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.

There is no single public holiday rate — it depends on your Modern Award. Many awards (such as the Clerks Award) pay double time and a half (250%) for full-time and part-time employees, but the big retail and hospitality awards pay double time and a quarter (225%) for ordinary hours on a public holiday.

But there are some common variations to know about:

• Hospitality Award (MA000009, cl 29.2): 225% for permanents, 250% for casuals
• Retail Award (MA000004, cl 22.1): 225% for permanents, 250% for casuals (250%/275% applies only to overtime worked on a public holiday)
• Fast Food Award (MA000003, cl 21): 225% for permanents, 250% for casuals
• Restaurant Award (MA000119, cl 24.2): 225% for permanents, 250% for casuals
• Clerks Award (MA000002, cl 24.4): 250% for permanents, 275% for casuals
• Nurses Award (MA000034): 200% for permanents; for casuals the 200% is applied to the already-loaded casual rate, landing at 250% of the base rate

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 two main treatments under Australian Modern Awards:

1. Additive: The award sets a casual public holiday percentage that is the permanent percentage plus 25 points, applied to the minimum (base) hourly rate. Retail, Hospitality, Fast Food and Restaurant: 225% becomes 250%. Clerks: 250% becomes 275%.
2. Compounded: The penalty percentage is applied to the casual hourly rate, which already includes the 25% loading. Nurses Award: 200% of the casual rate, which works out at 250% of the base rate.

Check which figure your award uses before assuming a mistake. A casual under the Retail, Hospitality, Fast Food or Restaurant award should be paid 2.5x the minimum hourly rate on King's Birthday — 2.5x is correct there, not a short-payment. A casual under the Clerks Award should get 2.75x. If your payslip is below your award's casual figure, raise it with your employer. 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 $109,200 per breach for a company with fewer than 15 employees, or $546,000 for one with 15 or more 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 (225% under the Retail, Hospitality, Fast Food and Restaurant awards; 250% under the Clerks Award and many others)
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 × (2.25 + 0.25) × 6 = $25.40 × 2.50 × 6 = $381.00 (General Retail Award cl 22.1: 250% for casuals).

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