftworkers), 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 shiftworkers can 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 officers are covered by MA000016 and not by another award (for example in-house guards under the employer’s main-industry award, or technicians under an electrical award).
• 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 Security Services Award pay guide from Fair Work and save it as your “price list”.

For each worker, write down: the award (MA000016), the level (1–5), employment type (full-time, part-time, casual) and their usual roster pattern (day, rotating night span, permanent night). Match this to their actual duties, not just their job title.

• Enter the correct base rate per level, and configure the aviation, firearm, first aid, broken shift, supervision and meal allowances so they’re easy to apply — noting which are per hour, per shift or per week.

Use Fair Work’s PACT each pay run, or use award-interpreting rostering/payroll software with payroll integration that understands the Security Services Award and calculates night 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, night loadings, penalties, overtime and allowances.

The traps that trip up security employers most often.

Applying the Security Services Award to in-house guards who are actually covered by the employer’s main-industry award (such as the Miscellaneous Award), or to technicians who install and wire security systems, is a common and costly error. Confirm coverage before you pay.

Paying a rotating night-span loading (≈+21.7%) when the officer is actually on a permanent night roster (+30%), or vice versa. Get the roster pattern right first.

Paying flat rates for Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday work. Security is a seven-day industry — these penalties are where most of the cost sits.

Treating a per-shift allowance (firearm, first aid) as weekly, or forgetting the weekly caps, understates or overstates pay. Aviation is per hour, not per shift.

Regular, ongoing casuals on fixed rosters 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 Security Services Award correctly is a legal requirement — but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming:

• Confirm coverage first: MA000016 (dedicated security businesses) vs in-house guards on another award and technicians on an electrical award — and check for an enterprise agreement.
• Classify correctly: the right level (1–5) based on skill and responsibility.
• Don’t ignore night loadings, penalties and roster patterns: this is where most underpayments happen in a 24/7 industry. You can estimate weekend and overtime costs before you publish a roster.
• Update every July and keep good records.
• Use award-aware rostering software and award interpretation to apply the rules automatically.

For official guidance, see the Security Services Industry Award [MA000016] on Fair Work, the Fair Work pay guide and PACT. To build and cost those rosters automatically, see RosterElf’s security rostering software.