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Pastoral Award Pay Calculator

Work out what a week under the Pastoral Award actually pays — the right farm and livestock level, casual loading, overtime and super, calculated the way the award says (and without inventing weekend penalties it doesn’t have).

How the Pastoral Award is applied

Minimum rates are the adult Broadacre rates from clause 32.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 — confirmed against the FWO’s official pay guide.
Casuals get a 25% loading, and the percentages in the calculator already include it.
There are no evening or weekend penalties on ordinary hours — 38 ordinary hours are averaged over 4 weeks (capped at 152 per 4 weeks) and can be rostered on any day, Sunday included, at the plain rate.
Overtime beyond the ordinary hours is a flat 150% (175% casual) Monday to Saturday — no second tier. Sunday overtime is 200% (225% casual), except feeding and watering stock, which stays at 150%.
Public holiday work pays 200% (225% casual), and overtime and public-holiday rates are calculated before any deduction for keep.
Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings — but not to overtime. And the trap: where keep (board) is provided, up to $165.86/week may be deducted, but never from the base used for overtime and holiday rates.

Who the award covers

Management, breeding, rearing and grazing of livestock or poultry — stations, cattle and sheep properties
Shearing and crutching of sheep, and classing and pressing of wool on farms
Dairy farming
Hatchery work
Broadacre field crops grown as part of a broadacre mixed farming enterprise
Pig breeding and raising

Fruit, vegetable and nursery growing sit under the Horticulture and Nursery Awards, and planting trees in forests under the Silviculture Award — unless the work is part of a broadacre mixed farming enterprise. Check before you classify.

Which level is your team member?

The Pastoral Award runs five separate streams — broadacre farming and livestock, pig breeding, poultry, and shearing operations — each with its own ladder and rates. This calculator models the main one: the eight farm and livestock hand (FLH) levels, where experience and autonomy set the level. Pick the stream first, then the level; the same level number pays differently in different streams.

Level	Per hour	Per week (38h)	Typical roles	The test
FLH 1	$25.74	$978.10	Station hand (first 6 months) · Station cook or offsider · Dairy operator grade 1A · Feedlot hand (first 3 months)	The entry level: routine mustering, fence repairs, repetitive packing and kitchen help under direct supervision — or set-procedure dairy work like milking, haymaking and fencing.
FLH 2	$26.44	$1004.90	Station hand (6–12 months) · Cattle farm worker grade B · Forklift or tractor operator	Works under routine supervision, answers for the quality of their own work and uses discretion within their skills — sorting and branding stock, assisting a tradesperson. The award’s “standard rate”.
FLH 3	$26.49	$1006.80	Station hand (12+ months) · Experienced dairy or feedlot hand	At least 12 months’ experience with a broader range of tasks and greater autonomy — but not yet meeting the senior station hand definition.
FLH 4	$27.08	$1029.10	Feedlot employee level 2 · Broader-skilled cattle or dairy hand	Around 2 years’ feedlot experience, working under routine supervision with only intermittent checking — or equivalent dairy and cattle competencies.
FLH 5	$27.55	$1046.90	Senior station hand · Dairy operator grade 2	Two years’ experience applying skills across multiple operations, with basic problem solving and decision making.
FLH 6	$27.97	$1062.90	Feedlot employee level 3 (Cert III) · Senior dairy or cattle hand	Certificate III qualified with at least 2 years’ experience, working with limited supervision.
FLH 7	$29.45	$1119.10	Senior dairy operator grade 1 · Farm process coordinator	Coordinates a whole farm process or area of expertise — milking and animal attendance, pasture and farm maintenance, breeding programs and artificial insemination.
FLH 8	$31.64	$1202.50	Senior dairy operator grade 2	The top level: under the owner’s or manager’s direction, uses expertise to supervise and maintain the operation of a dairy farm.

The calculator covers the Broadacre Farming and Livestock stream (FLH1–FLH8) — the award’s main ladder for stations, cattle, sheep and dairy. Piggery attendants (PA1–7), poultry farm workers (PW1–4) and shearing teams have their own tables in the award.
Time in the industry drives the early levels: a station hand is FLH1 for the first 6 months, FLH2 from 6–12 months, FLH3 after a year — genuinely senior station hands jump to FLH5.
Qualifications matter higher up: Certificate III with 2 years’ experience is FLH6, and the top two levels are about coordinating whole farm processes, not just doing the work.
Shearing is piecework, not an hourly ladder — shearers are paid per 100 sheep and woolclassers per 1,000, with weekly minimums only for shed hands, experts and woolclassers.

Allowances that can apply on top

Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Pastoral 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 first aid officer with a current qualification (all-purpose)$0.49/hour ($18.62/week at 38 hours)

Leading hand allowance — in charge of 2–6 employees (all-purpose)$0.80/hour (7–10: $0.93/hour · 11–20: $1.33/hour · more than 20: $1.67/hour)

Horse and saddle allowance — station hand required to find their own$9.63/week horse · $7.69/week saddle

Jetting and spraying allowance — mixing poison or handling the nozzle$4.49/day (also for swabbing sheep beyond 3 days in a week)

Overtime meal allowance — more than 1.5 hours’ overtime after ordinary hours$17.90 per meal (or a suitable meal supplied)

Vehicle allowance — own vehicle used on the employer’s instruction$1.00/km

Travelling — moving between places for workTravel time counts as time worked; overnight accommodation costs reimbursed

Keep (board) provided by the employerA deduction of up to $165.86/week is allowed — never from overtime or holiday pay calculations

Annual leave loading17.5% on paid annual leave (or the rostered penalty earnings if greater)

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 Pastoral 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 Pastoral Award requires:

Meal breakAn unpaid meal break of 30–60 minutes each day, no later than 5 hours after starting ordinary hours (alternative timing by agreement).

Rest breakA paid 10-minute rest break each morning.

Overtime mealWorking 1½+ hours past ordinary hours: the employer supplies a meal or pays a meal allowance.

Shearing crewsShearing operations have their own break structure under Part 9 of the award (the traditional runs and smokos) — not the general clause.

From the award’s breaks clause (clause 12). Verify the current award text before relying on it.

Calculate a week under the Pastoral 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 territoryOrdinary hours (Monday–Saturday)Sunday hours (rostered ordinary)No weekend penalty exists on ordinary hours — a Sunday rostered inside the 38-hour average pays the same as a Tuesday. Sunday overtime is different: 200% (225% casual), or 150% for feeding and watering stockPublic holiday hours

Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000035) — 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?

They’re the adult Broadacre rates from clause 32.1, current at 1 July 2026 and confirmed against the FWO’s official pay guide. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.

What about shearers, piggery and poultry staff?

They sit in their own streams. Shearing is mostly piecework — machine shearing of flock sheep paid per 100, woolclassing per 1,000, woolpressing per bale — with weekly minimums only for shed hands, shearing shed experts and woolclassers. Piggery attendants (PA1–7) and poultry farm workers (PW1–4) have their own level tables at slightly different rates. This calculator models the farm and livestock hand ladder.

Do I owe weekend penalty rates?

Not on ordinary hours — this award doesn’t have them. Ordinary hours average 38 a week over 4 weeks and can be rostered on any day at the plain rate. Weekends only cost more as overtime: Saturday 150%, Sunday 200% — unless the Sunday work is feeding and watering stock, which the award keeps at 150%.

Can I deduct for board and keep?

Yes — where keep is provided, the award allows a deduction of up to $165.86 per week from total weekly wages. Two things to watch: overtime and public-holiday rates must be calculated on the ordinary rate before the keep deduction, and superannuation (12%) still applies to the ordinary-time earnings.

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.