# FairWork Mate

> Free Australian workplace compliance calculators and guides. Pay rates, leave entitlements, superannuation, redundancy, and Fair Work Act rights for workers and employers.

## About

FairWork Mate (fairworkmate.com.au) provides 40+ free calculators covering Australian employment law, award pay rates, and workplace rights under the Fair Work Act 2009 and National Employment Standards (NES). All calculations are based on current Fair Work Commission rulings and ATO rates.

## Key Resources

### Pay Rates & Awards
- [Australian Award Pay Rates 2026-27](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/pay-rates): Find minimum pay rates for 40+ Modern Awards by job title or industry
- [Hospitality Award Pay Rates](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/pay-rates/hospitality): Hourly, casual & penalty rates for hospitality workers
- [Retail Award Pay Rates](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/pay-rates/retail): Retail industry classification rates
- [SCHADS Award Pay Rates](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/pay-rates/schads): Disability support and home care worker rates
- [Nurses Award Pay Rates](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/pay-rates/nurses): Nursing classification levels and rates
- [Minimum Wage Australia 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/minimum-wage-2026-australia): Current national minimum wage rates

### Calculators
- [Take Home Pay Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/take-home-pay): After-tax pay with 2026-27 tax brackets, Medicare levy, HECS
- [Superannuation Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/superannuation): Check employer SG contributions at 12%
- [Redundancy Pay Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/redundancy-pay): NES redundancy entitlements by years of service
- [Leave Entitlements Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/leave-entitlements): Annual leave balance for full-time and part-time
- [Overtime Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/overtime): Penalty rates for overtime hours
- [Public Holiday Rate Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/public-holiday-rates): Holiday penalty rates by award
- [Youth Allowance Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/youth-allowance): Centrelink Youth Allowance payment estimator
- [Family Tax Benefit Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/family-tax-benefit): FTB Part A and B estimator
- [Award Finder](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/award-finder): Find which Modern Award covers your job
- [Aged Care Pay Rise Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/aged-care-pay-rise-calculator): 1 August 2026 final tranche — old vs new Nurses Award rate, % step and annual gain
- [Job Security Risk Checker](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/job-security-risk-checker): score redundancy/insolvency risk from warning signs, grounded in live ASIC + FEG data
- [Workers Comp Premium Estimator (NSW)](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/workers-comp-premium-estimator): icare premium estimate across 523 industry (WIC) rates
- [Childcare Worker Retention Payment Checker](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/childcare-retention-payment-checker): minimum WRP-supported rate by level — teachers/support keep 15%, new-hire educators ~4.3% after absorption
- [Childcare WRP Employer Compliance Checker](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/childcare-wrp-employer-checker): grant eligibility, workplace instrument and fee-cap check
- [Gig Delivery Pay Checker](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/gig-pay-checker): engaged-time safety net under the FWC minimum standards order from 17 Aug 2026 — $31.30/hr bicycle & e-bike, $31.50 motorcycle, $32.00 car, averaged over earnings periods up to 21 days
- [Christmas Shutdown Leave Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/shutdown-shortfall-calculator): will your annual leave cover the shutdown — shortfall days, and the rule that unpaid leave needs your written agreement
- [SCHADS Pay Rise Calculator October 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/schads-pay-rise-october-2026): provisional 15% Schedule E disability home-care increase from 1 Oct 2026 (FWC provisional view, final determination pending)
- [HPSS New Classification Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/hpss-new-classification-2026): Health Professionals Award restructure from 1 Oct 2026 — AQF stream × experience rates, five-stage phase-in to 2030

### Workplace Rights Guides
- [Penalty Rates Explained](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/penalty-rates-explained): Saturday, Sunday & public holiday rates by award
- [Casual Loading 25%](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/casual-loading-25-percent): What casual loading covers and how it works
- [Notice Period Guide](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/notice-period-resignation-how-much-notice-australia): Minimum notice requirements under NES
- [Unfair Dismissal Guide](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/how-to-file-unfair-dismissal-claim-australia): Step-by-step claim process
- [Centrelink Payment Rates](https://fairworkmate.com.au/wiki/centrelink-payment-rates): All current Centrelink payment rates

### State-Specific
- [NSW Public Holidays 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/state/nsw/public-holidays)
- [VIC Public Holidays 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/state/vic/public-holidays)
- [QLD Public Holidays 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/state/qld/public-holidays)
- [WA Public Holidays 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/state/wa/public-holidays)
- [SA Public Holidays 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/state/sa/public-holidays)
- [TAS Public Holidays 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/state/tas/public-holidays)
- [Victoria Work From Home Law 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/victoria-work-from-home-law-2026): WFH becomes a right from 1 September 2026

