Pay & Wages
ABC Pay Rates 2026: EA Bands & Award Floor
What ABC workers should be paid in 2026 — the Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award floor by classification, casual loading, penalties, and where the ABC enterprise agreements sit.
Who covers ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) workers — award or agreement?
The ABC is the national public broadcaster, employing journalists, producers, presenters, camera and sound operators, engineers, digital and technology staff, and administrative and support roles across every state and territory. It is one of the largest media employers in the country.
ABC pay is set by the ABC Enterprise Agreement (below), negotiated with the MEAA and CPSU, which sets the salary bands for every band and level. The federal award underneath is the Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award 2020 — tabled below as the floor — though the agreement's bands sit well above it.
The federal awards relevant to ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) roles:
- Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award 2020 (MA000091)
Broadcasting award floor (1 July 2026)
The broadcasting stream of the Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award 2020 (MA000091) sets these adult minimums:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Broadcasting employee Grade 1 | $25.74/hr | $32.17/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 2 | $26.44/hr | $33.05/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 3 | $27.08/hr | $33.85/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 4 | $27.97/hr | $34.96/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 5 | $29.45/hr | $36.81/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 6 | $30.38/hr | $37.98/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 7 | $31.30/hr | $39.13/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 8 | $32.13/hr | $40.16/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 9 | $33.04/hr | $41.30/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 10 | $33.77/hr | $42.21/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 11 | $34.46/hr | $43.08/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 12 | $35.38/hr | $44.23/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 13 | $36.30/hr | $45.38/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 14 | $36.77/hr | $45.96/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 15 | $38.16/hr | $47.70/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 16 | $39.83/hr | $49.79/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 17 | $40.76/hr | $50.95/hr |
| Broadcasting employee Grade 18 | $42.61/hr | $53.26/hr |
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.
The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) enterprise agreements
Enterprise agreements set rates above the award, with their own classification structures and allowances. Current ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) agreements in our corpus (1 in total):
- ABC Enterprise Agreement 2022-2025 — approved August 2023, nominal expiry 1 October 2025.
We don't reproduce agreement dollar figures here — the agreement covering your site, state and stream is the document to read. Find your agreement, then your classification, then your pay point, and compare it with your payslip. The award tables on this page are the floor every one of these agreements must beat.
Broadcasting pay issues worth checking on any payslip
General award-compliance issues that come up across the broadcasting sector. This is a checklist for your own payslip, not a finding about ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):
- Agreement pay grades not applied after a transfer of business or franchise change.
- Rostering and shift-change penalties under the agreement missed on short-notice changes.
- Unpaid sign-on, handover and travel at the start and end of shifts.
- Allowances (meal, travel, relieving) dropped when payroll systems change.
What to do if your pay looks wrong
Match your payslip to your classification in the agreement (or the award tables above), and price any gap with our back-pay calculator. Raise it in writing with payroll or your manager first — most underpayments are fixed at that step. Unresolved, the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) recovers underpayments at no cost, up to six years back, and your union can run the claim for you. Not sure which instrument covers you? Ask our AI advisor with your role and location.
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FairWork Mate is an independent Australian publisher of workplace-rights information. Our content is prepared with AI assistance and draws on primary sources — the Fair Work Act, modern awards, and Fair Work Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman material. It is general information, not legal advice.