2026 Minimum Wage Increase: A Guide for Hospitality Employers

The Fair Work Commission has handed down its 2026 wage review - here's what changes for hospitality award rates, and the Payday Super switch landing in the same pay run.

If you run a pub, bar, restaurant, or cafe, the start of the financial year always brings a wage adjustment, and the 2026 minimum wage increase is no different. The Fair Work Commission has handed down its 2026 Annual Wage Review Decision, lifting modern award minimum rates - including the hospitality awards - by 4.75%, with the National Minimum Wage rising to $26.44 per hour ($1,004.90 per week). For most hospo venues, that's the single biggest cost change you'll make all year, and this time it lands alongside a second change to how you pay super.

Here's the straight-up version - what's changing, who it affects, and the handful of things to get sorted before your first pay run in July 2026.

What the 2026 wage review decision actually says

There are really two numbers to know. Most of your team are paid under a modern award, and those award rates go up by 4.75%. Separately, the National Minimum Wage - the absolute floor nobody can be paid under - jumps by close to 6% to $26.44 an hour ($1,004.90 a week). The only catch: the lowest-paid award classifications get bumped up to that $26.44 floor too, rather than just the 4.75%.

All of it kicks in from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. So for hospitality, every casual, part-timer, and full-timer on or near the award minimum needs their rate sorted - assuming they're on the right classification to begin with.

What that works out to per hour depends on the award, the classification level, and whether the team member is casual or permanent. We've set out where to find the exact rate for each role below.

Who the hospitality wage increase applies to

Most of your floor and kitchen team will be covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (HIGA, or MA000009) if you're a pub, hotel, bar, or tavern, or by the Restaurant Industry Award (MA000119) if you're a standalone restaurant or cafe. Registered clubs fall under their own award again. The 4.75% increase flows through to the minimum rates under all of them.

A few groups are easy to overlook:

Casual staff

The increase applies to the base rate, and the 25% casual loading then sits on top of the new higher base. So a casual's headline rate moves up by more than the base alone in dollar terms.

Staff on annualised salaries or "above award" flat rates

Paying above the minimum doesn't automatically keep you compliant. If your flat rate or annualised arrangement was set against the old minimums, you need to re-check that it still covers everything the award would have paid across the year once the new rates apply. This is the area where well-meaning venues most often slip into underpayment.

Award-free roles

Even roles that sit outside an award need to clear the new National Minimum Wage of $26.44/hr as an absolute floor.

The other change in the same pay run: Payday Super from July 2026

This is the part that catches people out, so it's worth being precise. The super guarantee rate is already 12% - it has been since 1 July 2025, so the rate itself isn't going up again this year.

What changes from 1 July 2026 is when you pay it. Under the new Payday Super rules, super stops being a quarterly job and instead has to be paid at the same time as wages. So your first July pay run is likely the first time you'll process the 4.75% wage increase and pay super on the same cycle as wages - a higher wage bill and a faster, more frequent super obligation landing together.

There's more to it than we'll cover here - the clearing house you can use, the payment deadlines, the new-starter grace period, and the penalties for getting it wrong all matter. We've written a full Payday Super guide for hospitality that walks through exactly how to prepare, so read that for the detail rather than scrambling in June.

Your before-1-July checklist for hospitality employers

Confirm everyone's classification

The increase only protects you if people are on the right level to begin with. If someone's duties have grown - running sections solo, training juniors, handling opens and closes - their classification (and base rate) should reflect that before you apply the uplift.

Update your role and rate tables

If you maintain a role-and-rate table, including annualised wage minimums and award-free roles, that needs refreshing for the new rates. Personalised rate tables are typically available on the Fair Work Ombudsman site within a few weeks of the decision.

Load the new rates into payroll and time-and-attendance

Make sure the change is timed to your first full pay period on or after 1 July - not necessarily 1 July itself if your pay cycle straddles the date.

Re-test flat-rate and annualised arrangements

Run a reconciliation against the new award minimums so you can show the arrangement still comes out ahead.

Get Payday Super ready

Confirm your payroll system can pay super on every pay run within the required timeframe. Our Payday Super guide has the full readiness checklist.

Where to get the exact 2026 award rates

For the precise new rates, the Fair Work Ombudsman publishes updated pay guides for each award shortly after the decision, and the Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) will calculate the exact rate for a given award, classification, and employment type. If you're not certain which award covers a role, the Fair Work Award Finder sorts it in about 30 seconds.

If you want a fuller breakdown of how the hospitality awards work - classification levels, casual loading, penalty rates, and evening loadings - read our award wages guide for more help around paying your employees correctly.

One more thing worth keeping in mind: the 4.75% figure is also a useful read on what your wider team will be expecting. Even staff who sit above the award tend to treat the annual increase as the benchmark for their own pay conversations, so it's worth thinking about your remuneration approach across the board, not just for award-minimum roles.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the 2026 minimum wage increase for hospitality?

Hospitality award minimum rates rise by 4.75% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. The National Minimum Wage rises to $26.44 per hour ($1,004.90 per week), which also becomes the new floor for the lowest-paid award classifications.

When does the 2026 wage increase take effect?

From the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026 - not necessarily 1 July itself if your pay cycle straddles that date.

Does the increase apply to casual hospitality staff?

Yes. The 4.75% rise applies to the base rate, and the 25% casual loading sits on top of the new higher base, so a casual's headline rate increases by more than the base alone.

Is superannuation changing in July 2026?

The super guarantee rate stays at 12%. What changes is Payday Super: from 1 July 2026 super must be paid at the same time as wages rather than quarterly.

Do I need to increase pay for staff already paid above the award?

Not automatically, but you must re-check that any flat rate or annualised salary still covers everything the award would pay across the year once the new minimums apply.

The bottom line

The 2026 minimum wage increase is straightforward in principle and fiddly in practice - the risk isn't the headline number, it's the classifications, flat rates, and timing underneath it. Get those checked, line the change up to your first July pay period, and make sure your payroll can handle Payday Super at the same time, and you'll start the new financial year clean.

This article reflects the Fair Work Commission's 2026 Annual Wage Review Decision (4.75% increase to modern award minimum rates; National Minimum Wage of $26.44/hr, effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026) and the Payday Super changes commencing 1 July 2026. For official rates and advice specific to your business, visit fairwork.gov.au or contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.

Looking for new staff? Post a job and find hospo staff on Barcats today.