Pastoral Award: Pay Rates, Classifications & Obligations

Minimum Pastoral Award wages increased by 3.5% from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2025. So now is a good time to recheck employee classifications, allowances, and the overtime or penalty rates you use in payroll.

This guide explains who the Pastoral Award covers, how to classify roles correctly, and the main pay and hours rules—so you can pay employees correctly and help avoid underpayments.

Pastoral Award Basics

The Pastoral Award 2020 sets minimum pay rates and working conditions for many pastoral industry roles in Australia, including:

• Livestock and poultry work. 
• Shearing/crutching and wool work on farms. 
• Dairying. 
• Hatchery work.
• Broadacre mixed farming (including some land-prep work like clearing and fencing).

If you’re checking Pastoral Award wages and entitlements, the Award helps you work out minimum standards for base pay rates, ordinary hours, overtime, penalty rates (like public holidays), allowances, and leave. These apply alongside the National Employment Standards (NES), which set minimum conditions for most Australian employees.

Classification groups

The Award is organised into 4 main classification groups (streams):

• Broadacre Farming and Livestock Operations.
• Pig Breeding and Raising.
• Poultry Farming.
• Shearing Operations.

Each group has its own classifications (and, in most cases, levels) that link to pay rates.

Who is covered under the Pastoral Award?

The Pastoral Award generally covers employers in the pastoral industry and their employees who fit within the Award’s classification structure.

Businesses covered

The Pastoral Award is aimed at pastoral and mixed-farming operations where the work involves (or is connected to):

• Managing, breeding, rearing, or grazing livestock* or poultry.
• Shearing and crutching, including classing and pressing wool on farms.
• Dairying.
• Hatchery work.
• Sowing, raising, or harvesting broadacre** field crops (and other crops grown as part of a broadacre mixed farming enterprise).
• Land treatment connected to the work above (e.g., preparing land for crops/livestock).
• Clearing, well sinking, dam sinking, fencing, or trenching on those farms/properties.

* The Award defines “livestock” quite broadly; it includes animals used in primary production, such as insects.

** “Broadacre field crops” includes things like seeds, grasses, silage, legumes, and flowers.

Employees covered

Commonly covered job types include:

• Farm and station hands.
• Dairy operators.
• Piggery workers.
• Poultry workers.
• Shearers and crutchers.
• Station cooks.

For more details, see the full list of employees covered under the Pastoral Award. 

Who isn’t covered under the Pastoral Award?

The Pastoral Award isn’t a catch-all for every kind of farming or rural work. It doesn’t cover:

• Wine industry work. Vineyards and winemaking roles are usually checked under the Wine Industry Award instead.
• Sugar farming and sugar cane growing (and related sugar activities). These are generally covered under the Sugar Industry Award.
• Horticulture-style crop farming (e.g., vegetables, fruit, nuts, and flowers) that isn’t part of the broadacre mixed-farming activities described under the Pastoral Award. These roles are often covered under the Horticulture Award.

Coverage self-check: Does the Pastoral Award apply?

Ask whether these statements are true for your business and the role you’re checking:

• I run a pastoral or mixed-farming operation involving livestock or poultry work, shearing and wool work, dairying, hatchery work, or broadacre mixed farming (including related work such as land preparation, clearing, and fencing). 
• The employee’s work fits common Pastoral Award roles, such as a farm or station hand, dairy operator, piggery worker, poultry worker, shearer or crutcher, or station cook.
• The employee isn’t better covered by another farming award, such as the Horticulture Award (for horticulture-style crop farming).
• There’s no enterprise agreement or other enterprise instrument covering the employee.

If most of these apply, the employee is likely covered by the Pastoral Award 2020.

Still unsure? Check the Pastoral Award 2020 coverage section, or use the Fair Work Award Finder.

Coming up: Award dates and deadlines you need to know

Determining Pastoral Award 2020 [MA000035] Requirements

Under the Pastoral Award, what you pay an employee depends on their employment type and their classification group and level (the kind of work they do, and the skill, experience, and responsibility involved).

Employment types

The Pastoral Award has 3 main employment types: full-time, part-time, and casual.

Full-time

Full-time employees are engaged to work an average of 38 hours/week (averaged over a 4-week period). 

They’re ongoing employees and generally receive the standard public holiday and leave entitlements (such as paid annual leave and paid personal and carer’s leave).

Part-time

Part-time employees work fewer than 38 hours/week on average (over a 4-week period) and usually have regular, predictable hours.

