The Star Pay Rates 2026: Casino, Bar & Gaming Staff Pay

The Star Entertainment Group runs casinos in Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. The award floor is the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 (MA000009) — and it contains a dedicated casino gaming stream covering table games dealers, electronic gaming attendants, gaming finance, equipment technicians, and surveillance operators, alongside the standard food-and-beverage, kitchen, and security classifications.

Most Star employees are on enterprise agreements above that floor:

• The Star Sydney Enterprise Agreement 2024 — nominal expiry June 2027.
• The Star Sydney Operational Managerial Enterprise Agreement 2026 — supervisory and managerial grades.
• The Star Brisbane Enterprise Agreement 2025 — the Queen's Wharf workforce.

The EAs set rates above the award; the award figures below are the legal floor every Star payslip must beat.

Adult minimum hourly rates in the casino gaming stream from 1 July 2026, verified against the Fair Work Commission pay database:

Classification	Permanent	Casual (+25%)
Electronic gaming employee grade 1	$27.64	$34.55
Table gaming employee grade 1 (trainee dealer)	$28.53	$35.66
Table gaming employee grade 2 (dealer)	$30.83	$38.54
Table gaming employee grade 3	$32.23	$40.29
Table gaming employee grade 4	$33.16	$41.45
Surveillance operator	$33.16	$41.45

Dealers progress through the grades with the number of games they're licensed to deal — if you've been signed off on additional games, check your grade moved with it.

For the hotel, restaurant, and bar side of the property:

Classification	Permanent	Casual (+25%)
Food and beverage attendant grade 1	$26.44	$33.05
Food and beverage attendant grade 2 (bar/waiting)	$27.08	$33.85
Food and beverage attendant grade 3	$27.97	$34.96
Food and beverage attendant grade 4 (tradesperson)	$29.45	$36.81
Food and beverage supervisor	$31.30	$39.13
Security officer grade 1	$29.45	$36.81

Junior rates rarely apply at The Star — gaming floor roles require staff to be 18 or over, and most venues roster adults throughout.

The same penalty structure applies to casino gaming and hospitality classifications under MA000009. Permanent staff (using food and beverage attendant grade 2 at $27.08/hr as the example):

• Saturday: 125% — $33.85/hr
• Sunday: 150% — $40.62/hr
• Public holiday: 225% — $60.93/hr

Casuals (loading folded in): Saturday 150%, Sunday 175%, public holidays 250%. A casino roster is built on nights, weekends, and public holidays — across a fortnight these loadings are usually worth more than the gap between the award and EA base rates, so they're the first thing to audit on your payslip.

Issues that come up repeatedly in casino and large-venue hospitality:

• Dealer grade lag — licensed on more games but still paid at a lower table gaming grade.
• Flat "all-in" rates for casuals — a single hourly figure that quietly absorbs weekend penalties.
• Late-finish shifts — hospitality award loadings for late-night hours missed when shifts cross midnight.
• Higher-duties supervision unpaid — running a section or acting as pit supervisor at base grade rates.
• Public holidays paid as ordinary Sundays — 225% (or 250% casual) is the correct multiplier, not 150%.

Three steps:

1. Identify your instrument — Sydney and Brisbane staff should read their EA (linked above) for their classification's actual rate; the award tables here are the floor beneath it.
2. Audit a roster cycle — take one full fortnight of payslips and rosters and check every Saturday, Sunday, late night, and public holiday line using our penalty rates calculator and payslip checker.
3. Quantify and escalate — calculate the shortfall with the back-pay calculator, raise it with payroll in writing, and if unresolved contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. Underpayment claims reach back six years.