Metcash Pay Rates 2026: Driver, Depot & Warehouse Pay
What Metcash workers should be paid in 2026 — the Road Transport and Distribution Award floor by classification, casual loading, penalties, and where the Metcash enterprise agreements sit.
Leave & Entitlements Specialist · JD, Monash University — Admitted in Victoria (non-practising)
Who covers Metcash workers — award or agreement?
Metcash is the wholesale distributor behind the IGA supermarket network, and also supplies the Mitre 10 and Home Timber & Hardware hardware groups, running a national network of distribution centres that supply independently owned stores. Its workforce is concentrated in warehousing, picking, forklift and logistics roles, with a meaningful share of casual employment.
The Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2020 sets the floor for warehouse and distribution-centre roles, with the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020 covering Metcash's own drivers. Metcash has registered a large number of site-specific enterprise agreements across its distribution centres — listed below where our corpus holds them — and each must leave employees better off overall than the relevant award.
The federal awards relevant to Metcash roles:
- Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020 (MA000038)
- Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2020 (MA000084)
Workforce snapshot. In its 2024-25 report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Metcash Trading Limited declared 7,668 employees — 19.7% casual and 32.2% women. Source: WGEA 2025 Public Data File, data.gov.au (CC-BY 3.0 AU).
Road transport award floor (1 July 2026)
Drivers sit on the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020 (MA000038). The grade follows the biggest vehicle combination you're required to drive:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Transport Worker Grade 1 (courier/van, light rigid) | $26.87/hr | $33.59/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 2 (rigid over 4.5t, forklift) | $27.51/hr | $34.39/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 3 (heavy rigid) | $27.83/hr | $34.79/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 4 (semi-trailer/heavy combination) | $28.32/hr | $35.40/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 5 (B-double) | $28.67/hr | $35.84/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 6 (road train) | $29.00/hr | $36.25/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 7 (double road train / specialist) | $29.42/hr | $36.78/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 8 | $30.28/hr | $37.85/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 9 | $30.78/hr | $38.48/hr |
| Transport Worker Grade 10 | $31.55/hr | $39.44/hr |
If you regularly drive a bigger combination than your grade pays for, that is a classification underpayment. Overtime, night and weekend loadings apply on top.
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.
Storage and warehouse award floor (1 July 2026)
Warehouse and distribution-centre staff sit on the Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2020 (MA000084):
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Storeworker grade 1 (on commencement) | $27.08/hr | $33.85/hr |
| Storeworker grade 1 (after 3 months) | $27.41/hr | $34.26/hr |
| Storeworker grade 1 (after 12 months) | $27.72/hr | $34.65/hr |
| Storeworker grade 2 (forklift, RF picking) | $27.97/hr | $34.96/hr |
| Storeworker grade 3 (leading hand, inventory control) | $28.77/hr | $35.96/hr |
| Storeworker grade 4 (supervisor) | $29.61/hr | $37.01/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 Metcash enterprise agreements
Enterprise agreements set rates above the award, with their own classification structures and allowances. Current Metcash agreements in our corpus (30 in total):
- Metcash Trading Limited Townsville Liquor Distribution and Warehousing Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved December 2025, nominal expiry 29 June 2029.
- Metcash Trading Limited South Australia Food & Liquor Enterprise Agreement 2026 — approved May 2026, nominal expiry 1 March 2029.
- Metcash Trading Limited CSD Operations (WA) Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved May 2026, nominal expiry 28 September 2028.
- Metcash Trading Limited Huntingwood Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved February 2026, nominal expiry 17 August 2028.
- Metcash Trading Limited Victoria Perishable Warehouse Operations Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved October 2025, nominal expiry 10 July 2028.
- Metcash Australian Liquor Marketers Tasmania Warehousing Agreement 2025 — approved May 2026, nominal expiry 1 July 2028.
- Australian Liquor Marketers (Cairns Warehouse) Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved September 2025, nominal expiry 30 June 2028.
- Metcash Trading Limited Victoria Dry Grocery and NDC Enterprise Agreement 2025 — approved December 2025, nominal expiry 30 June 2028.
Plus 22 more — search "Metcash" 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.
Common transport pay issues at Metcash
The patterns worth checking on a Metcash payslip:
- Driving a bigger combination than your grade pays for — the grade follows the vehicle you're required to drive.
- Unpaid loading, waiting and pre-start time.
- Overtime and night loadings absorbed into a flat rate that doesn't beat the award for the roster.
- Contractor arrangements that look like employment — owner-drivers who are really employees.
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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Former Fair Work Commission Associate (2021–2024) after two years as a plaintiff-side employment paralegal in Melbourne. Juris Doctor from Monash University (2020). Writes about unfair dismissal, leave entitlements, termination, and enterprise bargaining. Admitted in Victoria, currently non-practising. Based in Fitzroy North.