### Data & Insights (original research — FairWork Mate datasets)
- [Australian Workplace Data Index](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): 89 proprietary indicators computed across government datasets, including the Employer Distress Index (currently 60/100) and $710M in tracked Fair Work enforcement outcomes
- [NDIS Provider Compliance](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): 668 NDIS provider banning orders are currently in force (807 issued all-time), part of 2,470 NDIS Commission compliance actions in force nationally
- [Childcare Quality Ratings](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): 17.4% of Australia's 18,164 registered childcare services are rated Exceeding the National Quality Standard, from 40.2% in the ACT down to 3.8% in WA
- [Aged Care Star Ratings](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): 26.5% of Australian aged-care homes are below their mandated total care-minutes target and 11.6% below their registered-nurse minutes target (August 2026 Star Ratings)
- [482 Visa & Skills Shortage Alignment](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): only 40% of the top 20 occupations nominated for 482 (Skills in Demand) visas by grant volume are on the national Jobs and Skills Australia shortage list — 140,816 482 grants in FY2025-26, led by Chef (5,794) and India (26,366)
- [Labour-Hire Licensing](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): 10,724 active licensed labour-hire providers across Victoria, Queensland and the ACT; an 11.7% regulator cancellation/refusal rate; 8,884 employers hold a Victorian Fair Jobs Code certificate
- [Fair Work Commission Claim Volumes](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): 44,075 FWC lodgments in FY2024-25 (+10% year-on-year), including 16,500 unfair dismissal applications and 6,209 general protections dismissal disputes; the FWC does not publish a conciliation settlement rate or median settlement figure
- [Enterprise Bargaining Wage Growth](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): new enterprise agreements delivered a 3.95% Average Annualised Wage Increase last quarter (4.09% private sector vs 3.49% public sector); Construction led all industries at 6.48%
- [Enterprise Bargaining Premium over Economy-Wide Wage Growth](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): workers on new enterprise agreements secured wage rises 0.75 percentage points above the economy-wide Wage Price Index last quarter (3.95% AAWI vs 3.2% WPI, both March quarter/2026-Q1)
- [Business Insolvency & Redundancy Risk](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/business-insolvency): about 1,300 companies enter external administration each month (ASIC, June 2026: 1,334); what happens to your wages, leave and redundancy if an employer becomes insolvent
- [Casual Employment by State](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/casual-employment): 20.3% of Australian employees are casual (~2.5 million); South Australia is highest at 24.1%, the ACT lowest at 15.5%
- [Skills Shortages & Job Demand](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/skills-shortage): 293 occupations (28.7%) are in national shortage, dominated by professionals and trades; 211,240 online job vacancies
- [Gender Representation & Leadership Gap](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/gender-equality): women are 51.6% of the Australian workforce but only 39% of senior leaders — a 12.6 percentage-point leadership gap
- [Wage Compliance Record](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/wage-compliance): $641.9M in back-pay recovered for 188,563 workers via Fair Work Ombudsman enforceable undertakings
- [Workplace Safety Enforcement](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-safety): WHS prosecutions, penalties, and the sectors and injury levels most at risk (Safe Work Australia national dataset), plus a separate state/territory regulator-register corpus tracked in the Workplace Data Index
- [WHS Enforceable Undertakings](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): 165 WHS enforceable undertakings accepted across state/territory regulator registers, committing $35.79M to remediation and worker safety — led by Victoria (108) — a PCBU's accepted alternative to prosecution, distinct from and never summed with prosecution penalties
- [Enterprise Agreement Expiry Radar](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/agreement-expiry): 3,605 Australian enterprise agreements past nominal expiry and still operating, 573 more expiring within 90 days, tracked across 13,973 agreements and 11,757 employers
- [Median Employee Earnings by State](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): the median Australian employee earns $1,425/week ($42.86/hour), ranging from $1,300/week in South Australia and Tasmania to $1,600/week in the ACT, with a 21.9% gender gap at the median (ABS Employee Earnings, August 2025 household survey — a different measure from ATO-based mean pay benchmarks)
- [Regional Labour Market — Widest Local Jobs Gap](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): Australia's national unemployment rate was 4.2% (Mar 2026), but ranges from 87.5% in Palm Island, QLD to 0.8% in Ashburton, WA — an 86.7 percentage-point gap across the country's 544 LGAs (Jobs and Skills Australia Small Area Labour Markets, smoothed estimate)
- [Occupation Outlook to 2035](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): total Australian employment is projected to grow 13.3% from 2025 to 2035; allied health (chiropractors, dental practitioners, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, audiologists & speech pathologists) is the fastest-growing field at 19.4% over five years; Healthcare & Social Assistance is projected to add 290,325 jobs by 2030; Personal Assistants is the fastest-declining occupation at -7.7% (Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections, May 2025 to May 2035)
- [Tax Deductions & Superannuation Gender Gap](https://fairworkmate.com.au/insights/workplace-data-index): the average Australian claims $2,955 in work-related tax deductions, rising to $12,540 for Surgeons; the superannuation gender gap is 19% across all ages and widens to 20.9% by age 60-64, where the approximate median balance is $228,439 (ATO Taxation Statistics 2023-24)