They get the same pay and conditions as a full-time employee doing the same kind of work, but only for the hours they work. (You’ll see this referred to as pro rata.) 

The minimum shift length for part-time employees is usually 3 consecutive hours. A 2-hour minimum applies to employees who are dairy operators, under 18, or full-time secondary school students.

Part-time employees can still trigger overtime if they work outside the Award’s ordinary hours rules.

Casual

Casual employees are paid an hourly rate plus 25% (called “casual loading”) for all ordinary hours worked. (This doesn’t apply if the job is paid by piecework—based on how much work they complete.)

When a casual employee works outside ordinary hours, such as in overtime or on public holidays, different rates may apply.

The 25% casual loading replaces certain permanent entitlements, such as paid annual leave and paid personal/carer’s leave.

Like part-time employees, casual workers’ minimum shift length is normally 3 hours (or 2 for eligible under-18s, dairy operators, and full-time secondary students).

Classifications and levels

Farm and livestock hand

Farm and livestock hands work in broadacre farming and livestock operations. 

For more information, head to the Broadacre Farming and Livestock Operations section of the Pastoral Award.

Piggery attendant

Piggery attendants work in pig breeding and raising. 

For more information, head to the Pig Breeding and Raising section of the Pastoral Award.

Poultry farm worker

Poultry farm workers are employees in the poultry farming industry.

For more information, head to the Poultry Farming section of the Pastoral Award.

Shearing operations

Under the Pastoral Award, shearing work is covered by a set of specialist classifications, including: 

• Shearers and learner shearers
• Crutchers
• Shed hands
• Woolpressers
• Shearing cooks
• Woolclassers
• Shearing shed experts

Each role has its own definition, duties, and pay method. In shearing, pay is often piecework, and some shed roles are paid by the run.

For the complete legal definitions and exact classification rules of shearing work, see the Shearing Operations section of the Pastoral Award.

Pastoral Award Pay Rates and Entitlements Overview

Under the Pastoral Award, pay rates and entitlements set the minimum standards for what you must pay covered employees and the key conditions they receive (including ordinary hours, overtime, penalty rates, allowances, and leave). 

Minimum base rates

Farm and livestock hands

Piggery attendants

Poultry farm workers 

Shearing operations workers

Minimum rates for shearers, including piecework and daily rates, are set out separately in the Award. 

Download the Pastoral Award Pay Guide for more details on all minimum base rates.

How Pastoral Award pay rates work (2025 example)

Before we dive into our next section, let’s first break down how the 2025 Pastoral Award pay rates work in practice. We’ll use a PA3 piggery attendant as an example.

• If they work full-time, you pay them at least the minimum weekly rate of $982.40.
• If they work part-time, you pay the minimum hourly rate of $25.85 for the hours they work. For example, if they work 20 hours per week, that works out to $517.00 per week (20 × $25.85). (This is the pro rata idea: Part-time pay is based on the hours worked.)
• If they’re engaged as a casual PA3, you pay them the same base hourly rate plus 25% casual loading. A 25% loading on $25.85 = $6.46. So the casual rate is $32.31 per hour ($25.85 + $6.46). Over 20 hours, they’d earn $646.20 (20 × $32.31).

To find the latest pay rates, use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) or the Fair Work Commission’s Modern Awards Pay Database.

Penalty rates

Penalty rates are higher pay rates, usually a percentage of an employee’s ordinary hourly rate. (If an “all-purpose” allowance applies, it’s added first before penalties are worked out. We cover allowances in more detail later.)

One key penalty rate is for public holidays:

• Full-time and part-time employees are generally paid 200% of their ordinary rate. 
• Casuals are paid a higher public holiday rate because it includes the casual loading. The percentage is usually higher than 200%, depending on the part of the Award (e.g., 225% in broadacre/poultry/shearing, and 275% for piggery non-shiftworker casuals).

Penalty rate examples

Say you have an FLH3 farm and livestock hand whose minimum base rate is $25.29 per hour. 

• If they work on a public holiday as a full-time or part-time employee, they’re paid 200% of their ordinary hourly rate. So their public holiday rate would be $50.58/hour (2 × $25.29). If they worked 8 hours, they’d earn $404.64 (8 × $50.58).
• If the same FLH3 is a casual worker, public holiday work is paid at 225% (this includes the casual loading). So their public holiday rate would be $56.90/hour (2.25 × $25.29). Over 8 hours, they’d earn $455.20 (8 × $56.90).

