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INPassenger Vehicle Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week driving or supporting a passenger vehicle actually pays — the right classification grade, early/late and weekend penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Passenger Vehicle Award is applied
- Minimum rates are set per classification grade — the calculator uses the adult rates from clause 15.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
- Casuals get a 25% loading, and the early/late and weekend percentages below already include it.
- Early or late work — any ordinary hours before 6am or after 7pm — attracts a 115% penalty (140% casual), separate from the standard Saturday/Sunday penalties. It is easy to miss on split or early-start shifts.
- Overtime applies beyond the rostered ordinary hours: 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200% after that. Unusually, the award’s overtime rate does not add the casual loading on top — the casual rate for overtime is the same percentage as for full-time and part-time employees.
- Penalty rates and overtime are never paid cumulatively — clause 20.1(b) says only the higher of the two applies for any hour worked. Two-driver operations (a driver sharing the wheel with another for a charter, express or tour job) run on a separate penalty table under clause 20.2 that this calculator does not model — check that table directly if it applies.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime. One award-specific trap: paid waiting time (for split-shift coach/bus work) and travelling time are both paid at ordinary rates but do not count toward the 38-hour overtime threshold, so they can inflate a payslip without ever triggering overtime.
Who the award covers
- Bus and coach drivers, including school bus and charter/tour work
- Limousine and hire car drivers (vehicles carrying fewer than 8 passengers)
- Ticketing, conducting and customer-service staff on passenger vehicles
- Yard, vehicle-cleaning, refuelling and tyre-service staff who support the fleet
- Coach attendants and school-bus supervisors travelling with passengers
- Labour hire and group-training staff placed into passenger vehicle transport businesses
Road freight and courier drivers sit under the Road Transport awards, and any employee covered by an enterprise award or agreement is excluded — check coverage before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The Passenger Vehicle Award runs a single six-grade ladder from ancillary, non-driving support work (Grade 1) up to senior supervisory and specialist driving roles (Grade 6). Grade 3 is the standard rate reference point in the award, but most drivers actually sit at Grade 3 or Grade 4 depending on vehicle size and route length — classify by the work the person is required to do, not their job title.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | $27.34 | $1038.80 | Coach attendant · Yard and vehicle cleaner · Tyre and refuelling support · School-children supervisor (non-driving) | Non-driving support work around passenger vehicles — cleaning, refuelling, tyres — or travelling as a coach attendant on long tours. |
| Grade 2 | $27.97 | $1062.90 | Ticketing and conducting officer · Small school bus driver (under 25 children) · Limousine or hire car driver (under 8 passengers) | Ticketing, revenue and customer-service duties, or driving a smaller vehicle — a school bus under 25 children, or a limo/hire car carrying fewer than 8 passengers. |
| Grade 3 | $29.55 | $1122.80 | Large school bus driver (25+ children) · Route service driver (under 25 passengers) · Charter or single-day tour coach driver (under 650km return) | A step up in skill from Grade 2 — driving a bigger school bus, a fixed-route service under 25 passengers, or shorter charter and single-day tour work. |
| Grade 4 | $30.59 | $1162.40 | Route service driver (25+ passengers) · Extended coach tour driver (650km+ return, possible overnight) | Driving a bigger route service (25 or more passengers) or an extended coach tour of 650km or more, which may mean commentary duties or being away overnight. The award’s “standard rate” classification. |
| Grade 5 | $32.27 | $1226.30 | Senior driver · New-driver instructor · Depot operations lead | Sound working knowledge of routes and procedures, some scope to use initiative, and often instructing or inducting newer drivers. |
| Grade 6 | $33.70 | $1280.50 | Senior supervisor · Specialist operations driver | The top grade: advanced skills combined with supervisory or specialist operational responsibility. |
- Vehicle size and passenger count drive the grade for drivers: under 8 passengers or a small school bus (under 25 children) is Grade 2; a bigger school bus (25+) or a shorter charter/route service is Grade 3; a route service or extended coach tour of 25+ passengers is Grade 4.
- Distance matters for coach and tour work: charter or single-day tours under 650km return sit at Grade 3, while extended tours of 650km or more — which may include overnight absence or delivering commentary — lift the driver to Grade 4.
- Grade 1 is broad and non-driving by design: yard work, cleaning, refuelling, tyres, and coach attendants travelling with passengers on long tours all belong here.
- Higher duties are paid immediately: if an employee is required to perform a higher grade’s work for at least 2 hours on a shift or day, the whole shift or day is paid at that higher rate (clause 15.3).
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Passenger Vehicle 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):
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 Passenger Vehicle 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 Passenger Vehicle Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clause (clause 14) and broken-shift rules (clause 13.3). Verify the current award text before relying on it.
Calculate a week under the Passenger Vehicle 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.
Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000063) — 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 the award (clause 15.1), current at 1 July 2026. Junior rates are a percentage of these — 70% under 19, 80% at 19, full adult rate at 20 — except a junior driver aged 18 or over in sole charge of a vehicle, who must be paid the full adult rate for the work. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.
What’s the difference between Grade 3 and Grade 4?
Mostly passenger numbers and distance. Grade 3 covers smaller route services (under 25 passengers) and shorter charter or single-day tours (under 650km return). Grade 4 covers bigger route services (25 or more passengers) and extended coach tours of 650km or more, which can mean overnight absence or delivering commentary to passengers.
Do I owe a penalty for an early-morning school run?
Yes — any ordinary hours worked before 6am count as early work and are paid at 115% (140% for casuals), on top of the driver’s grade rate. It applies to any early or late shift, not just school runs.
Does super apply to the early/late and weekend penalties?
Yes — early/late, Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday penalties on ordinary hours are ordinary-time earnings, so the 12% super guarantee applies. True overtime is excluded, and so is paid waiting/travelling time once it is genuinely outside ordinary hours. 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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Tommy applies the right award rates to every shift as you roster — penalties, loading and super included. Start with your email and your numbers come along.
