Junior pay rates are changing from December 2026, but not in hospitality

An 18-year-old casual on the counter at a food court burger place earns $24.34 an hour. An 18-year-old casual carrying plates at the sit-down cafe twenty metres away earns $23.70. From 1 December 2026 the first one is due a pay rise and the second one isn't, and the only thing separating them is which award covers the venue.

On 31 March 2026 the Fair Work Commission decided to phase out junior rates for 18, 19 and 20 year olds. It covers three awards: the General Retail Industry Award, the Fast Food Industry Award and the Pharmacy Industry Award. The Hospitality Award and the Restaurant Award were not part of that case, so if you work in a pub, a bar, a cafe or a restaurant, that decision does not touch your rate.

Short version: if you're 18 to 20 in retail, fast food or pharmacy and you've been with the same employer more than 6 months, you move to the full adult rate, phased in from 1 December 2026. Under 18, nothing changes. If you're on the Hospitality Award (MA000009) or the Restaurant Award (MA000119), your junior percentage is unchanged, though hospitality already pays the adult rate to some juniors regardless of age. The dates and percentages below are still the Commission's provisional view and more hearings are to come. This is general information, not legal advice.

What the Commission actually decided

The rule is short. A junior aged 18, 19 or 20 who has been employed by the same employer for more than 6 months gets 100% of the adult rate for their classification. Juniors still inside their first 6 months stay on the old percentages, and rates for under 18s do not change at all. The Commission wants to get there in 5 percentage point steps, roughly every six months, over about four years.

Treat those dates as a plan rather than a promise. The Commission published them as a provisional view and said it would hear the parties again on timing and transitional arrangements before making the determinations. The Fair Work Ombudsman's own page puts it carefully: the changes could start from 1 December 2026.

Which award are you actually on?

This is the part that decides whether any of it reaches you, and your job title is useless for working it out. The Fast Food Award covers food and drink sold mainly to be eaten away from the point of sale, including outlets in food courts, shopping centres and retail complexes. It then explicitly carves out coffee shops, cafes, bars and restaurants providing primarily a sit-down service.

The junior ladders, side by side

A junior rate is a percentage of the adult rate for your classification. Those percentages are not the same from award to award, and this is where the assumption that hospitality is missing out starts to fall apart.

A 20-year-old in hospitality is already on the full adult rate, and has been for years. A 19-year-old is on 85%, not the 80% their mate in fast food gets. Read the December change for what it is: retail and fast food catching up to where hospitality already sits at 19 and 20, then moving past it at 18. If you're unsure which award covers your venue, our guide to the Australian hospitality awards walks through the boundaries.

The hospitality rule almost nobody mentions

Clause 13.5 of the Hospitality Award says junior employees working as liquor service employees must be paid as an adult at the classification rate for the work being performed. A liquor service employee is defined as someone employed to sell or dispense liquor in bars, bottle departments or shops, including cellar staff. There is no age condition and no waiting period. The Restaurant Award carries the same rule.

An 18-year-old pouring beers is on $33.85 an hour as a casual. An 18-year-old carrying plates at the same pub, on the same award, at the same level, is on $23.70.

That's $10.15 an hour apart, and it isn't an error. Both are Level 2 food and beverage attendants under MA000009, because the Level 2 definition covers dispensing liquor and general waiting duties. One is a liquor service employee and one is not. Across a 30-hour week, before any penalty rates, that's $304.50.

What it's worth in dollars

Here's the same 18-year-old casual working ordinary Monday to Friday hours, in three jobs you could walk between in five minutes. Figures are award minimums from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.

The December figure is our own calculation: 75% of the current fast food level 1 adult rate of $27.81, plus the 25% casual loading. The Commission has not published dollar rates, and the adult rate itself moves at every annual wage review. On 20 hours a week that fast food casual gains about $35 a week, or roughly $1,800 across a year at today's rates. The cafe worker gains nothing, and the bar worker was never behind in the first place.

What to do with this

1. Work out your award from the venue, not your title. Primarily sit-down service means Hospitality or Restaurant. Counter and takeaway means Fast Food. Your letter of offer or payslip should name it, and if it doesn't, ask.
2. Check your classification as well as your age. The junior percentage is applied to the adult rate for your level, so being graded a level too low shrinks the base and the percentage at once. Most floor and bar staff belong at Level 2 or higher.
3. Pouring or selling liquor in hospitality? Check your rate today. Clause 13.5 isn't conditional on turning 21 or on six months of service. It applies from your first shift on the bar, in the bottle department or in the cellar.
4. In fast food, retail or pharmacy, write down your start date. The adult rate depends on more than 6 months with that employer, and it resets when you change employers. That date is now worth money.
5. Compare your payslip against the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool each time your age or level changes. If there's a gap, ask before you escalate. Most of them turn out to be a stale classification rather than anything deliberate.

Where Shiftly comes in

Knowing your correct rate is only half of it. The other half is seeing what a shift pays before you commit to it. Shiftly is free workforce management for venues with an on-demand staffing network built in, so the roster fills itself instead of a manager ringing around at 4pm. For you, that means nearby venues post open shifts straight to the network, you see the venue, the hours and the pay before you accept, and you get paid fast once the shift is done. It's a way to find work and a calculation tool to help you check the numbers, not a payroll provider, and it leaves you with your own record of every shift you've worked. Find shifts on Shiftly.

Frequently asked questions

Am I paid the adult rate at 18?

In hospitality, only if you're a liquor service employee, meaning you sell or dispense liquor in a bar, bottle department or shop. Everyone else at 18 under the Hospitality or Restaurant Award is on 70% of the adult rate for their classification, and the December 2026 change does not alter that. In fast food, retail and pharmacy, 18-year-olds start climbing in 5 point steps from 1 December 2026 and reach the full adult rate on 1 July 2029, as long as they've been with the same employer for more than 6 months.

Does the junior rates decision apply to the Hospitality Award?

No. The case was brought by the SDA and covered the General Retail Industry Award, the Fast Food Industry Award and the Pharmacy Industry Award only. The Hospitality Award (MA000009) and the Restaurant Award (MA000119) were not in it, and no equivalent decision has been made for them. Worth knowing that hospitality already pays 100% at 20 and 85% at 19, which is ahead of where fast food sits today.

I work at a cafe in a shopping centre. Which award am I on?

It turns on whether the service is primarily sit-down. The Fast Food Award covers food and drink sold in food courts, shopping centres and retail complexes, but it specifically excludes coffee shops, cafes, bars and restaurants providing primarily a sit-down service inside the establishment. A counter-service outlet using shared food court seating is usually fast food. A cafe with its own tables and table service is usually the Restaurant Award. If the cafe sits inside a hotel or pub, it's likely the Hospitality Award instead.

Is 1 December 2026 locked in?

Not yet. The Commission set the dates and percentages out as a provisional view and said it would give the parties a further opportunity to be heard on timing and transitional arrangements before making the determinations that change the awards. The Fair Work Ombudsman's page, published 8 April 2026, says the changes could start from 1 December 2026 and that further hearings are still to be held. Check the Fair Work Ombudsman before you count on a date.