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Graphic Arts Award Pay Calculator

Work out what a week under the Graphic Arts Award actually pays — the right classification level, weekend and public holiday rates, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.

How the Graphic Arts Award is applied

Minimum rates are set per classification level — the calculator uses the adult Table A rates from clause 17.2, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
Casuals get a 25% loading, part of their all-purpose rate, with a minimum 4-hour engagement (3 hours for publishing-department staff, 2 hours for newspaper collating/inserting).
This award’s distinctive rule: shift loadings are a percentage of the day-work rate, not a flat dollar figure — rotating morning/afternoon/night shift adds 20%, permanent night adds 30%, both payable during overtime too (clause 14.3). It’s an easy award to under-cost if you assume flat-dollar shift pay like some other manufacturing awards.
Overtime applies beyond 38 ordinary weekly hours: 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200% — and for casuals the multiplier applies to their already-loaded rate (clause 28.2(b) NOTE), so casual overtime is 187.5% then 250%, not 175%/225%.
Public holiday work is a flat 250% of the ordinary hourly rate for both ordinary hours and overtime, with a 4-hour minimum payment.
Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty and shift loadings — but not to overtime.

Who the award covers

Printing of all classes — composing, machining, screen printing, lithographic and letterpress work
Publishing — including production of daily and non-daily newspapers
Book-binding, paper ruling and cutting, and paper or cardboard product making (boxes, cartons, envelopes, bags)
Commercial and industrial art, design and layout work for advertising
Mailing houses — folding, collating, wrapping, addressing and inserting
Labour hire and group-training staff placed into a graphic arts, printing or publishing employer

Employees excluded from award coverage by the Fair Work Act, staff on enterprise awards or enterprise instruments, and State reference public sector employees sit outside this award. Plastics manufacturing is only covered to the extent it’s incidental to printing — a general plastics operation isn’t.

Which level is your team member?

The Graphic Arts Award runs one classification ladder from Level 1 to Level 8 — no streams to choose between. Progression is cumulative: each level performs everything the level below does, plus more. Classify by the skill and independence the role genuinely requires, matched against the qualification alignments (Certificate II at Level 4, Trade Certificate/Certificate III at Level 5, Certificate IV at Level 8).

Level	Per hour	Per week (38h)	Typical roles	The test
Level 1	$25.74	$978.10	New starter — induction training	Undertaking up to 38 hours of induction training under direct supervision. This is a transitional step only — the award requires reclassification to Level 2 within 3 months, so don’t treat it as a stable adult rate.
Level 2	$26.44	$1004.90	Machine offsider · Basic materials handler · Manual folding/inserting operator	The award’s substantive floor: basic machine make-ready, materials handling, housekeeping and routine maintenance, working under direct supervision.
Level 3	$27.08	$1029.10	Machine operator (basic equipment) · Junior keyboard/VDU operator	Routine setting, adjustment and operation of basic equipment, non-licensed materials handling, working under direct supervision with some forward-planning input.
Level 4 (Certificate II)	$27.97	$1062.90	Machine operator (varied equipment) · Licensed materials handler	Setting, adjusting and operating a range of equipment, licensed materials handling and intermediate keyboard skills — may hold a Certificate II.
Level 5 (Trade Certificate/Cert III — standard rate)	$29.45	$1119.10	Qualified tradesperson — pre-press, press or post-press	Solves straightforward problems, operates computer-controlled systems under minimal supervision, and is responsible for the work of others. Trade Certificate or Certificate III; the award’s standard rate.
Level 6	$30.38	$1154.30	Senior tradesperson — provides on-the-job training	Set-up and operation of complex machines, on-the-job training of others, and limited discretion under minimal supervision.
Level 7	$31.30	$1189.40	Team coordinator — complex machines	Sets up and operates complex machines, coordinates a team’s work and has thorough knowledge of enterprise processes.
Level 8 (Certificate IV)	$32.13	$1221.10	Senior tradesperson · Production scheduler	High-precision trade skills, routine production scheduling, considerable discretion and supervisory or training responsibility. Certificate IV (with limited exceptions).

