Hospitality award pay rates in Australia, including Queensland

The Hospitality Industry (General) Award covers employers in the hospitality industry, which includes hotels, motels, resorts, caterers, casinos and function areas (clause 4.2). The Restaurant Industry Award covers restaurants, reception centres, night clubs, cafés and roadhouses, including catering by a restaurant business. Registered and licensed clubs, hospitals, boarding schools, theme parks and in-flight catering sit under other awards or are excluded, and an enterprise agreement can apply instead. If an employer is covered by more than one award, the award with the classification most appropriate to the work and the industry applies. Both are national awards that apply in every state and territory.

Both awards list an introductory level and levels 1 to 6 for adults, with full-time weekly rates and part-time and casual hourly rates. Level 1 covers entry roles such as kitchen attendant grade 1 and food and beverage attendant grade 1. Level 2 includes cook grade 1 and food and beverage attendant grade 2, level 3 cook grade 2, level 4 the tradesperson grades such as cook grade 3, level 5 supervisors and cook grade 4, and level 6 cook grade 5. The introductory level is $978.10 a week ($25.74 an hour). Junior and apprentice rates are set separately in each award, and the General Award also has a separate minimum annual salary for its Managerial staff (Hotels) classification of $63,617 (clause 18.2).

Penalty rates apply to ordinary hours worked at particular times, and they are not added together: where more than one penalty would apply, the employer pays the highest one (General Award clause 29.3). In the General Award a full-time or part-time employee is paid 100% from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm, Monday to Friday, then 100% plus $2.95 per hour or part of an hour to midnight and 100% plus $4.42 per hour or part of an hour from midnight to 7.00 am, with 125% on Saturday, 150% on Sunday and 225% on a public holiday. For full-time and part-time employees the Restaurant Award uses the same percentages, but it starts the evening amounts at 10.00 pm and finishes them at 6.00 am. Its casual Sunday rate is 150% for Introductory to Level 2 and 175% for Level 3 to Level 6.

In the General Award overtime is paid at 150% for the first 2 hours and 200% after that from Monday to Friday, and 200% from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday and on a rostered day off. The Restaurant Award separates Saturday from Sunday: Saturday overtime is 175% for the first 2 hours and 200% after that, and Sunday overtime is 200%. Work on a public holiday that is not overtime is paid under the penalty tables, and a full-time or part-time employee who works on a public holiday is paid for at least 4 hours.

A casual employee is paid a loading of 25% in addition to the hourly rate (clause 11.1) and must be engaged and paid for at least 2 consecutive hours of work each time they attend (clause 11.3). The casual penalty percentages in the tables already include the loading, so do not add it a second time. A casual working on a public holiday is paid for at least 2 hours. Superannuation is paid on top of these rates. The super guarantee rate is 12% of an employee's qualifying earnings from 1 July 2026 (Australian Taxation Office: Super guarantee).

The award text does not mention Queensland, and both awards apply the same minimum rates and percentages in Queensland as everywhere else. The difference is the calendar. Public holiday entitlements come from the National Employment Standards (General Award clause 35.1), and each state decides which days count. The Queensland Government lists Labour Day on the first Monday in May and the King's Birthday on the first Monday in October, Easter Sunday as a public holiday, a Royal Queensland Show day in the Brisbane area only, a part-day public holiday from 6 pm to midnight on Christmas Eve, and an extra public holiday when Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day falls on a weekend. In 2026 the Queensland list shows Boxing Day on Saturday 26 December and a further holiday on Monday 28 December. On a public holiday the public holiday percentages above apply in the General Award (225% for full-time and part-time employees) and the Restaurant Award. Whether they apply to the part-day on Christmas Eve, or to the Brisbane show day at a particular workplace, depends on how the holiday applies to that workplace, so check Fair Work before you roster or accept a shift.

A split shift allowance applies to full-time and part-time employees: $3.69 a day where the break is 2 to 3 hours and $5.60 where it is more than 3 hours in the General Award, and $5.60 for each work period of 2 hours or more in the Restaurant Award. A full-time employee can agree in writing to an annualised wage of at least 25% more than the minimum multiplied by 52, with limits on the penalty-rate and overtime hours it covers, and the employer must check it against the award each 12 months. The chef pay guide explains how that works for kitchen staff.

They are award minimums for adult employees, not averages or offers. An employer can pay more, and an enterprise agreement must leave employees better off overall than the award. Rates and penalty amounts are reviewed each year, so check Fair Work for the latest rates and use the Pay Calculator for a particular shift. CrossNation does not promise pay, roles or visas, and a listing is not a job offer.