Hourly Rate Calculator Australia

How the hourly rate calculator works

Enter any pay figure, choose whether it is per hour, day, week, fortnight, month or year, and set your hours. The calculator converts everything to an hourly rate first, then rebuilds every other period from it, so all the figures are consistent with each other. It also shows your after-tax pay for each period using 2026–27 tax rates, the employer super you receive on top, and how your rate compares with the National Minimum Wage.

It is useful when comparing job ads that quote different units, checking a casual rate against a permanent salary, working out what a contract rate is really worth, or checking that your pay meets the minimum. For a detailed take-home pay breakdown with HELP and salary sacrifice, use our pay calculator.

Here is a quick example of the kind of question it answers. A job ad offers $38 an hour, another offers $74,000 a year, and a third offers $1,400 a week. Entered with 38 hours and 52 weeks, they are $79,040, $74,000 and $72,800 a year, or $38.00, $37.45 and $36.84 an hour. The hourly job looks best, but only if it is permanent; if it is a casual rate, its base rate is $30.40 and it is the lowest of the three once leave is counted. Seeing all three on the same basis takes a few seconds and avoids comparing a casual rate with a salary.

The calculator updates as you type, and the row for the period you entered is highlighted in the results table so you can see where your figure sits. The minimum wage badge turns red if the rate is below the National Minimum Wage, which is a quick check, but award rates for your job may be higher.

The calculation, step by step

1. Remove super if it is included. A package that includes 12% super is divided by 1.12 to get the cash salary.
2. Convert to an hourly rate. Hourly is used as entered. Daily is divided by hours per day. Weekly is divided by hours per week. Fortnightly is divided by twice the weekly hours. Monthly is multiplied by 12, then divided by paid weeks and weekly hours. Annual is divided by paid weeks and weekly hours.
3. Build every period from the hourly rate: daily = hourly × hours per day; weekly = hourly × weekly hours; fortnightly = weekly × 2; annual = weekly × paid weeks; monthly = annual ÷ 12.
4. Work out tax on the annual figure at 2026–27 resident rates, with the low income tax offset and Medicare levy.
5. Spread after-tax pay and super across each period in proportion to gross pay.
6. Compare with the minimum. Permanent rates are compared with $26.44; casual rates are compared after removing the 25% loading.

Key figures used

Sources: Fair Work Ombudsman, Minimum wages, National Employment Standards and ATO tax rates. Fair Work sets the National Minimum Wage as a weekly amount and divides it by 38 for the hourly rate, so $26.44 × 38 gives $1,004.72, slightly below the official $1,004.90 because the hourly figure is rounded to the cent.

How it works in plain English

Every pay arrangement in Australia can be expressed as an hourly rate, because the minimum wage, awards and penalty rates are all set per hour. Converting a salary to an hourly rate lets you compare it with those minimums and with job ads quoted per hour. Converting an hourly rate to a salary shows what a casual or part-time role would add up to over a year.

The trickiest part is the number of weeks. Permanent full-time and part-time employees are paid for 52 weeks a year, because four weeks of annual leave and public holidays are paid. Casuals and contractors are only paid for the hours they work, so if they take holidays, their yearly income falls. That is why casuals receive a 25% loading, and why contractors charge rates well above the equivalent salary. You can change the paid weeks field to model this.

The rules come from the Fair Work Act 2009, which sets the National Employment Standards including the 38-hour week and four weeks of annual leave, the annual wage review decisions of the Fair Work Commission, and the tax and super laws administered by the ATO.

Common hourly rates as salaries in 2026–27

Based on 38 hours a week for 52 weeks, super on top, and 2026–27 resident tax with no HELP debt.

Common salaries as hourly rates

Notice how the after-tax hourly rate grows more slowly than the gross rate. Going from $40 to $50 an hour adds $10 before tax but only $6.80 after tax, because the extra income is taxed at 30% plus the 2% Medicare levy.

Your effective hourly rate

A salary pays you for 52 weeks, but you do not work all of them. Once you take four weeks of annual leave and about ten public holidays, a full-time employee works roughly 46 weeks a year. Dividing your salary by the hours you actually work gives your effective hourly rate, which is useful when comparing a salaried job with casual or contract work.

Unpaid overtime works the other way. If you are salaried for 38 hours but regularly work 45, your effective rate falls by about 16%. An $80,000 salary for 45 hours a week over 52 weeks is $34.19 an hour, not $40.49. Change the hours per week field in the calculator to see your own effective rate.

