Business Law Library
Modern Award Library & Change Tracker
Find the award that may cover your team, understand the rules that usually matter in payroll and rostering, and check the official source before you act.
122
current awards in the official A-Z list
Every guide links back to the current Fair Work Commission award.
Start with coverage
An award is selected by the employer's industry and the work an employee performs, not just their job title. These guides help you investigate the right award. They do not replace a coverage or classification assessment.
Latest wage update
1 July 2026
Award minimum wages increased by 4.75%.
The new rates apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Fair Work's pay guides and calculator have been updated.
Separate further increases also apply from 1 August 2026 for some employees under the Nurses Award.
Award directory
All 122 current awards
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services Award
This award is built for Aboriginal community controlled health services and for specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health occupations. The main compliance risks are coverage overlap with other health awards, getting the role family wrong, and under-documenting part-time patterns, progression and allowances.
Health and community services
Aged Care Award
The Aged Care Award is mainly about getting coverage, classifications and roster structure right. The practical pressure points are part-time paperwork, the 28 day rostering model, ADO tracking, rest breaks and clear uniform and equipment arrangements.
Health and community services
Air Pilots Award
The Air Pilots Award is an occupational award for pilots and helicopter aircrew, not a catch-all aviation award. The big compliance issues are choosing the right award stream, setting the correct engagement model, and rostering within CASA and fatigue limits.
Transport, logistics and maritime
Aircraft Cabin Crew Award
The Aircraft Cabin Crew Award is driven by cabin crew classification and flying stream. The main traps are using the wrong schedule for duty limits, under-documenting part-time patterns, and missing the distinct casual and allowance rules for cabin crew work.
Transport, logistics and maritime
Airline Operations - Ground Staff Award
The key to this award is not the title. It is the Schedule A stream and level that actually fits the work. Businesses usually get into trouble by assuming it only covers ramp staff, by moving employees up or down without checking the stream rules, or by running rosters and payroll settings that do not match the classification chosen.
Transport, logistics and maritime
Airport Employees Award
The Airport Employees Award is about matching roles to the airport classification structure and then applying the correct day worker or shiftworker hours framework. The biggest operational risks are casual setup, long-shift design, missed meal breaks and failing to track technical and ground service allowances.
Transport, logistics and maritime
Alpine Resorts Award
The Alpine Resorts Award is very role-specific and very practical. The real work is classifying resort jobs properly, handling seasonal and casual setups cleanly, and managing rosters, clothing and equipment obligations in a fast-moving alpine operation.
Retail, hospitality and recreation
Aluminium Industry Award
The Aluminium Industry Award is broad but not simple. The practical risks are getting coverage wrong at mixed sites, under-documenting status and classification, and building rosters or allowance settings without following the award's detailed production rules.
Manufacturing and production
Ambulance and Patient Transport Industry Award
The Ambulance and Patient Transport Industry Award can be highly relevant for ambulance operators, non emergency patient transport providers and businesses involved in ambulance education and training, but it is not a simple label based award. The main compliance issues are usually the initial coverage check, the choice of Schedule A classification, written part time arrangements, casual loading rules, 40 hour roster cycles and correct treatment of all purpose allowances.
Health and community services
Amusement, Events and Recreation Award
This award reaches far beyond amusement rides, but it does not apply to every venue-based business. The big compliance risks are usually the first coverage call, over-reliance on job titles instead of grades, weak part-time paperwork, and failing to treat exhibition employees as a separate stream with their own hours and payroll rules.
Retail, hospitality and recreation
Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award
The Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award is really 2 coverage streams in one instrument: private veterinary surgery practices and some community based animal care charities. The main compliance issues are deciding which stream the business sits in, classifying staff by principal functions, handling the narrow student casual exception correctly, and separately checking the special rostering, on call, study leave and insurance related rules that apply to veterinary surgeons.
Health and community services
Aquaculture Industry Award
The Aquaculture Industry Award is built for aquaculture operations rather than general farming. Employers should focus on 4 things from the start: whether the business falls within the aquaculture definition, whether the employee belongs in the finfish or shellfish stream, whether the roster is being run as day work or shiftwork, and whether special duty allowances such as diving or tool allowances have been triggered.
Agriculture and primary industries
Architects Award
The Architects Award is a narrow occupational award, not a broad design business award. The main issues are whether the employee is truly working in the occupation of an architect, which Schedule A level applies, whether ordinary hours have stayed within the award spread, whether graduate review and training obligations are being met, and whether travel away from the usual workplace is being reimbursed and recorded properly.
