INSIGHT · COST & QUOTING
A 4.75% award increase, one operative date,
and a start date set by each payroll.
The Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review 2026 decision, announced on 2 June 2026, increased modern award minimum wage rates by 4.75%, subject to a structural adjustment at the lowest (C13 and C14) levels, and set the National Minimum Wage at $26.44 per hour. The variations came into operation on 1 July 2026, but take effect for a particular employee from the start of that employee's first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. A labour rate in a quote therefore needs its own effective-from date.
Analysed 28 September 2026 · Fair Work Commission decision [2026] FWCFB 3500 dated 2 June 2026 (decision page last updated 2 June 2026) · Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 determinations PR799301 and PR799458 dated 19 June 2026 · Fair Work Ombudsman wage page updated 1 July 2026 and MA000020 pay guide published 2 July 2026 · all pages read 28 September 2026.
Key takeaways
- 4.75%, from the first full pay period: The Commission increased modern award minimum wage rates by 4.75 per cent. Its determinations for the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020) come into operation on 1 July 2026 and do not take effect for a particular employee until the start of the employee's first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July 2026.
- The switch date belongs to the payroll, not the calendar: The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) gives two examples: a weekly pay period starting on Wednesday picks up the new rates on Wednesday 1 July 2026, and a Monday to Sunday weekly cycle picks them up on Monday 6 July 2026. Two crews on one site can change rate on different days.
- The numbers arrived in three steps: The percentage was announced on 2 June 2026. The dollar amounts for MA000020 were set in determinations dated 19 June 2026. The FWO pay guide for the award is marked Published 2 July 2026 and Effective 01/07/2026.
- One hourly rate, two determinations, two kinds of factor: In MA000020, wage-related allowances such as the residential industry allowance ($51.28 to $53.72 a week) moved with the wage rates. Expense-related allowances such as the tool allowance and the fares and travel pattern allowance ($21.94 to $22.41 a day) were varied in a separate determination, and the award indexes them to Consumer Price Index figures.
- We would store the date with the line: We would record, for each labour line, the instrument, classification and effective-from date its rate came from, together with the employer's own payroll switch date. That is a system-design recommendation, not a view on what anyone should pay or charge.
What the Commission decided
The Annual Wage Review has two parts: the National Minimum Wage order, and a review of the minimum wage rates in modern awards. The Commission's announcement describes the second as the more important function, and states that approximately 21.1 per cent of all employees in Australia, almost 2.8 million people, are paid at an applicable minimum wage rate under a modern award.
- Modern award rates: up 4.75 per cent: Minimum wage rates in all modern awards increase by 4.75 per cent. The decision adds that trainee and apprentice wage rates which are not expressed as a percentage of another classification rate are increased by the same 4.75 per cent.
- A structural step at the bottom of the scale: The Commission decided to phase out classifications paid at the C13 level in three stages, the first in this Review. The C13 rate rises by an additional one-third of the difference between the C13 and C12 rates, and C14 by the same percentage. The lowest award rate for ongoing employment becomes $1004.90 per week or $26.44 per hour; the lowest entry-level rate, for no more than six months, $978.10 per week or $25.74 per hour.
- The National Minimum Wage follows C13: The National Minimum Wage, aligned to the C13 rate, is $1004.90 per week or $26.44 per hour. It applies only to employees who are not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, and the Commission describes its practical effect as very limited.
- Inside the construction award: As varied, the lowest adult classification rate in MA000020's minimum rates table (Level 1, level a) is $1013.50 per week or $26.67 per hour. The Level 3 (CW/ECW 3) rate, which the award defines as its standard rate, is $1119.10 per week or $29.45 per hour.
Operative on 1 July.
Effective on each payroll's own date.
The Commission's wording repays reading in full. The variation determinations "will operate from 1 July 2026 and take effect in relation to a particular employee from the start of the employee's first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026". 1 July 2026 was a Wednesday.