Part-time and pro rata salaries

Part-time employees are paid a pro rata share of a full-time salary. If a full-time role pays $90,000 for 38 hours and you work three days a week (22.8 hours), your salary is $90,000 × 22.8 ÷ 38 = $54,000. Your hourly rate stays the same, $45.55, because only the hours change. In the calculator, enter the full-time salary with 38 hours to get the hourly rate, then enter that hourly rate with your part-time hours to see your actual pay.

Part-time employees get the same leave entitlements as full-time employees on a pro rata basis, so they are paid for 52 weeks a year, unlike casuals. If you are offered part-time work at an hourly rate, check whether leave is included or whether you are effectively being treated as a casual.

Casual versus permanent: what the 25% loading buys

The 25% casual loading is meant to make up for the entitlements casuals do not receive. For a full-time equivalent, those entitlements are worth roughly:

• Annual leave: four weeks a year, about 7.7% of pay;
• Personal and carer’s leave: ten days a year, about 3.8% of pay;
• Public holidays: paid when they fall on a normal working day, about 3.8% of pay;
• Notice and redundancy pay, which depend on length of service;
• Annual leave loading of 17.5% under many awards.

Together these come to roughly 15% to 20% of pay for a typical permanent employee, which is why the loading is set at 25%: it also recognises the uncertainty of casual hours. A casual who works steadily for 12 months may be able to convert to permanent employment under the Fair Work Act’s casual conversion rules.

Turning a salary into a contract rate

If you are moving from employment to contracting, work out the rate you need by starting from your current package. Take your salary plus super, add the value of leave you will lose and the costs you will now pay, then divide by the hours you expect to bill. A simple version is:

For an $80,000 salary, the package with super is $89,600. Adding $6,000 for insurance, equipment and accounting gives $95,600, and dividing by 1,748 hours gives about $54.69 an hour as a minimum break-even contract rate. Most contractors aim higher to allow for gaps between contracts and the cost of their own time spent on administration.

Day rates

Many contractors, consultants and tradespeople quote a day rate. With the days per week field set to 5 and hours per week to 38, a day is 7.6 hours, so a $600 day rate is about $78.95 an hour. If you work 8-hour days, set hours per week to 40. Our example of an $800 day rate for 46 weeks a year comes to $184,000 before tax, super and costs.

Checking your pay against the minimum

The National Minimum Wage of $26.44 an hour is the floor for adult employees who are not covered by an award or agreement. For everyone else, the award sets the minimum for their industry, job level and sometimes location. Award rates also rose on 1 July 2026. To check your rate:

1. Find your award in the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool, or check your enterprise agreement.
2. Identify your classification level from your duties and experience.
3. Compare the minimum base rate with your hourly rate from this calculator. If you are a casual, compare with the casual rate, which includes the 25% loading.
4. Check penalty rates and allowances for weekends, public holidays, overtime and shift work.

Junior employees (under 21 in many awards), apprentices, trainees and employees with a disability on a supported wage can have lower minimums under specific rules.

How the minimum wage has changed

The Fair Work Commission reviews the National Minimum Wage and award rates every year, and the new rates usually start from the first full pay period on or after 1 July.

A full-time worker on the National Minimum Wage now earns $52,255 a year before tax. After 2026–27 tax and the Medicare levy, that is about $45,230, or roughly $870 a week. If your pay has not changed since before 1 July, check whether your award rate has increased.

Leave loading, penalty rates and overtime

Your base hourly rate is only part of what you can earn. Many awards add extra amounts that this calculator does not include:

• Annual leave loading: many awards pay an extra 17.5% on top of normal pay during annual leave. Over four weeks of leave on $40 an hour and 38 hours, that is $1,064 extra a year, adding about 1.3% to annual earnings.
• Penalty rates: higher rates for work on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, early mornings and late nights, often 125% to 250% of the base rate depending on the award.
• Overtime: commonly 150% for the first two or three hours and 200% after that, for hours beyond the ordinary hours in the award.
• Allowances: for tools, uniforms, travel, meals, first aid qualifications, or working in particular conditions.

To include these, work out your gross weekly pay including penalties and overtime using our penalty rates and overtime calculator, then enter that weekly figure here to see the annual total and after-tax pay.

