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INTelecommunications Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the Telecommunications Services Award actually pays — the right classification level, weekend penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the Telecommunications Award is applied
- Minimum rates are set per stream and classification level — the calculator uses the adult Customer Contact rates from clause 15.1(a), current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
- Casuals get a 25% loading on the ordinary hourly rate for the stream and level.
- Weekend penalties are span-based, not day-based: Saturday 7am–1pm is ordinary time, while Saturday hours before 7am or after 1pm and all Sunday hours pay 150% (175% casual) — confirmed against the FWO’s official pay guide.
- Overtime applies beyond 38 ordinary weekly hours: 150% for the first 3 hours, then 200%. Casual overtime is multiplicative — the 25% loading stays in before the multiplier, giving 187.5% then 250% — confirmed against the pay guide.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including any penalty rates — but not to overtime.
- Junior rates apply under 18: 50% at 15, 60% at 16, 70% at 17, full adult rate from 18 — across all three streams.
Who the award covers
- Telecommunications service carriers and carriage or content service providers
- Businesses supplying telecommunications services, including value-added services
- Customer contact centres — sales, service, complaints and fault-enquiry teams
- Clerical and administrative staff supporting a telecommunications business
- Technical staff installing, cabling or maintaining telecommunications equipment and networks
- Labour hire staff placed into a telecommunications services business
Television and radio stations, electrical contractors covered by the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award, equipment manufacturers, and businesses that only install or service equipment without operating it themselves sit outside this award — check clause 4 before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The Telecommunications Services Award runs three separate streams — Customer Contact, Clerical and Administrative, and Technical — each with its own rate table in clause 15 and its own ladder in Schedule A. Work out which stream the role sits in first, then classify by the level of skill and discretion the job genuinely requires.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Contact Trainee | $27.08 | $1029.10 | New starter in structured training | Engaged in a course of training and development to perform customer contact functions; would not normally work without direct or immediate supervision. |
| Customer Contact Officer Level 1 | $27.97 | $1062.90 | Call handler · Data entry operator | Performs a prescribed range of functions with known routines — receiving calls, using call-centre technology, entering and retrieving data — providing at least one specialised service such as sales or complaints handling. |
| Customer Contact Officer Level 2 | $29.45 | $1119.10 | Senior customer service officer · Complex complaints handler | A defined range of skilled operations needing some discretion and judgment — complex sales or service advice, difficult complaints or faults, multiple systems — plus limited leadership of less experienced staff. |
| Principal Customer Contact Specialist | $31.03 | $1179.30 | Specialist customer contact adviser | A broad range of skilled applications, providing leadership and guidance to others in applying and planning those skills. |
| Customer Contact Team Leader | $32.13 | $1221.10 | Team leader · Shift supervisor | A broad range of skilled applications including evaluating and analysing current practices, leading and guiding a team. |
| Principal Customer Contact Leader | $34.46 | $1309.50 | Contact centre manager | Applies a significant range of fundamental principles and complex techniques across a wide and unpredictable variety of contexts, with leadership and responsibility for others’ work. The top of the Customer Contact stream. |
- This calculator models the Customer Contact stream, the most common stream for SMB telco employers — call centre, sales and service teams. Clerical and Technical staff are on separate rate tables described below.
- The Clerical and Administrative stream runs Level 1 ($27.08/hr) to Level 5 ($34.46/hr) — near-identical rates to Customer Contact at the equivalent step, aligned to Certificate I through Diploma qualifications.
- The Technical stream runs from a Telecommunications Trainee ($27.08/hr) through Telecommunications Technician (Certificate III, $31.27/hr) to the senior Telecommunications Associate (Advanced Diploma, $37.24/hr) — the highest rate in the award.
- A Certificate II, III or IV or a Diploma named against a level is the qualification floor for that step — someone genuinely using those skills belongs at least at that level, whichever stream they sit in.
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The Telecommunications 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 Telecommunications 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 Telecommunications Award requires:
From the award’s breaks clause (clause 14). Verify the current award text before relying on it.
Calculate a week under the Telecommunications 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, MA000041) — 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 Customer Contact rates from the award (clause 15.1(a)), current at 1 July 2026 and confirmed against the FWO’s official pay guide — along with the weekend, shift, public-holiday and overtime figures. Junior rates (under 18) are a percentage of these. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.
My employee does clerical or technical work, not customer contact — do these rates apply?
No — the Clerical and Administrative and Technical streams have their own rate tables. The Clerical stream runs near-identical rates to Customer Contact at the equivalent step; the Technical stream tops out higher, at $37.24/hour for a Telecommunications Associate.
How do I know which stream a role sits in?
By the work actually performed, not the job title. Call handling, sales and service enquiries sit in Customer Contact; office and administrative support sits in Clerical; installing, cabling or maintaining equipment sits in Technical.
Does super apply to penalty rates?
Yes — any penalty payments 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.