The FWO wage page and the MA000020 pay guide use the same test as the Commission. The pay guide's header answers the question "When do the rates in the pay guide apply from?" with "The first full pay period starting on or after 01 July 2026."
| Date | What happened | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 2 June 2026, 10 am AEST | Decision announced: 4.75% and the C13/C14 adjustment | Fair Work Commission |
| 19 June 2026 | MA000020 determinations dated: PR799301 (minimum rates and wage-related allowances) and PR799458 (expense-related allowances) | Fair Work Commission |
| 1 July 2026 (Wednesday) | Both determinations come into operation | Fair Work Commission |
| First full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026 | New rates take effect for a particular employee | Fair Work Commission; Fair Work Ombudsman |
| 2 July 2026 | MA000020 pay guide published, marked Effective 01/07/2026 | Fair Work Ombudsman |
- Weekly, starting Wednesday: 1 July: The FWO states: "if your weekly pay period starts on Wednesday, the new rates will apply from Wednesday 1 July 2026."
- Weekly, Monday to Sunday: 6 July: In the FWO's worked example, 1 July falls in the middle of a Monday to Sunday cycle, so "the new pay rates will apply from the next pay cycle which starts on Monday 6 July 2026."
- Fortnightly, starting Tuesday 30 June: 14 July: Our calculation, applying the same wording: a fortnightly period that began on Tuesday 30 June 2026 did not start on or after 1 July, so the first full pay period that did starts on Tuesday 14 July 2026. Longer pay periods can place the date later still.
One hourly rate,
assembled from two determinations.
A construction labour rate is rarely a single award figure. MA000020 builds a weekly hire employee's hourly rate by adding the clause 19.1 minimum rate, the clause 22 industry allowance and, where applicable, the clause 21.1 tool allowance and other listed allowances, then dividing the total by 38. For daily hire employees, the award applies a follow-the-job loading by multiplying the sum by 52 over 50.4 before dividing by 38.
- Worked through for one classification: For a Level 3 carpenter on weekly hire in residential work, as varied: the $1119.10 minimum rate, plus the $53.72 residential industry allowance, plus the $41.22 tool allowance, is $1214.04 a week, or $31.95 an hour. For daily hire, the same sum multiplied by 52/50.4 is $1252.58, or $32.96 an hour. This is our calculation from the award clauses; the results match the figures in the FWO pay guide.
- Two instruments behind one number: The minimum rate and the industry allowance were varied by PR799301, made in the Annual Wage Review. The tool allowance was varied by PR799458, a separate expense-related allowances determination (matter AM2026/14). Both come into operation on 1 July 2026 with the same first-full-pay-period wording.
- The job, not only the worker, sets the allowance: The award defines residential building and construction by reference to work on a single occupancy or dual occupancy residential building which is not a multistorey building, and sets that industry allowance at $53.72 a week against $67.15 for general building and construction. The allowance a quote line assumes therefore depends on how the project is described, which is a property of the job.
Same operative date,
different factors.
Where the two MA000020 determinations name the amount they replace, the size of the movement can be read directly. Wage-related allowances in the award are expressed as a percentage of the standard rate. Expense-related allowances are, under clause B.2.2, increased at each adjustment of the standard rate by the movement in a nominated Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Percentage changes are our calculation: the new amount divided by the replaced amount, minus one, rounded to two decimal places. The industry allowances land at 4.76% rather than 4.75%, a difference consistent with rounding to the cent. Amounts are quoted from determinations PR799301 and PR799458.
| MA000020 amount | Replaced | From 1 July 2026 | Change (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential building and construction industry allowance, per week (wage-related) | $51.28 | $53.72 | +4.76% |
| General building and construction industry allowance, per week (wage-related) | $64.10 | $67.15 | +4.76% |
| Overtime meal allowance (expense-related) | $19.00 | $19.74 | +3.89% |
| Living away from home allowance, per day (expense-related) | $100.22 | $102.92 | +2.69% |
| Fares and travel pattern allowance, per day (expense-related) | $21.94 | $22.41 | +2.14% |
| Travelling between sites in own vehicle, per km (expense-related) | $0.98 | $1.00 | +2.04% |
Where the date lands in a quote
Materials prices drift continuously and are measured after the fact. An award wage change is a step, announced about four weeks before its operative date, with that date published. That makes labour the more recordable half of a quote's cost base, provided the rate carries its date.