Professional and office work
Asphalt Industry Award
The Asphalt Industry Award is really about three things: whether the work is genuinely asphalt industry work, whether the employee is in the right skill level, and whether the 4 week roster and payroll system have been set up to match the award. Most errors come from treating it like a general labouring award or from mishandling rostered days off and all-purpose allowances.
Construction and trades
Australian Government Industry Award 2016
This award is best read as a general Commonwealth award with important exclusions and agency-specific overlays. The usual mistakes are assuming it covers all government roles, skipping the AG descriptor analysis, running informal flextime, or missing the extra rules that apply when one of the named agency schedules is in play.
Public and specialist services
Banking, Finance and Insurance Award
The Banking, Finance and Insurance Award reaches well beyond bank branches. It can cover lending, insurance, superannuation, broking, debt recovery, data processing, telephone enquiries and transaction processing in covered businesses. The main small business risks are the contract call centre exclusion, getting the Schedule A level right, identifying part-time overtime properly and running annualised wage records and yearly reconciliations when salaries are used.
Professional and office work
Black Coal Mining Industry Award
This award is built around black coal mine operations, not general resources work. The biggest risk areas are getting the right classification stream, using casual employment only where the award allows it, and making sure rosters fit the 35 hour ordinary week and long shift rules.
Energy and resources
Book Industry Award
The Book Industry Award is tightly focused on book editorial work and limited book publicity work. Small publishers and similar businesses should start with coverage, then get the classification, engagement type, hours pattern, overtime treatment and final pay process right.
Professional and office work
Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award
This award covers a wide media and entertainment field, but different sectors operate under different rules. Businesses usually need to identify the correct sector first, then apply the right engagement, roster and allowance provisions for that sector.
Retail, hospitality and recreation
Building and Construction General On-site Award
The Building and Construction General On-site Award is driven by three things: genuine on-site coverage, the correct construction stream, and disciplined administration of hire type and RDOs. Small construction businesses should get those foundations right before they rely on any pay or roster setting.
Construction and trades
Business Equipment Award
This award is best understood as a business equipment sales, installation and servicing award. The real compliance work is making sure the business is actually in that industry, then documenting roster flexibility and field service allowances properly.
Manufacturing and production
Car Parking Award
This award is aimed at commercial parking operations. Businesses usually need to check the line between commercial and incidental parking first, then apply the written part-time, longer day and pay cycle rules correctly.
Transport, logistics and maritime
Cement, Lime and Quarrying Award
The Cement, Lime and Quarrying Award is really two award streams in one. Small businesses should settle the correct stream first, then align classification, hours, higher duties and allowances to that stream before they rely on any payroll or roster setting.
Manufacturing and production
Cemetery Industry Award
This award covers cemetery, crematorium, funeral support and memorial work through a detailed class structure. Businesses should check the class used, manage the RDO system properly, and track specialised allowances such as exhumation work.
Public and specialist services
Children's Services Award
If your business runs a children's service or early childhood education operation, the main compliance pressure points are coverage, written part-time patterns, rostering, non-contact time and correct classification of educators, support workers and qualifying cooks.
Education and care
Cleaning Services Award
For contract cleaners, the main legal risks usually sit in the industry coverage call, engagement paperwork, site based minimum shifts, roster cycle changes and broken shift or temperature related allowances. Payroll errors often start with the roster design, not the pay run itself.
Public and specialist services
Clerks - Private Sector Award
The Clerks - Private Sector Award matters when employees are doing genuine clerical work, but it does not automatically outrank an industry award with clerical classifications. The key risks are award coverage, classification, part-time variations, ordinary hours and higher duties.
Professional and office work
Coal Export Terminals Award
This is a specialist award for coal export terminal operations. The main compliance issues are whether the site fits the terminal definition, whether employees are placed in the right stream and whether rosters are built around the award's 35 hour and shiftwork rules.
Energy and resources
Commercial Sales Award
This award matters most for travelling and territory based sales roles. The practical focus is on getting coverage right, documenting commission and vehicle terms early and managing travel related expenses properly under the award.
Professional and office work
Concrete Products Award
This award is built for concrete products manufacturing. The main compliance issues are the industry coverage call, skill based classification, written part-time patterns, majority agreement for longer ordinary days, higher duties and the correct all-purpose allowance coding.
Manufacturing and production