Super on hourly pay

Employers must pay at least 12% super on an employee’s ordinary time earnings. For hourly workers that generally means super is paid on ordinary hours, shift loadings, casual loading and most allowances, but not on overtime. A casual on $35 an hour for 20 hours a week earns $700, and their employer pays $84 of super on top. From 1 July 2026, under Payday Super, employers pay super each payday, so it should appear in your super account within days of being paid. If your contract says your hourly rate “includes super”, choose that option in the calculator to see your actual cash rate. For example, a $45 an hour rate that includes super is a cash rate of $40.18, with $4.82 going to your fund. Check your super account a few days after each payday: under Payday Super the contribution should arrive shortly after your pay, and missing contributions are easier to chase when you notice them early.

Junior, apprentice and trainee rates

Many awards set lower minimum rates for employees under 21, calculated as a percentage of the adult rate that increases with age, for example around 50% at 16 and 90% at 20, depending on the award. Apprentices and trainees have their own scales that rise each year of the apprenticeship. These lower rates are lawful only where the award or agreement allows them. Once an employee turns 21, or completes their apprenticeship, they move to the full adult rate. Enter your actual hourly rate in the calculator to see your weekly and annual pay; the minimum wage comparison in the calculator uses the adult rate, so it will flag junior rates as below the National Minimum Wage even when they are correct for your age.

Using your hourly rate for budgeting and borrowing

For budgeting, the after-tax weekly or fortnightly figure is the one that matters, because it matches what reaches your bank account. On $35 an hour for 38 hours, that is about $1,087 a week after tax. Rent, bills and savings can then be planned as a share of that figure; a common guide is to keep rent below 30% of take-home pay.

For a home loan, lenders usually look at your gross annual income, but they treat casual and contract income more cautiously than a permanent salary. Many lenders want to see six to twelve months of casual employment with the same employer, or a longer history for contractors, and some only count a percentage of variable income such as overtime. If you are planning to buy, it can help to convert your hourly rate into an annual salary using the hours you have actually worked over the past year, not your best weeks.

Weekly, fortnightly and monthly pay explained

Australian employers pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly, and the same salary looks different in each. A $78,000 salary is $1,500 a week, $3,000 a fortnight or $6,500 a month. The monthly figure is not four weekly pays: most months have more than four weeks, so a monthly pay is the annual salary divided by 12, which equals about 4.33 weekly pays.

Because weekly and fortnightly pays are tied to the calendar, some years have 53 weekly paydays or 27 fortnightly paydays. Salaried employees are usually paid the same amount each payday regardless, so in those years the extra payday is covered by small adjustments rather than an extra pay. Hourly workers simply receive pay for the hours they actually worked in each period.

For budgeting, match your budget period to your pay period. If rent is paid weekly and you are paid fortnightly, set aside half of each fortnightly pay’s rent portion in the first week so the money is there when it is due.

Working out what a pay rise is worth

Pay rises are often quoted as a percentage or an hourly increase, which can be hard to picture. The calculator turns them into real dollars. A $2 an hour rise from $35 to $37 for 38 hours a week adds $76 a week and $3,952 a year before tax. After tax at the 30% bracket and 2% Medicare levy, about $2,687 of that reaches your pocket, or $51.68 a week, while your employer also pays an extra $474 of super.

A 3.5% rise on a $90,000 salary adds $3,150 a year, about $60.58 a week before tax and $41.19 a week after tax. When you are offered a rise, compare it with inflation: if prices have risen by a similar amount, your real pay has stayed about the same. Over several years, small differences in annual pay rises compound into a large difference in salary, which is why the starting rate in a new job matters so much.

35, 37.5, 38 or 40 hours: why the hours field matters

Not every full-time job is 38 hours. Many public sector and office roles are 35 or 36.75 hours, some enterprise agreements set 37.5, and some salaried roles expect 40 or more. The same salary gives a different hourly rate depending on the hours:

When comparing two salaried jobs, convert both using their actual contracted hours. A $78,000 role on 35 hours ($42.86 an hour) can be better paid per hour than an $82,000 role on 40 hours ($39.42 an hour), and it leaves you five more hours a week.

Some rosters include rostered days off (RDOs), where employees work slightly longer days so they accrue a paid day off every few weeks. An employee on 8-hour days with one RDO every four weeks still averages 38 hours a week, so use 38 in the calculator.

Seasonal, part-year and second jobs

Not everyone works the same hours all year. Seasonal workers in harvest, tourism and retail, students who work full-time only in holidays, and people who start a job part way through the year all earn less in total than a full-year salary suggests. Use the paid weeks field to reflect the weeks you will actually work. A student working 38 hours at $30 an hour for 12 weeks over summer earns $13,680, which is below the $18,200 tax-free threshold, so if that is their only income for the year, they should get back any tax withheld when they lodge.