For more penalty rates under each group, check these parts of the Pastoral Award:

• Broadacre Farming and Livestock Operations
• Pig Breeding and Raising (shiftwork) and (weekend and public holiday)
• Poultry Farming
• Shearing Operations

Overtime rules and rates

Pastoral Award overtime is the higher rate you pay when an employee works outside their ordinary hours.

Broadacre farming and livestock operations

Separate overtime-style extra payments apply if a station cook works more than 5.5 days in a week.

Pig breeding and raising

If an employee works overtime on a Saturday or Sunday, the overtime must be paid for at least 3 hours, unless it’s continuous with ordinary duty.

Poultry farming

To see this in action, let’s look at an example. Say you have a PW2 poultry farm worker whose minimum base rate is $25.29 per hour.

If they’re a full- or part-time worker and work 2 hours of overtime on a Monday, those overtime hours are paid at 150%. That means their overtime rate is $37.94/hour (1.5 × $25.29). For 2 hours, they’d earn $75.88.

Casuals also get overtime; their rates already include the 25% casual loading, so the loading isn’t added again on top. 

Shearing operations

On most days, if extra time goes over 30 minutes, then all extra time worked that day is treated as overtime and paid at 150% of the normal hourly rate. This doesn’t apply on cut-out day, the last day of a shearing or crutching job when the shed is finished, and the team packs up to move on.

Penners-up don’t get overtime for extra time needed to keep shearers or crutchers supplied with sheep.

For detailed overtime rules and rates (including casual rates) under each group, check these parts of the Award:

• Broadacre Farming and Livestock Operations
• Pig Breeding and Raising
• Poultry Farming
• Shearing Operations

Breaks

Break rules set the minimum meal and rest breaks you need to provide during a shift, and when employees should take them.

Here are the key break rules for most employees under the Pastoral Industry Award (except for those under Pig Breeding and Raising and Shearing Operations):

Allowances

Allowances are extra payments (or reimbursements) on top of an employee’s base rate. They usually apply when an employee takes on extra responsibility or when work creates extra costs.

Where an allowance is all-purpose, it’s treated as part of the employee’s rate when working out penalties, loadings, and some leave payments.

Check details directly for a full list of Pastoral Award allowances (including those that apply in shearing operations and other scenarios).

Leave entitlements

Most leave comes from the NES, which applies no matter which award someone is under. The Pastoral Industry Award then adds extra rules for some leave types.

Annual leave

Who gets annual leave?

• Full-time employees get 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year (based on a 38-hour week).
• Part-time employees get the same entitlement based on the hours they work (pro rata).
• Casual employees don’t get paid annual leave. Their casual loading is meant to help make up for this.

Converting annual leave into hours

The Award allows annual leave to be shown as an hourly bank. For example, 4 weeks × 38 hours = 152 hours for a full-time employee.

What you pay during annual leave

When an employee takes annual leave, they must be paid what would’ve earned for their ordinary hours if they weren’t on leave. 

This rule applies to employees who aren’t paid by piecework. 

If an employee is paid by electronic funds transfer (ETF), they can be paid on their normal pay cycle while on leave.

Annual leave loading

Non-shift workers get 17.5% annual leave loading on top of their wages for their ordinary hours while on annual leave. 

Excessive leave accruals

The Pastoral Award has extra rules for handling “excessive” annual leave balances (e.g., more than 8 weeks).

Cashing out annual leave

Annual leave can only be cashed out with a separate written agreement each time, and the employee must have at least 4 weeks of leave accrued after cashing out. 

An employee can cash out up to 2 weeks in any 12-month period. 

For the shift worker annual leave rules (and any other situations not covered above), cross-check the Award itself.

Other NES leave

Employees under the Pastoral Award also get leave from the NES, including:

• Personal/carer’s leave and compassionate leave.
• Parental leave and related entitlements.
• Community service leave (e.g., jury duty or emergency service activities).
• Family and domestic violence leave (with extra confidentiality rules around handling records and payslips).

How to Determine Pastoral Award Coverage

Correct coverage tells you which minimum rates and rules apply to the role, and can help you avoid costly underpayments and backdated corrections later.

Pastoral Award in 2026: A practical example, a real-world example 

Jimmy works full-time in a piggery. His role involves:

• Feeding and watering the pigs and making sure they have a safe environment.
• Cleaning pens and sheds. 
• Doing routine husbandry tasks.
• Moving, drafting, and weighing pigs as needed.
• Helping with basic stock care. 
• Following the farm’s set routines.

