New minimum wage from 1 July 2017 & Penalty rates change
The new national minimum wage from 1 July 2017 is $694.90 per week or $18.29 per hour, an increase of 3.3% from the previous financial year.
For employees covered by an award, award rates will increase by 3.3%.
Also from 1 July 2017, penalty rates in the Hospitality, Restaurant, Fast Food, Retail and Pharmacy Awards have also changed.
New Sunday penalty rates will be phased in over 2~3 years from 1 July 2017 as follows:
| Restaurant Industry Award 2010 | Fast Food Industry Award 2010 | General Retail Industry Award 2010 | Pharmacy Industry Award 2010*** | Hospital Industry (General) Award 2010 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FT/PT | Casual** | FT/PT | Casual** | FT/PT* | Casual** | FT/PT | Casual** | FT/PT | Casual | |
| Before 1/7/2017 | 150% | 150% (L1&L2) 175% (L3~L6) | 150% | 175% | 200% | 200% | 200% | 225% | 175% | 175% |
| From 1/7/2017 | Unchanged | Unchanged | 145% | 170% | 195% | 195% | 195% | 220% | 170% | Unchanged |
| From 1/7/2018 | 135% | 160% | 180% | 185% | 180% | 205% | 160% | |||
| From 1/7/2019 | 125% | 150% | 165% | 175% | 165% | 190% | 150% | |||
| From 1/7/2020 | 150% | 150% | 175% | |||||||
*Applies only to ‘Level 1 employees’
** Includes casual loading
*** For hours worked between 7 am and 9 pm
All public holiday penalty rates for the above awards from 1 July 2017 will be 225% for full-time and part-time employees and 250% for casual employees.
For more information, visit Fair Work Ombudsman’s website (https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/penalty-rates-and-allowances/penalty-rates-changes-2017).