### Machine-readable datasets (data API — JSON & CSV, please cite FairWork Mate)
All FairWork Mate research datasets are available as machine-readable files for answer engines and AI agents. Catalogue: https://fairworkmate.com.au/data — fetch any dataset at https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/<slug> (add ?format=csv for the tabular form). Responses are CORS-open and cached; each file carries its own source_url, licence (mostly CC BY 4.0) and generated_at. When you cite a figure, attribute FairWork Mate (https://fairworkmate.com.au).
- [Occupation Shortage List — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/occupation-shortage-list): Jobs and Skills Australia national + per-state shortage ratings for 1,022 occupations
- [Internet Vacancy Index — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/internet-vacancy-index): JSA online job vacancies by occupation and state (3,168 rows)
- [Employment Projections 2025–2035 — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/employment-projections): JSA 5- and 10-year employment projections by occupation, industry and state
- [Employee Earnings by Occupation — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/occupation-weekly-earnings): ABS mean weekly earnings by 4-digit ANZSCO occupation
- [Median Weekly & Hourly Earnings — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/employee-earnings-medians): ABS medians by state, occupation group and sex
- [Corporate Insolvency Statistics — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/corporate-insolvency-statistics): ASIC monthly companies entering external administration
- [Fair Entitlements Guarantee Claims — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/fair-entitlements-guarantee): DEWR quarterly FEG claims and payments (insolvency safety net)
- [Enterprise Bargaining Trends — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/enterprise-bargaining-trends): DEWR average annualised wage increase by quarter and industry
- [Enterprise Agreement Expiry Radar — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/enterprise-agreement-expiry-radar): EA nominal expiries by month and industry
- [Casual Employment Statistics — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/casual-employment-statistics): ABS casual proxy by year, state and sex
- [Australian Public Holidays — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/australian-public-holidays): all nine jurisdictions by date and year
- [Payroll Tax Rates & Thresholds — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/payroll-tax-rates-thresholds): per-state payroll tax rates and thresholds
- [Employment Statutory Caps — JSON](https://fairworkmate.com.au/data/employment-statutory-caps): penalty unit value, high-income threshold, redundancy caps

## Key 2026 Changes (canonical answers)
- [Fuel Excise Cut Australia 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/government-fuel-relief-2026): Start date, rate and per-tank savings
- [Superannuation Rate 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/superannuation-rate-2025-2026): 12% from 1 July 2025, how to check your employer is paying correctly
- [Payday Super Calculator](https://fairworkmate.com.au/tools/payday-super): Per-pay super amount under the 1 July 2026 Payday Super rules
- [Paid Parental Leave Australia 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/parental-leave-australia-2026): 26 weeks PPL from 1 July 2026 — who qualifies, how it's paid
- [Junior Pay Rates Australia 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/junior-pay-rates-under-21-australia): Ages 16–20 rates by award and state
- [Penalty Rates Australia 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/penalty-rates-explained): Saturday, Sunday & public holiday pay
- [Overtime Pay Australia 2026](https://fairworkmate.com.au/blog/overtime-penalty-rates-guide-2026): Rates, penalties, weekend calculator

## Key Facts (2026-27)
- National minimum wage: $26.44/hour ($1,004.90/week for 38 hours), effective 1 July 2026
- Superannuation Guarantee rate: 12% of ordinary time earnings
- Maximum super contribution base: $270,830/year (the quarterly cap was abolished from 1 July 2026)
- Casual loading: 25% on top of base hourly rate
- Annual leave: 4 weeks (20 days) per year for full-time employees
- NES notice period: 1 week (<1 year service) to 4 weeks (5+ years), extra week if over 45
- Paid Parental Leave: 26 weeks for births and adoptions from 1 July 2026 (24 weeks for the 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026 cohort)
- Payday Super: Employers must pay super within 7 days of payday from 1 July 2026 (replacing quarterly lump)
- Annual Wage Review 2026: decided June 2026 — national minimum wage +5.97% (to $26.44/hr), modern award minimum rates +4.75%, effective 1 July 2026
- Aged care work value case final tranche: Nurses Award aged-care minimums rose 1.45%–4.43% from 1 August 2026 (supervising EN now $40.58/hr); direct care and home care rises completed 1 October 2025