Race days, Christmas functions and NYE: where Sydney's extra shifts are this season, and what each pays
A racecourse bar pays a flat $36.49 an hour on Everest Day, a Friday Christmas function pays $214.90 for six hours, and a New Year's Eve close only becomes public holiday money at midnight. Here's where Sydney's seasonal shifts are between now and 1 January, priced shift by shift from the two awards that cover them.
Work New Year's Eve from 4pm to midnight behind a Sydney bar and the award pays you what it pays on any other Thursday: $285.55 for a casual Level 2. Stay until 2am and the last two hours alone are worth $135.40. Sydney's party season is full of shifts like that, where the occasion sounds lucrative and the pay rule underneath says otherwise.
Search for casual event staff jobs or Christmas casual jobs in Sydney and you get pages of listings, none of which tell you what the shift is worth. So here's the season in order: six more race days at the Sydney Everest Carnival, three weekends of Christmas functions, then New Year's Eve rolling into New Year's Day. Two awards, very different money.
Short version: a racecourse bar shift under the Racing Clubs Events Award (MA000013) pays a casual at least $36.49 an hour Monday to Saturday, with a four hour minimum. Christmas functions and NYE mostly fall under the Hospitality Award (MA000009), where a casual Level 2 earns $33.85 on a weekday, $40.62 on a Saturday and $67.70 on a public holiday. New Year's Eve is not a public holiday in NSW. New Year's Day is. Rates are award minimums from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. General information, not legal or financial advice.
Race days: a flat rate and a four hour guarantee
The Sydney Everest Carnival runs from Saturday 19 September to Saturday 7 November 2026 at Royal Randwick and Rosehill Gardens. After TAB Epsom Day on 3 October there are six race days left: 10 October (Rosehill), TAB Everest Day on Saturday 17 October (Randwick), 24 and 31 October (Randwick), the Big Dance on Cup Day on Tuesday 3 November (Randwick) and 7 November (Rosehill).
Staff employed by a racing club have their own award, and it prices bar work differently from a pub. Bar attendants, cashiers and adult glass collectors get one loaded casual rate: $36.49 an hour Monday to Saturday, $49.38 on a Sunday and $61.77 on a public holiday. Every engagement is at least four hours, so a race day is worth $145.96 even if you're sent home early, and there's a flat $5.89 on top if you finish after 10pm.
| When you work | Racecourse bar (MA000013) | Pub, hotel or caterer, Level 2 (MA000009) | Who pays more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday, daytime | $36.49 | $33.85 | Racecourse, by $2.64 |
| Saturday | $36.49 | $40.62 | Pub, by $4.13 |
| Sunday | $49.38 | $47.39 | Racecourse, by $1.99 |
| Public holiday | $61.77 | $67.70 | Pub, by $5.93 |
| Minimum paid per shift | 4 hours | 2 hours | Racecourse |
The catch is the word flat. A pub pays 150% on a Saturday and the racing award doesn't, so on Everest Day the track's minimum sits $4.13 an hour under the pub across the road, and on Cup Day, an ordinary Tuesday in NSW, it runs the other way. A club can pay above the floor, and a caterer running its own marquee at the track is usually on the Hospitality Award, so read the rate in the ad and check which award covers you.
Christmas functions: three weekends at mostly ordinary rates
Christmas Day is a Friday this year, which leaves three Friday and Saturday pairs for the big function nights: 4 and 5, 11 and 12, and 18 and 19 December. Hotels, pubs and caterers are covered by the Hospitality Award, and their 'event crew' and 'casual event staff' ads mostly mean bar, floor, kitchen hand and glassie work.
The money is less festive than the playlist. A weeknight function pays the ordinary casual rate plus an evening loading of $2.95 an hour between 7pm and midnight, Monday to Friday only. A Level 2 casual working a Friday function from 5pm to 11pm earns $214.90, and the same six hours on the Saturday pays $243.72, because penalty rates don't stack: you get the highest one, never two.
New Year's Eve is a Thursday until midnight
New Year's Eve falls on Thursday 31 December 2026 and it isn't a public holiday in NSW. Until midnight you're on the Thursday rate plus the evening loading. Then it's Friday 1 January 2027, New Year's Day, and a casual under the Hospitality Award moves to 250% of the base rate, which is $67.70 an hour at Level 2.
