ABC Pay Rates 2026: EA Bands & Award Floor

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)

The broadcasting stream of the Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award 2020 (MA000091) sets these adult minimums:

Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.

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.

The patterns worth checking on a ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) payslip:

• 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.

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.