Because Jimmy’s main duties are piggery work (pig husbandry and shed tasks), he falls under the Pig Breeding and Raising classification group.

Jimmy is best classified as a Piggery attendant Level 2 (PA2) because he does routine piggery tasks using set procedures, has some experience, and isn’t running the shed or supervising others as part of his usual role.

As a full-time PA2, Jimmy’s Pastoral Award rates must be at least the minimum of $948.00 per week or $24.95 per hour.

Common scenarios and compliance tips

1. A farm or station hires a “farm hand” who also runs machinery and leads others.

Key checks:

• Confirm the Pastoral Award 2020 applies based on the business and the employee’s actual duties.
• Classify the worker in the correct group and level. (Farm and Livestock Hands levels move up as duties, skills, and independence increase.)
• If the farm hand is in charge of other employees, check whether a leading hand allowance applies, and treat it correctly if it is an all-purpose allowance.

2. A piggery or poultry business uses part-time and casual staff on the same roster.

Key checks:

• Confirm whether each person is full-time, part-time, or casual, and apply casual loading correctly (casuals generally get 25% loading, except where piecework applies).
• Check minimum engagement for part-time and casual staff.
• If overtime is worked, pay it correctly—and don’t add casual loading again on top.

3. A shearing contractor pays their shearers by piecework and their sheds staff “by the run.”

Key checks:

• Classify workers under Shearing Operations and confirm the correct pay method (piecework is common, and some shed roles are paid by the run).
• Track daily time carefully. In shearing operations, if extra time goes beyond 30 minutes, all the extra time that day becomes overtime (with some role-based exceptions, such as penners-up).

Common employer mistakes to avoid

• Misclassifying people (placing an employee too low for the work they actually do, or picking the wrong classification group).
• Forgetting what casual rates include (casual pay often includes a loading, so totals can look “higher” than permanent rates).
• Missing allowances or not showing them clearly (for example, first aid/leading hand allowances, vehicle use, meal allowance for overtime, or reimbursements).
• Not updating rates after Fair Work annual changes (minimum wages and many allowance amounts can change each year).

Glossary 

Ordinary hours

The standard hours an employee is rostered to work at their base rate (before overtime applies).

Loading

An extra percentage paid on top of the base rate (e.g., 25% casual loading instead of paid leave).

Roster

A work schedule that sets out an employee’s shifts, start and finish times, and days they will work.

Piecework

A way of paying someone based on how much work they complete (for example, a set amount per 100 sheep shorn), not by the hour.

By the run

A way of paying shed staff a set amount for each “run” or batch of sheep handled, rather than an hourly rate.

Penners-up

A shed worker who pens the sheep up and keeps them moving to the shearers during shearing.

Additional Resources

For even more information, check out the resources below.

• Pastoral Award 2020 [MA000035]: The official Award text.
• Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS): A summary of employee rights and employer responsibilities under the NES.
• Annual Leave Cash-Out Agreement (Fair Work Commission): A template employers can use when arranging a lawful leave cash-out agreement with an employee.
• Fair Work Record-Keeping Requirements: Guidance on pay slips, pay records, and what employers need to keep.

FAQs

How much do dairy farmers get paid in Australia?

If you’re hiring a dairy operator/farm worker under the Pastoral Award, minimum adult pay starts at $24.28/hour (or $922.70/week for full-time), and increases with the worker’s level.

How much do farmhands get paid in Australia?

Under the Pastoral Award, adult farm and livestock hands (FLH1–FLH4) are paid at least $24.28–$25.85/hour (or $922.70–$982.40/week for full-time).

How much do sheep shearers get paid in Australia?

In Australia, sheep shearers are often paid on a piecework basis (per 100 sheep) or on a daily rate. 

For example, the Pastoral Award pay guide lists $491.45 for 100 flock sheep (machine, not double-fleeced, own-stud comb) and $293.73 per day for shearers.

Disclaimer

The information provided here is a summary only and does not constitute legal advice. While we have made every effort to ensure the information provided is up to date and reliable, we cannot guarantee its completeness, accuracy, or applicability to your specific situation. Laws change frequently, and outcomes may vary depending on your business circumstances. We recommend consulting a qualified employment lawyer before making decisions related to workforce management. Please note that we cannot be held liable for any actions taken or not taken based on the information presented on this website.