Telstra Pay Rates 2026: Retail, Call Centre & Technician Pay

The award floor is the Telecommunications Services Award 2020 (MA000041) — it covers customer contact (call centre) staff, clerical and administrative roles, and telecommunications technicians across the industry.

Most direct Telstra employees are actually paid under enterprise agreements that sit above that floor:

• Telstra Limited Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 — the main agreement.
• Telstra Retail Stores Agreement 2024-2027 — store staff.
• Telstra InfraCo Fixed Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027 — fixed-network infrastructure workers.

One caveat: a Telstra EA only applies if a Telstra entity actually employs you. If you sell or support Telstra products for a third-party reseller, dealer, or outsourced contact-centre provider, that business is your employer — check the employing entity on your payslip, because it determines whether an EA or an award sets your rate.

Adult minimum hourly rates under MA000041 from 1 July 2026, verified against the Fair Work Commission pay database:

Classification	Permanent	Casual (+25%)
Customer Contact Trainee	$27.08	$33.85
Customer Contact Officer Level 1	$27.97	$34.96
Customer Contact Officer Level 2	$29.45	$36.81
Principal Customer Contact Specialist	$31.03	$38.79
Customer Contact Team Leader	$32.13	$40.16

If you handle escalations, complex faults, or coach other agents, you may belong at Level 2 or above — classification creep in call centres nearly always runs in the employer's favour.

The other two streams under the same award:

Classification	Permanent	Casual (+25%)
Clerical and Administration Level 1	$27.08	$33.85
Clerical and Administration Level 3	$29.45	$36.81
Clerical and Administration Level 5	$34.46	$43.08
Telecommunications Technical Employee	$29.45	$36.81
Telecommunications Technician	$31.27	$39.09
Advanced Telecommunications Technician	$32.13	$40.16
Principal Telecommunications Technician	$34.46	$43.08

Under MA000041 for permanent staff (using Customer Contact Officer Level 1 at $27.97/hr as the example):

• Saturday before 7am / after 1pm, and all day Sunday: 150% — $41.96/hr
• Public holiday: 250% — $69.93/hr
• Afternoon or night shift (shiftworkers): 115% — $32.17/hr
• Permanent night shift: 130% — $36.36/hr

Casuals: 175% for the Saturday/Sunday window and 275% on public holidays, on top of the workweek loading already in their ordinary rate. Contact centres rostering evenings and weekends should show these loadings as separate payslip lines.

The patterns we see in telco pay questions:

• Wrong-employer confusion — reseller and outsourced contact-centre staff assuming Telstra EA rates apply when their actual employer pays award minimums.
• Trainee rates that never end — the trainee classification is for structured training periods, not a permanent discount.
• Unpaid pre-shift work — logging into systems before the paid shift starts is work, and it's compensable.
• Weekend loadings missed — Sunday retail and contact-centre shifts at flat rates.
• Technicians classified as "technical employees" — qualified techs doing installation and fault work belong at the Technician rate or above.

Start with the employing entity on your payslip. If it's Telstra Limited (or InfraCo), read the relevant EA linked above and find your job family and level. If it's a partner or contractor, the MA000041 rates in the tables above are your floor.

Then verify: run recent payslips through our payslip checker, price your weekend and evening hours with the penalty rates calculator, and if there's a gap, quantify it with the back-pay calculator before raising it with payroll in writing. The Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) can pursue underpayments at no cost, with a six-year recovery window.