Where to pick up shifts in Australia: the apps compared, and how each one pays you

Every one of these apps shows you the same three things: a venue, a date and an hourly rate. None of them put the thing that actually decides your take-home on the tile, which is who employs you and who pays your super.

On Sidekicker and MyGig you're a casual employee, so the award rate, the 25% loading, weekend penalties and 12% super all apply. On a contractor app you work for yourself, and that's where the apps split: Shiftly On-Demand adds venue-funded super on top of every shift, while Supp leaves it with you.

The short version: there are three models, not fifteen apps. Either the platform employs you (Sidekicker, MyGig), the venue employs you and the app is just the introduction (Barcats, SEEK, Indeed), or you work for yourself and the venue engages you shift by shift (Shiftly On-Demand, Supp). On that third model, ask one thing before you sign up: is super added on top of my pay and sent to my fund? General information, not legal or financial advice.

Three models wearing a dozen logos

Sort the market by employment model instead of by logo and it collapses into three. The third splits in two on the thing that matters most over a working life, which is whether super comes with the shift. (For the wider map of channels, including walk-ins and Facebook groups, there's our guide to where to look for casual bar and cafe shifts in Sydney.)

How each one actually pays

Pay speed is the thing everyone compares and the thing nobody publishes side by side. Here's what each platform's own material says, as at September 2026.

Three details in the fine print are worth more than the headline.

• Sidekicker's cut-off is 3:59am on Monday. A job has to finish before then to make that week's pay run, so a Sunday night shift that runs past 4am is paid a week later. Your timesheet also needs to be in within 24 hours of finishing.
• MyGig's next-day pay is genuinely next-day, but the clock starts once your hours are approved, not when you walk out the door. Chase the approval, not the app.
• Shiftly pre-authorises the venue's funds three days before your shift. If that fails, you're told before the shift, not left finding out after you've worked it.

The number a flat rate has to beat

Flat-rate shifts advertise one figure for the whole shift. Award work doesn't, and that's the entire argument. Here's what an adult casual Level 2 under the Hospitality Award is worth an hour from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, with the 12% super the employer also pays.

Take one shift and run it both ways: 6pm to midnight on a Saturday in Surry Hills, six hours. As a casual employee that's 6 x $40.62 = $243.72, plus $29.25 of super, so $272.97 of value. The same six hours at a flat $35 an hour with no super added is $210.00, and you still put your own tax aside out of it. (The Friday figure in the table includes the award's flat $2.95 evening loading, which runs Monday to Friday only.)

On a Saturday night, a flat $35 an hour is $10.49 an hour short of what the same six hours are worth as a casual employee.

That's $62.97 on one shift, $33.72 of it cash and $29.25 super you're now funding yourself. Work one Saturday a week for a year and the gap is about $3,274.

The honest caveat: plenty of flat-rate shifts advertise $45 or $50 an hour, and on a Tuesday afternoon that clears the award comfortably. The trouble is the award moves through the week and a flat rate doesn't, so the same generous-looking number is short by Saturday and well short by Sunday. It's the same shape as the new gig pay floor for delivery riders, which is legally barred from containing a weekend rate at all.

On Supp, the real question is your super

In August 2026 the ABC reported that the Fair Work Ombudsman will make inquiries into Supp, a hospitality marketplace listing at least 15,000 venues and more than 200,000 workers, after a worker raised concerns about how people on it are classified. Supp rejects any suggestion it deliberately misrepresents working relationships or facilitates sham contracting. The part that hits your pocket is super.

Supp's website calls workers independent contractors and says it's their responsibility to divide up their payments to meet their tax and super obligations, and its chief executive told the ABC that paying super isn't Supp's responsibility. So the app doesn't add super to your pay, and whether it's paid at all is between you and each venue you work for.

What the ATO says: independent contractors who are paid mainly for their labour are eligible for the super guarantee, worked out on the labour part of their invoice, regardless of how much they earn. An employment lawyer quoted by the ABC made the same point: even a properly classified contractor can be owed super where the contract is wholly or principally for their labour.

• Work out what isn't landing. Where super applies it's 12%, so six hours at a flat $35 is $210 of pay and $25.20 of super. One of those shifts a week for a year is $1,310.40 that won't reach your fund by itself.
• Know why nobody chases it. A worker on Supp since 2021 told the ABC that a one-off shift probably added up to just short of $20 of super, and that disputing it venue by venue wasn't worth the effort. Small amounts spread across lots of venues is exactly how the gap goes unnoticed.
• Ask every app the same question before you sign up: is super added on top of my pay and sent to my fund, and can I see the amount before I accept? If the answer is that it's up to you, budget for it yourself or pick an app that adds it.

The one we'd back, and yes, it's ours

Everything above boils down to two things: a rate that holds up, and super that lands on top of it. Shiftly On-Demand is built so you can check both before you tap apply. Shiftly is free workforce management for Australian venues with an on-demand staffing network built in (the roster that fills itself), so when a venue is short it posts the gap straight from its roster instead of ringing around at 4pm.

• 12% super on top of every shift. It's funded by the venue and paid into your fund through the app, and you see the dollar amount on the shift before you apply.
• At least the award minimum, often more. Venues can't post below the minimum for the shift, and the venue, role, hours and how pay works are all spelled out before you accept.
• Paid fast, straight to your bank. Payment is captured from the venue 24 hours after your shift and paid to you, so there's no waiting on a pay run and no chasing anyone.
• Verified venues and two-way ratings. Every venue is verified, and after each shift you rate them just as they rate you.
• The honest fine print. You work for yourself: the venue engages you for each shift and Shiftly facilitates it, so we're not your employer or an agency. There's an 8% service fee, shown per shift before you accept, and On-Demand is rolling out across Sydney first.

If you're picking up shifts in Sydney, join the Shiftly On-Demand waitlist and we'll set you up in the app as shifts go live near you.

Frequently asked questions

Which shift app pays the fastest in Australia?

On its own material, MyGig: pay lands in your in-app wallet the day after your hours are approved. Supp says two days after the manager processes your invoice, and Shiftly On-Demand captures payment from the venue 24 hours after your shift before paying it to your bank. Sidekicker runs a weekly cycle (payslip Thursday, money Friday) and Barcats sets venue pay at within 7 working days for a one-off shift. Fastest isn't the same as most, so check the rate and whether super comes on top before you compare the speed.

Do you get super if you pick up shifts as a contractor?

Often, yes. The ATO says independent contractors paid mainly for their labour are eligible for the super guarantee at 12%, regardless of how much they earn. Whether it actually reaches your fund depends on the app: Shiftly On-Demand adds it on top of every shift, funded by the venue and paid into your fund, while Supp's website says setting it aside is the worker's responsibility. For employees, super now has to land far sooner than it used to.

Sidekicker or Barcats: which is better for hospitality work in Sydney?

They're different products, so most people run both. Sidekicker employs you itself and pays weekly, which suits you if you want shifts across a lot of venues without chasing anyone for money. Barcats is a free job board that introduces you to a venue, which then employs and pays you directly, so it suits you if you want an ongoing spot on someone's roster. Sidekicker covers Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide; Barcats reaches more than 100 Australian cities and towns.

Do you get penalty rates through a shift app?

If the app or the venue employs you as a casual, yes. The Hospitality Industry (General) Award applies whoever the employer is, so Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and late-night rates still apply, along with the two-hour minimum engagement. If you're engaged as a genuine independent contractor, no: you're paid the rate on the listing, so compare it with the award table above for the day you're working.