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INStevedoring Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Stevedoring Award actually pays — the right grade, shift and public holiday loadings, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Stevedoring Award is applied
- Minimum rates are set per grade — the calculator uses the adult weekly rates from clause 16.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, converted to hourly by dividing by 35 (this award’s ordinary week — not the usual 38).
- Casuals get a 25% loading, and the shift-penalty percentages above already include it.
- Shiftwork penalties (evening 150%, night 200%, and the Saturday/Sunday shift rates) apply only to rostered shiftworkers’ ordinary hours — a day worker who simply works a Saturday or Sunday is being paid overtime, not an ordinary-hours penalty, so those hours should go through the calculator’s overtime hours field instead.
- Overtime has no 1.5x first-tier: full-time and guaranteed-wage day workers jump straight to 200% for all overtime Monday to Saturday and 250% on Sunday or a public holiday (clause 21.3) — casuals are paid 250% and 312.5% (the casual loading is already folded into those figures, so don’t add 25% on top).
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including shift and public-holiday penalties on ordinary hours — but not to overtime.
- All-purpose allowances (electrician’s licence, specialist functions) are added to the base rate before penalties and overtime are calculated — the calculator’s allowance total sits alongside the wage estimate rather than inside it, so add all-purpose amounts back into the hourly base if you’re building a payslip.
Who the award covers
- Loading and unloading cargo into or from a ship, including transporting and storing it at or near a wharf
- Stevedoring employees Grade 1 to Grade 7 — operational, clerical, security and maintenance functions
- Terminal operations staff working container, bulk and general cargo terminals
- Casual and guaranteed-wage stevedoring labour engaged by stevedoring employers
- Maintenance tradespeople employed within a stevedoring operation
Port Authorities Award, Coal Export Terminals Award and Sugar Industry Award cover their own workforces, and maintenance contractors sit under the Manufacturing Award or the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award — check before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The Stevedoring Award has one classification ladder with seven grades, set out in Schedule A — classify by the skills, equipment and responsibility the role actually requires, not the job title. Most terminal and wharf hires sit at Grade 2 or 3; the grades above are for heavy equipment, supervision and planning work.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | $27.95 | $978.10 | New starter undergoing induction | Undergoing induction and initial training, prior to appointment as a Grade 2 employee. |
| Grade 2 | $28.71 | $1004.90 | ITV/small forklift operator · Lashing and unlashing · Container packing/unpacking | Completed induction and initial training, demonstrated competence: small mechanical equipment, shipboard and wharf duties, basic clerical and security tasks. |
| Grade 3 | $30.02 | $1050.70 | Heavy forklift/straddle carrier operator · Ship’s gear operator · Security or first aid (primary duty) | Additional training in clerical and/or operational skills: heavy mechanical equipment, semi-skilled maintenance, or security/first aid as a primary function. |
| Grade 4 | $31.75 | $1111.10 | Crane operator (portainer, gantry) · Maintenance tradesperson · Refrigeration plant monitor | Specialised or complex ship’s gear and cranes, trade qualification, or clerical work under general supervision requiring initiative. The award’s ‘standard rate’. |
| Grade 5 | $32.41 | $1134.20 | Key shift operator · Work co-ordinator · Senior clerical co-ordinator | A key operational employee on a shift who co-ordinates others, works from a plan, and liaises with supervisors. |
| Grade 6 | $34.56 | $1209.50 | Operations supervisor · Clerical area supervisor · Special-class maintenance tradesperson | Co-ordinates and supervises stevedoring operations and personnel, or supervises a clerical work area. |
| Grade 7 | $38.91 | $1362.00 | Operations planner/controller | Plans, controls, co-ordinates and integrates stevedoring operations and staff across vessels and cargoes. |
- Grade 1 exists only for people who are still being inducted — as soon as training is complete and competence is demonstrated, the employee moves to Grade 2.
- The jump from Grade 2 to Grade 3 is about equipment and responsibility: heavy forklifts, straddle carriers and ships’ gear, or a primary security/first-aid duty.
- Grade 4 is the award’s ‘standard rate’ ($1,111.10/week from 1 July 2026) — specialised crane operation, trade qualification, or clerical work needing real initiative all sit here, and every wage-related allowance is expressed as a percentage of it.
- Grades 5–7 track supervision and planning, not just physical skill: co-ordinating others on a shift (Grade 5), supervising operations or a clerical area (Grade 6), or planning and integrating whole vessel operations (Grade 7).
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Stevedoring 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 Stevedoring 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 Stevedoring Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clause (clause 15). Verify the current award text before relying on it.
Calculate a week under the Stevedoring 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 35 hours is priced as overtime; super is applied to ordinary-time earnings only.
Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000053) — 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 weekly rates from clause 16.1, current at 1 July 2026, converted to hourly by dividing by 35 (this award’s ordinary week). Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser — junior and training arrangements aren’t modelled here.
Why is the ordinary week 35 hours instead of 38?
The Stevedoring Award sets full-time ordinary hours as an average of 35 hours a week (clause 13.1(a)), and the hourly rate is calculated by dividing the weekly rate by 35 (clause 16.2) — not the 38-hour week used by most other awards. The calculator’s overtime threshold is set to 35 to match.
My day workers worked Saturday — is that a penalty rate or overtime?
Overtime. Unlike many awards, day workers here don’t get an ordinary-hours Saturday or Sunday penalty rate — Saturday/Sunday day work is paid entirely through the overtime clause (200% Saturday, 250% Sunday for full-time/guaranteed wage; 250%/312.5% for casuals), with no lower first-tier. Only rostered shiftworkers get the clause 23.2 shift-penalty rates for ordinary hours.
Does super apply to shift penalties?
Yes — shift, weekend and public-holiday loadings 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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