- A quote issued in June for work after 1 July: Before 2 June the percentage was not published. From 2 June it was, and the decision stated that draft determinations would be made available shortly afterwards; the MA000020 determinations are dated 19 June. A labour line priced in June sits on one side or other of those dates, and the record can show which.
- A programme that spans the switch: Labour programmed either side of an employer's switch date sits under two rates within one line of work. The switch date comes from the payroll, so a quote or schedule that assumes 1 July can differ from the employer's own records by several days.
- Subcontract rates: Award minimum rates are set for employees covered by the award. A subcontract price is agreed between businesses, and whether and when it changes is a matter for that contract, which we do not address. What the decision moves is the minimum wage cost inside it, for a subcontractor employing award-covered staff, from that subcontractor's own pay period dates.
- Enterprise agreements: The FWO states that the base pay rate in an enterprise agreement can't be less than the base pay rate in the relevant award, so the minimum wage increase may apply to agreement-covered employees too. A labour rate built on an agreement needs the same effective-date field.
What we would put in a system
Where agents help here is narrow. A quoting agent can read a pay guide or determination, extract the rates with their effective and publication dates, draft a labour line from a crew, classification and programme, and flag lines whose work window crosses a published operative date. A person confirms each rate before it is used. No agent decides which award covers anyone, how a worker is classified, what anyone is paid, or whether a rate complies; those are matters for the employer and its advisers.
| Field | Why it is load-bearing |
|---|---|
| Rate basis | The instrument and classification the rate came from: for example MA000020, Level 3, weekly hire, residential work; or an enterprise agreement; or a subcontract price. Each moves on its own terms. |
| Effective-from date and source version | The operative date and the document the figure was read from, such as a pay guide marked Effective 01/07/2026 and Published 02/07/2026, or determination PR799301. A rate without a date cannot be re-checked later. |
| Payroll switch date | The pay period start day and frequency of the employer whose staff do the work, so the date a new rate applies is computed rather than assumed to be 1 July. |
| Component split | Minimum rate, wage-related allowances and expense-related allowances held separately, because in MA000020 they were varied by different determinations and moved by different factors. |
| Quote date and work window | The date the price was issued and the dates the work is programmed for, so a line whose work window crosses a published operative date is visible before it is relied on. |
- Quoting: Where a labour line, its rate basis and its effective date are held together.
- Quoting agent: Drafts labour lines and flags rates whose dates cross the work window; a person confirms.
- Scheduling: Places programmed labour against the dates on which a rate changes.
- Trades: For trade businesses pricing their own crews and quoting as subcontractors.
- Qualified is not the same quantity as available: Why a crew's availability and its qualifications are two different quantities in a programme.
Questions worth asking
of your own quotes
For a builder: which of your open quotes were issued before 19 June 2026 for work programmed after 1 July?
That list can be produced directly only if each quote stores its issue date and the date behind each labour rate. If it has to be rebuilt from spreadsheets, what is missing is a field, not the data.
For a trade business: on what date did your own payroll pick up the new rates?
Under the FWO's guidance it depends on the start day and frequency of your pay period. If quotes assume 1 July and the payroll switched on 6 July or later, the two records differ by design, and a system can hold both dates rather than one.
For an estimator: does a labour rate in your price book say which instrument and which effective date it came from?
A rate stored as $31.95 an hour is a number. A rate stored as MA000020, Level 3 carpenter, weekly hire, residential work, effective from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, is a statement that can be checked against its source.
For a construction company engaging subcontractors: whose pay period dates sit behind the labour cost in a subcontract price?
The award change runs through the subcontractor's own payroll where it employs award-covered staff. Whether that cost passes into your price is a question for the subcontract, which a system can record but not decide.
For anyone pricing both residential and multistorey work: which industry allowance does each labour line assume?
