King's Birthday 2026 Penalty Rates: What You Get Paid in Every State

King's Birthday is observed on different dates by state in 2026:

• Monday 8 June 2026: NSW, VIC, SA, TAS, ACT, NT
• Monday 5 October 2026: QLD (the Queensland Government moved the holiday from June to October in 2016)
• Monday 28 September 2026: WA observes Western Australia Day on this date instead

All four are gazetted public holidays under each state's Holidays Act, which means the National Employment Standard (NES) public holiday entitlements apply — penalty pay if you work, ordinary pay if you don't (and would normally have).

Use the FWM King's Birthday Penalty Calculator to see your exact pay for a shift on the day in your state.

Most Modern Awards pay double time and a half (250%) for hours worked on a public holiday. That's the headline rate retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and most services workers will receive.

But there are some common variations to know about:

• Hospitality Award (MA000009): 225% for casuals (200% public holiday rate + 25% casual loading, additive)
• Retail Award (MA000004): 250% for permanents, 275% for casuals (250% + 25% additive)
• Fast Food Award (MA000003): 225% for casuals (additive)
• Clerks Award (MA000002): 250% all employees
• Nurses Award (MA000034): 250% (compounded — the casual rate is already loaded so the 250% applies to the loaded base)
• SCHADS Award (MA000100): 250% on the base rate (casual loading is paid on ordinary hours only, not on public holiday penalty)

Check your specific Modern Award's public holiday clause — penalty rates and how casual loading interacts vary more than most workers realise.

The single most common payroll mistake on public holidays is the wrong handling of casual loading. There are three valid treatments under Australian Modern Awards:

1. Additive: The 25% casual loading is added to the penalty percentage. A 250% public holiday rate becomes 275% of the ordinary (base) rate for casuals. Used by Hospitality, Retail, Clerks, Fast Food, Building.
2. Compounded: The award defines a "casual ordinary hourly rate" that is already 25% loaded, and the 250% penalty is applied to that loaded rate. Used by Manufacturing, Nurses, post-2021 Aged Care.
3. Separate: Casual loading applies to ordinary hours only — overtime and public holidays are calculated on the base rate without the loading. Used by SCHADS.

If your award uses the additive method, you should be paid 2.75x your base hourly rate on King's Birthday. If your payslip shows 2.5x, you've been short-paid 25% — raise it with your employer immediately. Use the Casual Loading Calculator to model your specific award and scenario.

Permanent employees: under NES s116, if a public holiday falls on a day you would normally have worked, you're entitled to your ordinary base rate of pay for the hours you would have worked. You don't need to apply for leave — it's automatic.

This is significant for shift workers and those on rotating rosters. If your normal Monday roster is 7-3, you get paid for those 8 hours even though you didn't work King's Birthday. Your employer cannot require you to take annual leave instead.

Casual employees: you get NOTHING if you don't work. Casual employees are only paid for hours actually worked. The 25% casual loading is supposed to compensate for missing this and other entitlements.

Part-time employees: you get NES s116 pay only if the public holiday falls on a day you would normally work. If it falls on a day you don't normally work, you get nothing — same as casuals.

Yes — but only with a reasonable request. Under NES s114, an employer can request that you work a public holiday. You can refuse if the request is unreasonable.

The factors that determine "reasonable" are spelled out in s114(4):

• The nature of the workplace and operational requirements
• Whether you're expected to work public holidays under your contract
• The amount of notice given
• Your personal circumstances (caring responsibilities, religious observance)
• Whether you'd be paid penalty rates or take a substitute day
• The nature of your work (essential services have less flexibility)

The 2023 High Court case OS MCAP Pty Ltd v CFMMEU made clear that simply rostering an employee to work is not enough — the employer must make a genuine REQUEST and the employee must have a real opportunity to refuse. Blanket rostering can be a breach of s114.

If you've refused reasonably and your employer has retaliated (lost shifts, hostility, dismissal), that may be adverse action under the general protections — penalties up to $93,900 per breach apply.

To work out your King's Birthday pay manually:

1. Find your base hourly rate (no loading, no penalty)
2. Find your award's public holiday multiplier (usually 250%)
3. If you're a casual under an additive award, add 25%
4. Multiply: base rate × multiplier × hours worked

Example. A casual retail worker on $25.40/hr base, working 6 hours on King's Birthday: $25.40 × (2.50 + 0.25) × 6 = $25.40 × 2.75 × 6 = $419.10.

Or skip the maths — use the King's Birthday Pay Calculator. State-aware, award-aware, casual loading built in.