Level 1 is a 3-month induction step, not a stable classification — the award requires the employee be reassessed to Level 2 within that time. Budget on Level 2 as the real starting rate.
The jump to Level 5 is the trade line: a trade certificate or Certificate III moves someone from routine machine operation to solving problems and being responsible for others’ work — and sets the award’s standard rate for allowances.
Levels 6–8 are about supervision, training and discretion, not just machine complexity: providing on-the-job training (Level 6), coordinating a team (Level 7), and production scheduling with real discretion (Level 8, Certificate IV).
Apprentices and juniors run on separate percentage scales of Level 5 (apprentices) or Levels 2–4 (juniors, depending on the role) rather than the adult ladder above — don’t apply adult rates to either group.

Allowances that can apply on top

Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Graphic Arts 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$22.72/week (2.03% of the standard rate)

Visual display terminal allowance — VDT/VDU work (all-purpose)$55.96/week (5% of the standard rate)

Inserting allowance — Level 2 employee on manual inserting in a newspaper office (all-purpose)$33.57/week (3% of the standard rate)

Meal allowance — overtime, in the circumstances set out in the award$19.79 per occasion (max one per day/shift)

Shift loading — rotating morning/afternoon/night shift20% of the day-work rate

Shift loading — permanent night shift30% of the day-work rate

Meal-break penalty — required to work through the usual meal break150% of the ordinary hourly rate for the time worked

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 Graphic Arts 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 Graphic Arts Award requires:

Meal breakAn unpaid meal break of 30 minutes to 1 hour — no work period can exceed 5 hours without one (up to 6 hours by agreement).

Meal break timing (day work)Day workers take their meal period between 11am and 2pm.

Working through a meal breakPaid at 150% of the ordinary hourly rate for the time worked during the usual meal break.

From the award’s meal breaks clause (clause 15). Verify the current award text before relying on it.

Calculate a week under the Graphic Arts 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 hours (7am–6pm)Weekday hours outside 7am–6pmWork outside the day-work span is overtime for day workers — 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200% (clause 28.2). Casual overtime is calculated on the casual’s own loaded hourly rate (clause 28.2(b) NOTE), so it multiplies rather than adds the 25% loading — 187.5%, not 175%.Saturday hoursNo ordinary Saturday hours unless separately agreed (clause 13.3(e)) — shown here at the award’s Saturday overtime rate (200% of the overtime hourly rate, clause 28.3), the common case for a business without that agreement. For casuals the overtime hourly rate already includes the 25% loading, so the casual rate is 250%, not 225%.Sunday hoursSame position as Saturday — no ordinary Sunday hours without agreement, so priced at the 200% weekend-overtime rate (clause 28.3), which for casuals multiplies the loading in (250%, not 225%).Public holiday hoursA flat 250% of the ordinary hourly rate for both ordinary hours and overtime, minimum 4 hours (clause 36.3). For casuals the 250% applies to the loaded casual rate, so it multiplies rather than adds the 25% loading — 312.5%, confirmed against the FWO pay guide (Level 1 casual public holiday $80.45 = $25.74 × 3.125).

Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000026) — 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 classification minimums are the adult rates from clause 17.2 (Table A), current at 1 July 2026. Junior and apprentice rates are percentages of Levels 2–5, and shiftworkers carry separate loadings on top of the day-work rate. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.

Is Level 1 a rate I can pay long-term?

No. Level 1 ($978.10/week) is a 3-month induction classification only — the award requires the employee be reclassified to Level 2 ($1,004.90/week, the substantive floor) within that time.

Why are shift loadings a percentage here instead of a flat dollar amount?

Because that’s what this award says — rotating shift adds 20% of the day-work rate and permanent night adds 30%, both scaling with the employee’s classification level. Some other awards (like Business Equipment) pay shift loadings as a flat $/hour instead — it’s a common place to get the maths wrong if you’re used to one style or the other.

Does super apply to penalty and shift loadings?

Yes — weekend, public holiday and shift premiums paid 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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