For a second job, the hourly rate conversion is the same, but the tax is not. Because your first job uses the tax-free threshold and the lower brackets, every dollar from a second job is taxed at your marginal rate. If your main job pays $70,000, a second job at $30 an hour for 10 hours a week adds $15,600 a year, all taxed at 30% plus the 2% Medicare levy, so it adds about $10,608 after tax. The calculator’s after-tax figures assume the hours you enter are your only income, so for a second job, use the pay calculator with your combined income to see the full effect.

If your hours change a lot from week to week, enter an average. Look back over the last three to six months of payslips, add up the hours, and divide by the number of weeks. That average is a more realistic basis for a yearly figure than either your busiest or quietest week.

Hourly rates for tradies and the self-employed

If you work for yourself, the rate you charge a customer is not the same as an employee’s wage. Out of each charged hour you need to cover your own super, insurance, vehicle, tools, phone, accounting, marketing, quoting time and travel time, plus GST if you are registered. Only part of your working week is billable. A self-employed tradesperson who works 45 hours a week might bill 30 of them.

A practical approach is to start from the income you want, add your annual business costs and super, then divide by your billable hours. For example, a target income of $90,000 plus $10,800 super and $25,000 of business costs is $125,800. Spread over 30 billable hours a week for 46 weeks (1,380 hours), the rate is about $91 an hour before GST, or $100 including GST. Use the calculator with your billable hours and paid weeks to see what a quoted rate adds up to over a year. Remember that if you are registered for GST, the GST you add to your rate belongs to the ATO, so enter your rate excluding GST when working out your own income.

Working holiday makers and visa holders

Everyone working in Australia, including visa holders and international students, is entitled to the same minimum wages and award conditions as Australian citizens. The National Minimum Wage and award rates apply regardless of visa type. Working holiday makers on 417 and 462 visas pay tax at special rates: 15% on income up to $45,000, then normal resident rates above that, with no tax-free threshold. This calculator’s after-tax figures use resident rates, so they will not match a working holiday maker’s take-home pay exactly. International students should also check their visa’s limit on work hours during study periods.

If you think you have been underpaid

Underpayment is common, especially for casuals, young workers and visa holders. If the calculator shows your rate is below the National Minimum Wage or your award rate:

1. Keep copies of your payslips, rosters and records of hours worked.
2. Check your award and classification with the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool.
3. Raise it with your employer in writing, showing the rate you are owed.
4. If it is not resolved, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman, which can investigate and help recover unpaid wages and super.

Employers must issue payslips within one working day of payday showing the hourly rate, hours worked and any loadings or penalty rates, so a payslip is usually the quickest way to spot a problem.

Common mistakes when converting pay

• Using 40 hours instead of 38. Most Australian full-time roles are 38 hours. Using 40 understates the hourly rate of a salary by 5%.
• Forgetting whether super is included. A $100,000 package that includes super is an $89,286 salary, or $45.19 an hour, not $50.61.
• Comparing a casual rate with a permanent rate directly. Divide the casual rate by 1.25 first, or multiply the permanent rate by 1.25.
• Assuming 52 paid weeks for casual or contract work. If you take holidays, you are not paid for them; use the weeks you expect to work.
• Dividing monthly pay by 4. A month is about 4.33 weeks, so monthly pay is the annual figure divided by 12, not the weekly figure times 4.

How we tested this calculator

The calculator does not include penalty rates, overtime, allowances, HELP repayments, the Medicare levy surcharge or deductions. Use our penalty rates and overtime calculator for shift work, and our pay calculator for a full take-home pay breakdown.

Three real Australian examples

All figures come from this calculator’s engine.

Three expert tips for comparing pay

Hourly rate FAQs

Definitions and eligibility

Maths and technical rules

State and territory differences

Edge cases and ATO compliance

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Editorial transparency and sources

We check the National Minimum Wage against the Fair Work Ombudsman after each annual wage review, which usually takes effect on 1 July, and the tax rates against the ATO each income year. The figures on this page were last checked on 28 October 2026. Read our editorial policy and report errors on our contact page.

General Advice Warning: this calculator and page provide general information for educational purposes only. They do not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and are not financial, tax or workplace advice. Minimum pay depends on your award or agreement, classification and age. Check the Fair Work Ombudsman for your entitlements. AUFinanceCalculators.com does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence and is not a registered tax agent. See our full disclaimer.

Official sources

• Fair Work Ombudsman: Minimum wages
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Casual employees
• Fair Work Ombudsman: National Employment Standards
• Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool
• ATO: Tax rates for Australian residents