The harbour fireworks go off at 9pm and midnight, and only the second lot changes your pay. A 6pm to 2am close earns $353.25, which is $58.86 more than the same shift on any other Thursday. Finish at midnight and the premium is nil.
The best-paid shift of the party season isn't the New Year's Eve close. It's lunch service on New Year's Day, at exactly double an ordinary hour.
What each shift pays, side by side
| Shift | How it's priced | Pay | Per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race day at the track bar, Sat 17 Oct or Tue 3 Nov, 7 hours | 7 hrs at $36.49 flat | $255.43 | $36.49 |
| Christmas function, Fri 11 Dec, 5pm to 11pm | 2 hrs at $33.85, then 4 hrs at $36.80 | $214.90 | $35.82 |
| Christmas function, Sat 12 Dec, 5pm to 11pm | 6 hrs at $40.62 | $243.72 | $40.62 |
| Boxing Day, Sat 26 Dec, 6 hours | 6 hrs at $67.70 (public holiday) | $406.20 | $67.70 |
| NYE, Thu 31 Dec, 4pm to midnight | 3 hrs at $33.85, then 5 hrs at $36.80 | $285.55 | $35.69 |
| NYE, Thu 31 Dec, 6pm to 2am | 1 hr at $33.85, 5 hrs at $36.80, then 2 hrs at $67.70 | $353.25 | $44.16 |
| New Year's Day, Fri 1 Jan, noon to 8pm | 8 hrs at $67.70 (public holiday) | $541.60 | $67.70 |
Every row is one adult casual at award minimums, paid hours only: the race day at the racing club bar rate, the rest at Level 2 under the Hospitality Award. The two NYE rows are the same eight hours, started two hours apart, and they land $67.70 apart. The public holidays are where the season pays: in NSW that's 25, 26 and 28 December and 1 January, but not Sunday 27 December. Our breakdown of public holiday pay covers how those days work.
How to get on these rosters
- Get your RSA first. In NSW you must complete RSA training to sell, serve or supply alcohol, and nearly every job here involves a bar. Our week one setup guide covers the card.
- Apply before the date, not on it. Race day and function crews are often settled weeks ahead. Tell venues now if you're free on 25, 26 and 28 December and 1 January, the days their regulars want off.
- Ask three things before you say yes: which award, what rate, and how many paid hours. The minimum is four hours at a racing club and two under the Hospitality Award.
- On NYE, ask for the shift that runs past midnight. That's the one with public holiday hours in it. If it ends at 2am, sort out the ride home before you start.
- Check the split on your payslip. A shift that crosses into New Year's Day should show two rates. If you're adding a second employer for the season, the tax on two casual jobs is worth five minutes.
Getting offered these shifts without chasing every listing
Seasonal shifts get filled the way every shift does: a manager with a gap works down a short list of people they already trust. The late gaps, the ones that open the week of a race day or a function, go to whoever is already in someone's phone.
Shiftly is free workforce management for venues with an on-demand staffing network built in, so the roster fills itself. For you that means nearby venues can offer you open shifts directly, you see what a shift pays before you accept it, and the money lands fast once it's approved. Get set up before the December rosters lock. Find shifts on Shiftly.
Frequently asked questions
Is New Year's Eve a public holiday in NSW?
No. Thursday 31 December 2026 is an ordinary working day in NSW, so a casual under the Hospitality Award is paid the weekday rate plus $2.95 an hour after 7pm. New Year's Day, Friday 1 January 2027, is a public holiday, so hours worked after midnight are paid at 250% of the base rate.
How much do race day bar staff get paid in Sydney?
Under the Racing Clubs Events Award, a casual bar attendant, cashier or adult glass collector employed by a racing club gets at least $36.49 an hour Monday to Saturday, $49.38 on a Sunday and $61.77 on a public holiday, from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. There's a four hour minimum per engagement and $5.89 extra if you finish after 10pm. Under 19s collecting glasses start at $29.18 an hour.
Does a Christmas casual job pay more than a normal casual shift?
Not because it's Christmas. A weeknight function pays the ordinary casual rate plus the evening loading, and a Saturday function pays the normal Saturday rate. The higher pay is on the public holidays: 25, 26 and 28 December 2026 and 1 January 2027 in NSW, when a casual Level 2 under the Hospitality Award earns $67.70 an hour.
Co-founder of Shiftly. Milan works with hospitality businesses across Australia to make rostering, timesheets and award-based pay radically simpler.
