Owner guide · Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 [MA000012]
What a pharmacist costs you from 1 July 2026.
Every figure on this page is the Fair Work Ombudsman’s own, taken from the MA000012 pay guide effective 1 July 2026, published 24 June 2026. Nothing here is an estimate and nothing is carried over from last year’s table.
The minimum rates
The full table, every classification.
Weekly and hourly rates are for full-time and part-time employees. The casual rate includes the 25% casual loading the award requires.
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Change on last year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy assistant level 1 | $1,056.80 | $27.81 | $34.76 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy assistant level 2 | $1,081.00 | $28.45 | $35.56 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy assistant level 3 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy assistant level 4 | $1,165.10 | $30.66 | $38.33 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy student — 1st year | $1,056.80 | $27.81 | $34.76 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy student — 2nd year | $1,081.00 | $28.45 | $35.56 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy student — 3rd year | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy student — 4th year | $1,165.10 | $30.66 | $38.33 | +4.75% |
| Pharmacy intern — 1st half | $1,291.50 | $33.99 | $42.49 | +9.45% |
| Pharmacy intern — 2nd half | $1,335.50 | $35.14 | $43.93 | +9.45% |
| Pharmacist | $1,586.30 | $41.74 | $52.18 | +9.45% |
| Experienced pharmacist | $1,737.40 | $45.72 | $57.15 | +9.44% |
| Pharmacist in charge | $1,778.40 | $46.80 | $58.50 | +9.44% |
| Pharmacist manager | $1,981.60 | $52.15 | $65.19 | +9.44% |
Junior pharmacy assistant rates apply by age from under 16 to 20 years and are not reproduced here — use Fair Work’s Pay and Conditions Tool for those.
Read the last column
Your pharmacists went up twice as much as everybody else.
Pharmacy assistants and students rose 4.75% — the Annual Wage Review, the same as most of the award system. Pharmacists and interns rose 9.4%, because a second, pharmacy-specific increase landed on top of it.
Fair Work’s gender undervaluation review found pharmacist classifications had been undervalued and ordered a total 14.1% increase for pharmacists, including pharmacy interns, phased across three dates: 30 June 2025, 30 June 2026 and 30 June 2027.
The third instalment has not happened yet. If you are building a wage budget or pricing a roster past June 2027, the pharmacist line moves again — and Fair Work has not yet published the figure. Plan for it rather than be surprised by it.
Penalty rates
The base rate is not what a Sunday costs you.
Dollar figures below are the Pharmacist classification at the 1 July 2026 rate. Ordinary hours under this award can be worked any day between 7.00am and midnight, to a maximum of 12 in a day — so a late trading night is ordinary hours with a penalty, not overtime.
| When | Full-time / part-time | Rate | Casual | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary hours | 100% | $41.74 | 125% | $52.18 |
| Monday to Friday, 7.00pm – 9.00pm | 125% | $52.18 | 150% | $62.61 |
| Monday to Friday, 9.00pm – midnight | 150% | $62.61 | 175% | $73.05 |
| Saturday, 8.00am – 6.00pm | 125% | $52.18 | 150% | $62.61 |
| Saturday, 6.00pm – 9.00pm | 150% | $62.61 | 175% | $73.05 |
| Saturday, 9.00pm – midnight | 175% | $73.05 | 200% | $83.48 |
| Sunday, 7.00am – 9.00pm | 150% | $62.61 | 175% | $73.05 |
| Sunday, before 7.00am or after 9.00pm | 200% | $83.48 | 225% | $93.92 |
| Public holiday, all day | 225% | $93.92 | 250% | $104.35 |
Percentages are of the minimum hourly rate and are taken from the award. Casual percentages are inclusive of the 25% casual loading.
A casual pharmacist covering a public holiday is $104.35 an hour before superannuation. That is the number to hold in your head when you are weighing a permanent hire against running the roster on cover — and it is the reason an unfilled permanent role is rarely the cheap option it looks like on the invoice.
Annual cost
What the floor works out to over a year.
| Classification | Base wage, 38 ordinary hours a week |
|---|---|
| Pharmacy intern — 1st half | $67,158 |
| Pharmacist | $82,488 |
| Experienced pharmacist | $90,345 |
| Pharmacist in charge | $92,477 |
| Pharmacist manager | $103,043 |
Weekly award rate × 52. This is the award floor for ordinary hours only — before superannuation, penalty rates, overtime, allowances or annual leave loading, and before whatever you have to pay above the award to actually attract someone.
That last clause is the one that matters. The award tells you what you cannot legally pay below. It does not tell you what the market will accept, and in a role rated in shortage in every state and territory those are rarely the same number.
Sources
Pay rates: Fair Work Ombudsman Pay and Conditions Tool, Pay Guide for the Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 [MA000012], effective 1 July 2026, published 24 June 2026. Penalty rates, casual loading and span of ordinary hours: the Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 text at awards.fairwork.gov.au, clauses 11.2, 13.1, 13.3 and the penalty rates clause. Phasing of the 14.1% pharmacist increase: Fair Work Ombudsman, Changes to the Pharmacy Award, gender undervaluation priority awards review. Shortage status: Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 Occupation Shortage List.
This page carries a date for a reason. Award rates are reviewed annually and this table is superseded on 1 July 2027, with a further pharmacist-specific increase landing 30 June 2027. If you are reading this after those dates, check Fair Work rather than trust the number.
Next step
Tell us about the vacancy.
You will get the fee in writing, a view on whether the role is fillable as written, and a realistic time to fill — before you commit to anything.