National Minimum Wage

The national minimum wage is the legal pay floor for adult employees in the national workplace relations system. Each year the Fair Work Commission's Expert Panel reviews it, hears submissions from unions, business groups and governments, then announces a new figure that applies from 1 July. For 2025-26 the Panel set the floor at $24.95 per hour, or $948.10 for a standard 38-hour week before tax. Casual workers on the minimum get a 25% loading on top, which takes the casual minimum wage to $31.19 per hour. Check fairwork.gov.au each July, because this number updates annually and any figure you memorise has a shelf life.

The minimum wage is a floor, not a target. Almost every worker covered by a modern award is entitled to the higher of the two rates, and award classification rates almost always sit above the national floor. Juniors get a set percentage of the adult rate depending on age, while apprentices, trainees and employees on supported wage arrangements have their own scales published by the Fair Work Ombudsman. If your payslip shows less than the relevant floor for your classification, that is wage theft, and in several states it is now a criminal offence rather than just a civil one.

The machinery starts with the annual wage review. Between roughly February and June, the Fair Work Commission's Expert Panel gathers economic data, reads submissions from the ACTU, employer groups and the Commonwealth, and hearings are held. The Panel weighs inflation, living costs, productivity and unemployment, then publishes a decision, usually in late June. The new rate takes effect from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July, which trips people up: if your pay period straddles the date, the raise might not show in that particular payslip.

Once set, the minimum flows through the system in layers. Award wages are lifted in the same decision, so classifications in every modern award move up together, usually by the same percentage. Payroll tables are updated, and your employer must adjust from the qualifying pay period. For an adult working 38 ordinary hours, the 2025-26 floor produces $948.10 in gross weekly pay, and a 25% casual loading lifts the hourly figure to $31.19 to compensate for missing leave entitlements.

Special scales sit alongside the adult floor. A 17-year-old junior might be entitled to a percentage of the relevant adult rate under their award, commonly climbing each birthday. Apprentices are paid a percentage of the qualified tradesperson rate that rises each year of training. Employees eligible for the supported wage system are assessed on productivity percentages. Every scale is searchable through Fair Work's pay calculator.

The minimum wage matters even if you earn well above it, because it anchors the whole pay structure. Award classification rates climb off the same annual percentage, so a 3.5% minimum wage rise quietly lifts millions of award payslips by the same amount. It is also the single most checked reference in underpayment disputes, and the number the Fair Work Ombudsman uses first when auditing a payroll.

A colleague named Brent (yes, that Brent) accepted $23 an hour at a cafe job in late 2024, reasoning it was close enough to minimum and he did not want to make waves. He was a casual, so the loading applied, and the award rate sat above the national floor to begin with. Eight months of that mistake cost him roughly $9,700 in gross wages before a pay calculator check embarrassed him into action.

The highest-leverage thing most Australians can do with the minimum wage is verify their own classification against it once a year, right after the 1 July change lands. Check the current figure on the minimum wage tracker, then run the gross number through the take home pay calculator to see what the new floor actually means after tax. Fair Work publishes the changes at fairwork.gov.au, so there is no excuse for a July surprise.