Electrician pay rate in Australia: what the Electrical Contracting Award sets

The Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award covers employers throughout Australia in the industry of electrical services provided by electrical, electronics and communications contractors, and their employees in the classifications in Schedule A, to the exclusion of any other modern award. It does not cover employees covered by a modern enterprise award, an enterprise instrument or a state reference public sector award. Large construction, mining and utility employers often pay under an enterprise agreement, which must leave employees better off overall than the award. If an employer is covered by more than one award, the classification most appropriate to the work applies. Ask in writing which instrument covers the role. Fair Work award MA000025, read 6 October 2026.

The award has ten Electrical worker grades. Grade 5 is the trade grade: it covers a person who holds a trade certificate or tradesperson's rights certificate in an electrical trade, or a Certificate III in Electrotechnology in one of the listed streams, and it includes the work of an electrical tradesperson level 1. Grade 6 is a grade 5 worker who has also completed three appropriate training modules or has equivalent structured training or experience, including at least a year as a grade 5, and it includes the work of an electrical tradesperson level 2. Higher grades carry more training and responsibility. Because the grade sets the minimum, make sure your written classification reflects your licence, experience and the duties you perform.

The table shows ordinary-hours minimums. On top, the award pays an all-purpose industry allowance of $41.41 a week and, for an electrical mechanic who holds and may be required to use an unrestricted licence, a licence allowance of $40.29 a week. Clause 16.3 says the weekly all-purpose rate is the minimum rate plus those allowances where they apply, and it is included when calculating overtime, leave, public holidays and termination payments. Grade 5 and above also receive a tool allowance of $22.31 a week, and leading hands receive an extra amount by the number of employees in charge. Other allowances cover travel and living away from home. Superannuation is paid on top of these rates. The super guarantee rate is 12% of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025 (Australian Taxation Office: Super guarantee). Fair Work award MA000025, read 6 October 2026.

Outside ordinary hours, overtime is 150 percent of the ordinary hourly rate for the first two hours and 200 percent after that, and Sunday work is paid at 200 percent. Public holiday work is paid at 250 percent. Overtime on a Saturday, Sunday, rostered day off or public holiday carries a minimum payment of four hours, and a call-back carries a minimum payment of four hours each time. A shift worker on an afternoon or night shift is paid 115 percent of the ordinary hourly rate, a permanent night shift 130 percent and a shiftworker on a Saturday 150 percent. Some of these rates substitute for each other rather than stacking, so use the Fair Work Pay Calculator for a particular roster.

A casual electrician receives the ordinary hourly rate for their classification plus a 25 percent loading, and the award builds that loading into casual overtime at 187.5 and 250 percent, Sunday work at 250 percent and public holidays at 312.5 percent. Apprentices are paid a percentage of the grade 5 rate by year, from 50 or 55 percent in the first year to 82 percent in the fourth for apprentices who are not adults and started on or after 1 January 2014, plus the tool allowance and the percentages of other allowances the clause lists. Adult apprentices follow a separate table that keeps an existing employee's wage in some cases. We print the percentages and not dollar amounts for apprentices because the award gives percentages.

Western Australia has a state Electrical Contracting Industry Award for employers in the state system, such as sole traders and unincorporated partnerships, while Pty Ltd businesses are in the national system where the award above applies. We print no amounts from the state award because the WA Government summary we found was marked as a previous summary. Fly-in fly-out, mining, utility and large construction employers commonly pay under an enterprise agreement, which can set different rates and rosters. Ask for a copy before you accept an offer and compare it with the award on the Fair Work Pay Calculator.

They are award minimums for full-time employees of electrical contractors, not averages, offers or what CrossNation candidates earn. An employer can pay more, and the pay an employer advertises depends on the site, the hours and the licence. Rates change each year and apply from the first pay period on or after 1 July, so always check the date beside a figure. CrossNation does not promise pay, roles or a start date, and this page is not legal or employment advice.