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Aquaculture Award Pay Calculator

Work out what a week under the Aquaculture Award actually pays — the right attendant level, weekend and public holiday penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.

How the Aquaculture Award is applied

Minimum rates are set per attendant level — the calculator uses the rates from clause 16.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
Casuals get a 25% loading on ordinary hours, but on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays casuals are paid the full-time penalty rate instead of loading on top of it — paying both would overpay.
Overtime kicks in after 3 hours, not the more common 2 — Monday to Saturday overtime is 150% for the first 3 hours worked, then 200%.
Public holiday work carries a 250% day-worker rate with a 3-hour minimum engagement — call someone in for an hour and you still owe 3.
Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including weekend and public holiday penalties — but not to overtime.
Diving duties trigger their own allowances on top of wages — check the diving and equipment allowances below before rostering finfish attendants underwater.

Who the award covers

Breeding, production and farming of fish, shellfish, crustacea and marine vegetation
Harvesting and initial preparation of aquaculture product for market
Finfish operations — boats, pens, nets, husbandry, diving
Shellfish operations — boats, punts, loading, packing, culture mediums
Labour hire staff placed into aquaculture businesses

Employees already covered by a modern enterprise award or enterprise instrument, or by a State reference public sector award, sit outside this award — check before you classify.

Which level is your team member?

The Aquaculture Award runs one four-level ladder that covers two streams — finfish and shellfish — side by side. Classify by which stream the work sits in, then by length of service and the tasks actually being demonstrated, not by a job title.

Level	Per hour	Per week (38h)	Typical roles	The test
Level 1	$25.74	$978.10	Boat and pen attendant (finfish, <4 months) · Boat/punt operator, loader, packer (shellfish, <4 months)	Under 4 months’ service: operating boats, moving materials, washing or changing nets — or, on the shellfish side, loading, packing and recording data under supervision.
Level 2	$26.44	$1004.90	Finfish attendant preparing product for market · Shellfish attendant working without constant supervision	Four months or more service: the same duties as Level 1, but finfish attendants now prepare product for market/transport, and shellfish attendants work without constant supervision.
Level 3	$28.09	$1067.40	Finfish harvester and fish husbandry attendant · Shellfish attendant with minor supervisory capacity	Demonstrated competency to harvest and husband fish (including bleeding, feeding, mortality retrieval) and handle general housekeeping — or, for shellfish, Level 2 duties plus a minor supervisory role.
Level 4	$29.45	$1119.10	Finfish attendant performing basic net repairs and diving duties · Shellfish attendant directing other employees	The award’s standard rate level: husbandry, maintenance and basic net repairs (finfish, may include diving) — or directing the work of others and acting in charge (shellfish).

Levels 1 and 2 are mostly a length-of-service test: under 4 months versus 4 months or more, doing the same broad range of boat, pen and handling work.
Level 3 is a competency test on the finfish side (demonstrated ability to harvest and husband fish) and a minor-supervision test on the shellfish side.
Level 4 is the standard rate for the whole award — net repairs and diving duties for finfish attendants, or directing other staff for shellfish attendants.
The award defines its standard rate as the Level 4 minimum WEEKLY wage ($1,119.10), unlike most awards that peg the standard rate to an hourly figure — it only matters for allowance indexing, not for your payroll.

Allowances that can apply on top

Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Aquaculture Award adds allowances for particular duties and situations — being the designated first aid officer, working overtime without notice, using your own car. They’re small lines individually, but they’re legal entitlements and they add up. The common ones (1 July 2026 amounts):

First aid allowance — appointed officer, current St John qualification$3.80/day

Diving allowance — finfish attendants, employer-supplied equipment$5.26/hour

Diving equipment allowance — finfish attendants using their own gear (on top of the diving allowance)$6.81/hour

Meal allowance — overtime beyond 2 hours, no advance notice$22.71/occasion

Tool allowance — where the employer doesn’t supply tools$11.52/week

Vehicle allowance — own car used for work, with employer approval$1.00/km

Annual leave loading17.5% on paid annual leave

The calculator below doesn’t include allowances — add the ones that apply to your team on top of the result. The full list lives in the award’s allowances clause.

Break entitlements under the Aquaculture Award

Breaks are part of the award too — and missed or worked-through breaks usually carry a penalty rate, so they belong in the roster, not just the tea room. Here’s what the Aquaculture Award requires:

Meal break — day workers, no later than 5 hours after startingUnpaid, at least 30 minutes (timing can move by agreement to finish a task before the tide changes)

Meal break — shiftworkersPaid, 20 minutes each shift, counts as time worked

Rest breaks — morning and afternoon of each working dayPaid, 10 minutes each (the afternoon break can be swapped for a 10-minute earlier finish by majority agreement)

Crib break during overtimePaid, 20 minutes after each 4 hours of overtime where work continues

The tide-change flexibility is unique to this award. The full rules live in the award’s breaks clause.

Calculate a week under the Aquaculture Award

Enter the week as it’s actually rostered. Weekend, evening and public-holiday hours are paid at the award’s penalty rates; anything beyond 38 hours is priced as overtime; super is applied to ordinary-time earnings only.

Classification levelEmployment typeState or territoryWeekday hoursSaturday hours (day workers)Casuals on Saturday get the full-time penalty rate, not the penalty plus casual loading (clause 11 notes) — so casual and permanent multipliers are the same here.Sunday hours (day workers)Same rule as Saturday: casuals are paid the day-worker penalty rate itself, not loading on top of it.Public holiday hours (day workers)Minimum 3 hours’ pay applies when a day worker is called in on a public holiday.

Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000114) — first full pay period on or after that date.

This week’s numbers

Nothing is stored or sent — the maths runs on this page.

Are these the exact legal rates?

The level minimums are the adult rates from the award (clause 16.1), current at 1 July 2026. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser before running payroll.

Why is Saturday work paid the same whether someone is casual or permanent?

The award’s casual clause says that on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, casuals are paid the full-time penalty rate rather than the penalty plus the usual 25% loading. It’s one of the award’s clearer traps for anyone used to adding loading on top of every penalty.

Why does overtime start after 3 hours instead of 2?

Most awards use a 2-hour first tier for Monday–Saturday overtime; the Aquaculture Award sets it at 3 hours (clause 20.2). Get the threshold wrong and you’ll misprice every overtime shift.

Do finfish attendants get paid extra for diving?

Yes — a $5.26/hour diving allowance where the employer supplies equipment, plus a further $6.81/hour if the attendant supplies their own diving gear (excluding tools). Both stack on top of the ordinary or penalty rate for the hours worked.

This is a general calculator, not legal advice. It applies the award’s published adult minimums to the hours you enter — it can’t see your enterprise agreement, allowances or individual arrangements, and junior, apprentice and shiftwork rates differ. Always confirm pay against the award, your agreement or your adviser. If you believe something here is materially wrong or out of date, please contact us — we’ll review it promptly.

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