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INSugar Industry Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Sugar Industry Award actually pays — the right field-sector classification, weekend and shift rates, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Sugar Industry Award is applied
- Minimum rates are set per sector and classification — the calculator uses the adult field-sector rates from clause 17.1, current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
- Casuals get a 25% loading, and the weekend and public-holiday percentages here already include it: weekend 175%, public holiday 275%.
- Weekends are unusual here: all Saturday and Sunday ordinary hours in the field sector pay a flat 150% — Sunday costs no more than Saturday until overtime starts.
- Overtime applies beyond 38 ordinary weekly hours: 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200% — the award prints casual overtime at 187.5% and 250%. Sunday overtime is 200% (casual 250%), and bulk terminal overtime is a flat 200% (casual 250%) from the first hour.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime.
- The trap: the sector decides everything. The same maintenance work at a mill can’t be paid below C10/L6 ($29.45/hour), and bulk terminals have their own rates, overtime and allowances — don’t apply field rates beyond the farm gate.
Who the award covers
- Cane farming — land preparation, planting, growing and general farm work, including contractors
- Cane harvesting and haul-out contractors and their operators
- Cane testing, plus the pest, disease control, advisory and research work of Cane Protection and Productivity Boards and Sugar Research Australia
- Sugar milling — cane transport and processing, cane railways, factory maintenance and packaging at the mill
- Sugar refineries, distilleries linked to mills, and the industry’s bulk sugar terminals
- Labour hire staff placed into sugar industry businesses
General manufacturing and engineering sits under the Manufacturing Award, farm work outside sugar cane under the Horticulture or Pastoral awards, and road transport beyond cane haulage under the Road Transport and Distribution Award — check before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The Sugar Award splits into three sectors — field, milling/refinery/distillery, and bulk terminals — each with its own classification schedule. The calculator covers the field sector, where most small employers in the industry sit: cultivation, haulage, harvesting and cane testing each run a short ladder graded by autonomy and by the equipment the person can operate, repair and set up.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultivation — Inductee | $25.74 | $978.10 | New farm hand (first weeks in the industry) | A new starter with little or no cane-farming experience — a probation and training grade capped at 240 hours in the first 6 weeks, then moves to Level 1. |
| Cultivation Level 1 | $27.50 | $1044.90 | Farm hand · Tractor and equipment operator | Handles routine tasks with little supervision: operates and services tractors and farm equipment, prepares land, plants, irrigates, and recognises pests and applies chemicals correctly. |
| Cultivation Level 2 | $28.41 | $1079.40 | Senior farm hand · Working supervisor | Self-directed: sets up and significantly repairs all cultivation equipment, welds and does workshop jobs, decides pest and disease control measures, may supervise other farm employees. |
| Cane Haulage Level 1 | $27.50 | $1044.90 | Haul-out driver | Operates cane-hauling vehicles under general supervision and services, maintains and adjusts haulage vehicles and equipment. |
| Cane Haulage Level 2 | $28.41 | $1079.40 | Senior haul-out driver (road prime movers over 53t) | Works without supervision: drives road-transport prime movers and trailers over 53 tonnes, significantly repairs haulage gear, and handles welding and workshop tasks. |
| Cane Harvesting Level 1 | $28.41 | $1079.40 | Harvester operator | Operates any cane harvester without supervision, keeps records, supervises and trains haul-out staff, and significantly repairs and sets up harvesting and hauling equipment. |
| Cane Harvesting Level 2 | $29.45 | $1119.10 | Lead harvester operator · Harvest crew supervisor | Self-directed: directs and trains the harvesting and haulage crew, analyses records, and overhauls, modifies and sets up all harvesting and hauling plant. |
| Cane Tester Level 1 | $26.44 | $1004.90 | Cane tester (Certificate in Laboratory Chemistry — Sugar) | Analyses juice for payment and audit, determines fibre in cane, supervises the sampling system and checks the weighbridge — under general supervision. |
| Cane Tester Level 3 | $28.41 | $1079.40 | Senior cane tester | Self-directed testing work: may supervise Level 1–2 testers, checks farmers’ payment slips and CCS allocation for delayed cane. The stream’s 100% relativity level. |
| Cane Tester Level 4 | $30.16 | $1146.20 | Cane testing supervisor | Runs the testing operation: liaises with mill management and growers on weighing, sampling and CCS, prepares reports, and supervises, trains and assesses staff. |
- The field streams are a career path: cultivation and haulage feed into harvesting — a harvesting trainee must already have worked at cultivation Level 1 or haulage Level 1.
- We show 10 of the 13 field classifications — the haulage and harvesting inductee grades (short probation levels at $26.88 and $27.50/hour) and Cane Tester Level 2 ($26.99) are left out for space.
- Mills, refineries and distilleries use a separate 9-level scale (C14–C6, $25.74–$33.77/hour) — and a sugar mill can’t classify anyone below C10/L6 ($29.45), the award’s standard rate. Bulk terminals run their own BT1–BT7 ladder ($25.74–$36.30).
- Single contract arrangements in the field sector add a 15% loading to the minimum rate — the loaded rates are printed in the award (a cultivation Level 1 moves from $27.50 to $31.63).
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Sugar Industry 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 Sugar Industry 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 Sugar Industry Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clause (clause 16). Verify the current award text before relying on it.
Calculate a week under the Sugar Industry 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, MA000087) — 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 field-sector rates from clause 17.1, current at 1 July 2026. Mills, refineries, distilleries and bulk terminals have their own rate tables, juniors and apprentices their own percentages, and single contract field arrangements add 15%. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.
Why is Sunday only 150%?
The field sector treats Saturday and Sunday the same: all ordinary weekend hours pay 150% of the minimum hourly rate (clause 15.2(c)). The catch is overtime — Sunday overtime runs at 200% (casual 250%) — and the other sectors differ again: mill weekend shifts pay 150%, bulk terminal Sundays 200%.
What is the single contract loading?
A field-sector arrangement that adds 15% to the minimum hourly rate — a cultivation Level 1 moves from $27.50 to $31.63, a harvesting Level 2 from $29.45 to $33.87. The award prints the loaded rates alongside the base rates, so check which one your agreement uses before you set pay.
Does super apply to penalty rates?
Yes — weekend, shift and public-holiday penalties 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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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.
