Part-time jobs for uni students in Sydney, ranked by real pay: what hospitality, retail, tutoring and delivery are worth per hour

A first-year working the counter at a Westfield shoe shop can out-earn the same student pulling beers in a Newtown pub. On a 15-hour week fitted around lectures, the shop pays $646.63 and the bar pays $615.20, both at the award floor. The delivery rider doing the same 15 hours gets $469.50, and only if every one of those hours had a job in it.

Most of the lists ranking for this search are averages scraped from job ads, some below the legal minimum. This one prices each common student job at the floor the law actually sets, from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, then runs the same week through each.

Quick answer: at entry level, retail (General Retail Award) pays the most per award hour in Sydney, hospitality is close behind and wins on late nights, fast food pays least on Sundays, and food delivery has a lower floor that only counts time spent on a job. Tutoring pays the most per hour but rarely fills 15 hours. All figures are adult casual minimums. This is general information, not financial, legal or migration advice.

The hourly floor for each job

Casual rates below include the 25% casual loading. The national minimum wage is $26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026, so any casual job paying under $33.05 an hour to an adult is worth a second look. Retail and fast food figures are Level 1, the grade most new starters land in. Hospitality is shown at Level 2, the standard grade for bar and floor work.

Two things jump out. Fast food Level 1 gets only 150% on a Sunday, not 175%, so a Sunday on the burger counter pays $6.95 an hour less than a Sunday in a shop. And retail's 150% after 6pm on weekdays is the most generous evening rate of the lot, which is why a late-night trading shift at the shops pays so well.

The same 15-hour week, priced five ways

Here's a timetable-friendly week most uni students can actually hold: Thursday 4pm to 9pm after class, then five hours on Saturday and five on Sunday. Fifteen hours, priced at the award floor in each job.

How the Thursday works: in retail, two hours at $34.76 then three after 6pm at $41.72. In hospitality, three hours at $33.85 then two after 7pm at $36.80 (the base rate plus the award's flat $2.95 evening amount). Fast food's evening rate doesn't start until 10pm, so all five hours are at $34.76.

Every employee job in that table also gets 12% super paid on top, which is another $77.60 on the retail week and $73.82 on the hospitality week. That money lands in your fund, not your bank account, but it is still yours.

The gap between the best and worst job on the same 15 hours is $177.13 a week. Across a 26-week uni year, that's about $4,600.

Why the bar still gets more students than the shop

On paper the shop wins. In practice, the hours decide it. Most Sydney shopping centres are shut by 9pm, while a bar or restaurant trades through the hours you're actually free: Friday and Saturday nights, and after midnight, when hospitality adds $4.42 an hour to every weekday hour. A shop can't offer you a Friday 6pm to 1am. A pub can, and often needs it filled at short notice.

• Hospitality has more shifts at the edges of the week, which is where a uni timetable has gaps.
• Tips are on top of the award rate in hospitality and rare in retail. Read what a card tip leaves you after tax before you count on them.
• Your level matters more than your job title. A student mixing drinks and running a section is not doing Level 1 work. Check your grade against your duties.
• Bar work in NSW needs an RSA. It's a short course and opens most of the late shifts. Our guide to the RSA and the tickets that get you more shifts covers what each one costs.

Delivery and tutoring: the two that aren't jobs

Both are contractor work, so you'll need an ABN, you handle your own tax, and nobody adds award penalty rates. That changes what the headline rate means.

Delivery pays on engaged time only

The Fair Work Commission's interim order for food and grocery delivery started on 17 August 2026. It sets a floor of $31.30 an hour on foot, a pedal bike or an e-bike, $31.50 on a motorbike and $32 in a car, worked out over an earnings period of up to 21 days. It only counts engaged time, and it doesn't include penalty rates, so Sunday pays what Tuesday pays.

If three quarters of your logged-on time turns into jobs (yours will differ, and no official figure exists), those 15 engaged hours take 20 hours of your week. That's about $23.48 per hour you gave up, before fuel, repairs or your phone plan. Our post on the gig pay floor against a bar shift runs the full comparison.

Tutoring pays best but rarely fills a week

English tutors on Airtasker in Sydney ask between $40 and $93 a session, with a median of $67. Fifteen booked hours at the median would be $1,005, but almost no student tutor books that many. Four regular students is a strong book, which is about $268 a week, with unpaid travel and preparation on top. Tutoring works best stacked on top of a casual job, not instead of one.

International students: the 48-hour line

A Student visa (subclass 500) lets you work up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session, counting every job combined, and unlimited hours during scheduled course breaks. The 15-hour week above uses 30 of those 48, so there's room for one more longer shift a week. The cap is on hours, not earnings, which means the jobs that pay most per hour are worth more to you than to anyone else.

1. Spend your capped hours on weekends, evenings and public holidays first. Our student visa work hours guide shows what 48 hours pays depending on which shifts you take.
2. Keep every Monday-to-Sunday pair of weeks at or under 48 hours, across all your jobs.
3. Get your tax residency right before your first payslip. Read whether international students can claim the tax-free threshold.
4. Line up extra shifts before the summer break, when the cap comes off.

Under 21? The retail and fast food figures above are adult rates. A 19-year-old casual on Level 1 retail gets 80% of the adult rate ($27.81 a weekday hour), while a 19-year-old in hospitality gets 85%, and a 20-year-old in hospitality is already on the full adult rate. Retail and fast food junior rates for 18 to 20 year olds start changing from 1 December 2026; here's how.

Finding shifts that fit around uni

The best-paid student job is the one with shifts at the hours your timetable leaves open. Shiftly is free workforce management for venues with an on-demand staffing network built in, available along the east coast of Australia. Workers on the network get offered nearby hospitality shifts, see the venue, the hours and the rate before they accept, and get paid fast once the shift is done.

It's contractor work, so you'll need an ABN and you look after your own tax, with rates at or above award minimums plus super. Pick up a Saturday when you've got a free one, skip exam week without asking anyone. Find shifts on Shiftly.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best paying part-time job for uni students in Sydney?

Per award hour at entry level, retail edges out hospitality and fast food, mainly because of its 150% rate after 6pm on weekdays and 175% on Sundays. Tutoring pays more per hour but rarely provides steady hours. Hospitality catches up on late nights and offers far more shifts outside a uni timetable.

How much can an international student earn in Australia?

There's no limit on earnings, only on hours: 48 a fortnight during the semester and unlimited during scheduled breaks. A 15-hour week of casual hospitality or retail at the 2026 award floor pays roughly $590 to $650 before tax, plus super. More hours on weekends lift that faster than more weekday hours.

Can I get a part-time job in Sydney with no experience?

Yes. Retail Level 1, fast food Level 1 and hospitality Level 1 are entry grades, and the Hospitality Award also has an Introductory level ($32.18 casual). An RSA certificate is the single fastest way to open up bar shifts. Our guide on how to find casual bar and cafe shifts in Sydney covers where to look.

Is $25 an hour a fair rate for a casual student job?

Not for an adult employee. The national minimum wage is $26.44 an hour from 1 July 2026, and casuals get a 25% loading on top, so an adult casual on the lowest rate should see at least $33.05. Junior rates, and contractor work like delivery or tutoring, follow different rules.