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INSilviculture Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Silviculture Award actually pays — the right worker grade, the loaded ordinary rate the award really uses, weekend overtime, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Silviculture Award is applied
- Minimum rates come from clause 15.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 — but the calculator uses the award’s ordinary rate, which already folds in the all-purpose industry ($42.10/week) and special ($7.70/week) allowances via the award’s own formula (× 52 ÷ 50.4). That loaded rate is the legal base for every hour, penalty and overtime calculation.
- Casuals get a 25% loading, the weekend percentages in the calculator already include it, and every casual engagement carries a 2-hour minimum.
- Ordinary hours sit strictly at 5am–5pm Monday to Friday — weekend work is always overtime: Saturday 150% for the first 2 hours then 200%, Sunday a flat 200% with a 4-hour minimum (casuals: add 25 points to each).
- Weekday overtime beyond 38 hours or outside the span pays 150% for the first 2 hours, then 200% (casuals: 175% / 225%) — and employees get 10 consecutive hours off after overtime, or every hour is 200% until they do.
- Public holidays pay 250% (275% casual) with a 4-hour minimum — and Easter Saturday gets the same 250%, a quirk this award shares with few others.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings — but not to overtime. And since weekends here are overtime, a Saturday crew day usually attracts no super at all.
Who the award covers
- Planting, pruning and fertilising trees in forests and plantations
- Any other activity in or connected with establishing or cultivating forest trees
- Forest seed collection and propagation work
- Fire-guard duties and bushfire fighting, including tree felling as part of fire suppression
- Tree measuring, treemarking and forest assessment field work
- Labour hire and group training staff placed into silviculture businesses
This award stops at establishing and cultivating the trees — harvesting and processing timber belongs to the Timber Industry Award. Plant nurseries outside forests follow the Nursery Award, farm and grazing work the Pastoral Award, and fruit and vegetable growing the Horticulture Award.
Which level is your team member?
The Silviculture Award has one ladder with six worker grades, and it classifies by occupation, not seniority: the award names the jobs at each grade outright — planter, chainsaw operator, tree climber, storeperson in charge. Find the listed occupation that matches the work; if nothing matches, the award’s own catch-all puts the employee at Grade 2.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | $29.35 | $1115.30 | Labourer (first 3 months) | The entry grade: a labourer with less than 3 months’ experience in the silviculture and afforestation industry. |
| Grade 2 | $30.39 | $1154.90 | Tree planter · Pruner · Fertilising hand · Seed collector (fallen trees) · Field-data collector | The industry’s core crew work: planting, pruning, thinning, assessment, fertilising, fire-guard and fire pump work, slasher operation, survival counts and field surveys — and anyone not elsewhere classified. |
| Grade 3 | $30.90 | $1174.30 | Chainsaw operator · Fencer · Powder monkey · Propagator · Bushfire fighter | Certificated or higher-risk work: chainsaws and portable power saws, explosives, certified fire-guard and fire pump duties, seed collection from standing trees, and firefighting including incidental tree felling. The award’s “standard rate”. |
| Grade 4 | $31.63 | $1201.80 | Tree climber · Tree measurer · Treemarker · Tool sharpener · Storeperson | Skilled specialist work: climbing, measuring and marking trees, sharpening tools, or running stores duties. |
| Grade 5 | $32.18 | $1223.00 | Storeperson in charge | Responsible for the store — inventory, picking and the recording systems that go with it. |
| Grade 6 | $32.43 | $1232.50 | Tree measurer (in charge) | The top grade: leads the tree measuring work. |
- Grade 1 has a clock on it: it only covers a labourer’s first 3 months in the industry — after that, planting and pruning crew work is Grade 2.
- Equipment and risk mark Grade 3: chainsaws, explosives (powder monkey), certified fire duties and bushfire fighting — the moment a planter picks up a chainsaw as part of the job, the grade question is live.
- Grades 4–6 are named specialist roles — tree climbers, measurers and markers at Grade 4, then “in charge” versions of stores (Grade 5) and measuring (Grade 6).
- The grade rates shown here are the award’s loaded ordinary rates — the industry and special allowances are already inside them, so don’t add those two on top.
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Silviculture 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 Silviculture 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 Silviculture Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clause (clause 14). Verify the current award text before relying on it.
Calculate a week under the Silviculture 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, MA000040) — 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 built from clause 15.1 at 1 July 2026 — but deliberately from the “ordinary weekly rate” column, not the bare minimum. This award defines the ordinary rate as the minimum plus the industry and special allowances, times 52, divided by 50.4 — and every penalty and overtime figure in the award is a percentage of that loaded rate. Paying penalties off the bare minimum is the classic underpayment here. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm with the award or your payroll adviser.
Do I owe weekend penalty rates?
Not as penalties — as overtime. Ordinary hours can only run 5am–5pm Monday to Friday, so any Saturday work pays overtime at 150% for the first 2 hours and 200% after (casuals 175%/225%), and Sunday is a flat 200% (225%) with a 4-hour minimum. Easter Saturday is the outlier: 250% (275% casual) all day.
How does piecework fit in?
By written agreement only, with a hard floor: a pieceworker must always receive at least what they would have earned at the ordinary hourly rate for their grade. If piece earnings fall below that award amount for 3 consecutive shifts, the employee can end the agreement unilaterally on 48 hours’ written notice.
Which grade for a planting crew?
Grade 2 — the award lists planting, pruning, fertilising and thinning there by name, and it’s also the catch-all for anyone not elsewhere classified. New labourers can sit at Grade 1 for their first 3 months only. The moment someone runs a chainsaw or takes on certified fire duties, they’re Grade 3.
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.
