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Broadcasting and Cinemas Award Pay Calculator

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

How the Broadcasting and Cinemas Award is applied

Minimum rates are set per entertainment grade — the calculator uses the adult Grade 2–11 rates from clause 13.3, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
Casuals get a 25% loading on top of the grade rate.
Weekend and public holiday penalties shown here follow the television broadcasting stream (clause 32) — the award’s largest and most commonly hired stream — since radio (clause 44/45) and cinema (clause 61) run separate penalty tables.
Overtime for television broadcasting applies at 150% for the first 2 hours Monday to Saturday, then 200%; Sunday and public holiday overtime are paid at the same 200%/250% as the penalty rate.
Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including weekend and public holiday penalties — but not to overtime.
The trap: cinema rates are NOT a discount on the entertainment scale — they’re a separate classification system with the Sunday penalty already averaged in, so mixing the two tables under- or over-pays cinema staff.

Who the award covers

Television and radio broadcasting — technicians, camera and audio operators, journalists, announcers
Motion picture and recorded entertainment production
Artists, musicians and performers engaged under the award
Cinema operation — projection, ushering, ticketing and cinema management (separate Cinema Worker scale)
Labour hire staff placed into broadcasting, production or cinema businesses

Journalists on general newspapers sit under the Journalists Published Media Award, live theatre and performing arts under separate live performance awards, and general clerical or admin staff under the Clerks Award — check before you classify.

Which level is your team member?

The entertainment scale runs 18 grades deep, but Grade 1 exists only to calculate cadet rates — real hiring starts at Grade 2. Each grade "includes" a defined list of named classifications drawn from the industry-specific schedules (television, radio, journalists, artists, musicians, motion pictures), so the grade is set by which named role someone is doing, not a general skill test. The table here covers Grades 2–11, the range that covers most broadcast, production and technical hires.

Level	Per hour	Per week (38h)	Typical roles	The test
Grade 2	$26.44	$1004.90	Motion Picture Production Employee Level 1	Entry-level motion picture production work — the base of the ladder alongside directly-supervised production duties.
Grade 3	$27.08	$1029.10	Motion Picture Production Employee Level 2	A step up in production responsibility from Level 1, still under close supervision.
Grade 4	$27.97	$1062.90	Trainee · Assistant Technician · Assistant Hair or Make-up Artist · Wardrobe Assistant · Broadcast Operator (radio)	Assistant and trainee-level roles across TV, radio and production — learning the craft under direct supervision.
Grade 5	$29.45	$1119.10	Technician B · Audio/Lighting Operator B · Camera Operator B · Hair or Make-up Artist (trade) · Radio Technician	Trade-level technical or craft skill, working with only routine supervision — the award’s "standard rate" grade.
Grade 6	$30.38	$1154.30	Technician B+ · Vision Switcher · Graphic Artist · Set Designer · Scenic Artist	A grade above Grade 5 technical or craft work — more autonomy and a broader skill set.
Grade 7	$31.30	$1189.40	Technician A · Camera Operator A · Floor Manager · Senior Make-Up Artist · Announcer Class 2	Senior operator or on-air role — running equipment or a floor without constant oversight.
Grade 8	$32.13	$1221.10	Technician A+ · Audio/Lighting Director · Trainee Director or Producer · Announcer Grade 1 · Broadcaster/Journalist Class 1	Senior technical direction or on-air leadership — the grade most working broadcast journalists and directors-in-training sit at.
Grade 9	$33.04	$1255.40	Senior Technician B · Senior Audio/Lighting Director B · Director · Floor Manager (major production)	Directing or leading technical operations on a full production, not just a shift.
Grade 10	$33.77	$1283.10	Presentation Co-ordinator · Performer Grade 2 · Radio Engineer	Senior presentation, engineering or on-screen performance responsibility.
Grade 11	$34.46	$1309.50	Senior Technician A · Senior Audio/Lighting Director A · Senior Photographer · Chief Engineer (radio)	The senior specialist tier — deep technical authority across a broadcast or production operation.

Classification is role-based, not competency-based: clause 13.2 lists the exact job titles that "include" each grade (e.g. "Technician A", "Floor Manager", "Announcer Class 2") — match the role to the list rather than judging skill level in the abstract.
The ladder continues above this table to Grade 18 ($42.61/hour) for supervising directors, senior engineers and Motion Picture Production Employee Levels 8–10 — genuinely senior production and engineering leadership.
Cinema workers are classified completely separately, on a 7-level scale (Schedule D.1) with their own rates ($28.56–$35.68/hour) that already fold in an 8% loading in place of Sunday penalties — don’t apply the entertainment grades or this calculator’s bucket rates to cinema staff.
Journalists, artists and musicians named within a grade may also have industry-specific conditions in Schedules C, E and F that sit alongside the grade rate — check the relevant schedule for anything beyond pay.

Allowances that can apply on top

Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Broadcasting and Cinemas 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 — full-time employees$22.38/week

First aid allowance — part-time and casual employees$0.59/hour, capped at $22.38/week

Meal allowance — television broadcasting, overtime worked without notice$24.39 per meal

Uniform allowance — required uniform (wardrobe/laundry)$1.55 per rostered day, capped at $7.61/week

Vehicle allowance — own car used for work$1.00/km

Vehicle allowance — own motorcycle used for work$0.52/km

Travel and location reimbursements — transport, change of residence, air/rail/sea travel while working awayReimbursed at actual/reasonable cost (clause 15.4 and stream-specific clauses) — not a fixed dollar figure

Recall to workMinimum engagement per recall, amount varies by classification and day — see clause 31 and the FWO pay guide’s recall rate tables

Annual leave loading17.5% on paid annual leave (standard NES loading)

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 Broadcasting and Cinemas 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 Broadcasting and Cinemas Award requires:

Meal breakA meal break of at least 30 minutes in every stream — television, radio, journalists, cinemas and motion picture production each have their own clause, with timing variable by agreement.

Break between shiftsAt least 10 consecutive hours off duty between shifts (radio, journalist and production streams).

From the award’s sector-specific breaks clauses (clauses 30, 39–41, 50, 60 and 78–79). Check the clause for your stream before rostering.

Calculate a week under the Broadcasting and Cinemas 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 hoursTelevision broadcasting rate (clause 32) — the award’s other streams (radio, cinema) have their own tables; see the FAQ.Sunday hoursPublic holiday hours

Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000091) — 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 grade minimums are the adult entertainment-scale rates from clause 13.3, current at 1 July 2026, using the television broadcasting penalty and overtime rules as the reference stream. Radio, cinema, journalists, artists and musicians have their own schedules layered on top. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.

Why does the calculator only go to Grade 11?

Grades 12–18 cover senior supervising directors, senior engineers and the most senior motion picture production levels — genuinely rare hires for most employers using this award. If you’re classifying at that level, go straight to clause 13.2 and 13.3.

Do cinema staff use this calculator?

No — cinema workers are classified on a separate 7-level scale (Schedule D.1) with rates that already include an 8% component in lieu of Sunday penalties. Applying this calculator’s weekend buckets to a cinema roster would double up that loading.

Does super apply to weekend penalties?

Yes — Saturday, Sunday and public holiday penalties on ordinary hours are ordinary-time earnings, so the 12% super guarantee applies. True overtime is excluded. The calculator applies exactly that split.

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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