MA000020 sets $53.72 a week for residential building and construction and $67.15 for general building and construction, and defines residential by reference to the building. If the line does not record which was assumed, the rate cannot be re-derived later.
What this analysis
does and does not show.
Evidence note
- What it shows
- That the Annual Wage Review 2026 increase to modern award minimum wage rates (4.75%, with a C13/C14 structural adjustment) came into operation on 1 July 2026 but takes effect for a particular employee from the start of that employee's first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026; that in MA000020 an hourly rate is assembled from amounts varied by two determinations moving by different factors; and that a labour line therefore needs its instrument and effective date recorded with it.
- Key facts quoted
- 4.75% increase to modern award minimum wage rates; National Minimum Wage $1004.90 per week or $26.44 per hour; lowest ongoing award rate $26.44 per hour and entry-level $25.74 per hour; decision announced 2 June 2026; MA000020 determinations PR799301 and PR799458 dated 19 June 2026, operative 1 July 2026, effective from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026; MA000020 standard rate $1119.10 per week; residential industry allowance $51.28 to $53.72 per week; fares and travel pattern allowance $21.94 to $22.41 per day; FWO pay guide published 2 July 2026.
- One award. We read the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020) only. Trades covered by other awards or by enterprise agreements carry their own rates and allowances, which we did not read.
- National system only. We did not examine employment outside the national workplace relations system.
- We did not read the previous year's MA000020 minimum rates table.
- The FWO pay guide states that if its information is inconsistent with the award, the award applies.
- The FWO wage page displays "Published 28 May 2026", which is earlier than the 2 June 2026 announcement. We report the date as shown and rely on the Commission's documents for the decision date.
- Nothing here is workplace relations, legal or financial advice. It does not determine award coverage or classification, and it does not say what any business should pay or charge.
Bring us one quote that crossed 1 July.
Send us a quote or estimate issued before 1 July 2026 for work after it, with its labour lines and the rates they were priced from. We will show you which fields would have put the rate's start date on the line, and where that date would come from.
General information about published Fair Work Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman material, not workplace relations, legal or financial advice. Nothing here determines which award or classification applies to anyone, or says what any business should pay or charge. It describes the Australian national workplace relations system and one award, MA000020. Figures and quotations are as read on 28 September 2026 from the sources listed.
Sources
Suggested citation: Fair Work Commission, Annual Wage Review Decision 2026 [2026] FWCFB 3500 and MA000020 determinations PR799301 and PR799458; Fair Work Ombudsman, Minimum wages increase from 1 July 2026 and MA000020 pay guide; as read 28 September 2026. Derived figures, labelled where they appear: the percentage changes in allowance amounts, the Level 3 carpenter weekly and daily hire hourly rates worked from the award clauses (which match the pay guide), and the 14 July 2026 fortnightly pay period example.
- Fair Work Commission - Annual Wage Review 2026: Last updated 2 June 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · National workplace relations tribunal - review page
- Fair Work Commission - Annual Wage Review 2026 - Announcement of Decision: Announced 2 June 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · National workplace relations tribunal - decision announcement (PDF)
- Fair Work Commission - Annual Wage Review Decision 2026 [2026] FWCFB 3500: Dated 2 June 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · National workplace relations tribunal - full decision (PDF)
- Fair Work Commission - Determination PR799301, Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020: Dated 19 June 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · National workplace relations tribunal - award variation (PDF)
- Fair Work Commission - Determination PR799458, expense-related allowances, Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020: Dated 19 June 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · National workplace relations tribunal - award variation (PDF)
- Fair Work Commission - Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 [MA000020], consolidated: Incorporates amendments up to and including 1 July 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · Consolidated modern award
- Fair Work Ombudsman - Minimum wages increase from 1 July 2026: Published 28 May 2026, updated 1 July 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · Workplace regulator - guidance
- Fair Work Ombudsman - Pay Guide, Building and Construction General On-site Award [MA000020]: Published 2 July 2026, effective 1 July 2026 · read 28 September 2026 · Workplace regulator - pay guide (PDF download)