Carlton & United Breweries Pay Rates 2026: Production, Trades & Shift Pay
What Carlton & United Breweries workers should be paid in 2026 — the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award floor by classification, casual loading, penalties, and where the Carlton & United Breweries enterprise agreements sit.
Prepared with AI assistance and checked against primary sources. How we work
FairWork Mate is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Carlton & United Breweries. This guide sets out award minimums and is general information, not a statement about the pay practices of Carlton & United Breweries.
Who covers Carlton & United Breweries (Asahi) workers — award or agreement?
Carlton & United Breweries brews and distributes beer under the Carlton, Victoria Bitter and related labels, and now sits inside Asahi's wider Australian beverage business alongside Asahi's own soft-drink and water brands. Its workforce covers brewing and packaging operators, maintenance trades, and warehousing and distribution staff across breweries and distribution sites, with most roles permanent rather than casual.
The Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award 2020 (Levels 1–6) sets the floor for brewing and packaging roles. CUB and Asahi Beverages have registered a number of site-specific enterprise agreements — listed below where our corpus holds them — and any agreement covering a CUB site must leave employees better off overall than the award.
The federal awards relevant to Carlton & United Breweries (Asahi) roles:
- Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award 2020 (MA000073)
Workforce snapshot. In the 2024-25 Workplace Gender Equality Agency reports, Cub People Pty Ltd, CUB Pty Ltd reported 1,071 employees (part of the Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd group, 4,335 employees in total, 9.3% casual and 27.7% women). Source: WGEA 2025 Public Data File, data.gov.au (CC-BY 3.0 AU).
Food and beverage manufacturing award floor (1 July 2026)
Production, packing and plant staff sit on the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award 2020 (MA000073). The adult minimums are:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | $25.74/hr | $32.17/hr |
| Level 2 | $26.44/hr | $33.05/hr |
| Level 3 | $27.08/hr | $33.85/hr |
| Level 4 | $27.97/hr | $34.96/hr |
| Level 5 | $29.45/hr | $36.81/hr |
| Level 6 | $30.38/hr | $37.98/hr |
Levels rise with the skills and qualifications the job requires, from Level 1 (entry, first three months) through production and trade-qualified roles. Shift, overtime and weekend loadings apply on top; plant agreements restructure these and sit above the ladder.
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 Carlton & United Breweries (Asahi) enterprise agreements
Enterprise agreements set rates above the award, with their own classification structures and allowances. Current Carlton & United Breweries (Asahi) agreements in our corpus (18 in total):
- Asahi Beverages Prospect Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved August 2025, nominal expiry 30 July 2029.
- Asahi Beverages Laverton Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved May 2025, nominal expiry 31 March 2029.
- Asahi Beverages Huntingwood Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved October 2025, nominal expiry 18 February 2029.
- Asahi Beverages Huntingwood Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved October 2025, nominal expiry 18 February 2029.
- Asahi Beverages Equipment and Servicing (NSW) Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved October 2025, nominal expiry 30 September 2028.
- Asahi Beverages Tullamarine Production and Distribution Employees Enterprise Agreement 2023 — approved April 2024, nominal expiry 16 October 2027.
- SCT (CUB Site), Perth WA Enterprise Agreement 2024 — approved January 2025, nominal expiry 30 June 2027.
- SCT (CUB Site), Perth WA Enterprise Agreement 2024 — approved January 2025, nominal expiry 30 June 2027.
Plus 10 more — search "Carlton & United Breweries (Asahi)" in our agreements database.
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.
Food manufacturing pay issues worth checking on any payslip
General award-compliance issues that come up across the food manufacturing sector. This is a checklist for your own payslip, not a finding about Carlton & United Breweries (Asahi):
- Wrong C-level for the skills and qualifications actually used.
- Shift and overtime loadings absorbed into flat rates.
- Unpaid pre-start, PPE and handover time.
- Labour-hire pay gaps against directly employed staff doing the same job.
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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Official resources
General information and estimates only — not legal, financial or tax advice. Always check your specific award, agreement or contract, or a qualified professional, before you rely on the result.
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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.