A junior in an Australian restaurant is paid a set percentage of the adult award rate that steps 50, 60, 70 and 85 from under 17 to 19, then reaches the full adult rate at 20 rather than 21.
Skai Solutions publishes this because the age a junior reaches full adult pay is not the same in every hospitality award, and the venue next door may be on a different table. The percentages below are the award text as it applies from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. The dollar figures are our arithmetic on the published Level 1 rate, shown so you can follow it, and a named person should always be checked in the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool.
Under the Restaurant Industry Award MA000119, clause 18.2, a junior is paid a minimum percentage of the minimum weekly rate for their classification. There are five steps and the table starts at "under 17", so there is no separate 16 year old rate.
| Age | MA000119 restaurant, % of the adult rate | MA000003 fast food, % of the adult rate |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 | covered by the "under 17" step | 40 |
| 16 | 50 (the "under 17" step) | 50 |
| 17 | 60 | 60 |
| 18 | 70 | 70 |
| 19 | 85 | 80 |
| 20 | 100 | 90 |
| 21 | 100 | 100 |
Read from awards.fairwork.gov.au on 21 September 2026: MA000119 clause 18.2 Table 4 and MA000003 clause 15.2 Table 4, both as varied to apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. MA000003 clause 2 defines an adult employee as 21 years of age or over.
Ours, and every input is on the page. MA000119 Level 1 covers a food and beverage attendant grade 1 and a kitchen attendant grade 1, which is where most juniors start. The Level 1 minimum is A$1,004.90 a week from 1 July 2026. Clause 18.2(b) requires the calculated weekly rate to be rounded to the nearest A$0.10, and the hourly rate is the weekly rate divided by 38.
| Age | % | Weekly, rounded as clause 18.2(b) requires | Hourly | Step up from the age below |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 17 | 50 | A$502.50 | A$13.22 | - |
| 17 | 60 | A$602.90 | A$15.87 | A$2.65 an hour |
| 18 | 70 | A$703.40 | A$18.51 | A$2.64 an hour |
| 19 | 85 | A$854.20 | A$22.48 | A$3.97 an hour |
| 20 | 100 | A$1,004.90 | A$26.44 | A$3.96 an hour |
These are minimums for the classification, not a recommendation and not what your venue necessarily pays. The Level 1 adult figure is the same one that sits at the bottom of the classification table, and the penalty and weekend rates on top of it are unchanged by age.
Because the two awards stop counting at different ages. MA000119 reaches 100% at 20. MA000003 does not reach 100% until 21, and the definition of an adult employee in that award says so in as many words.
On Level 1 rates from 1 July 2026 that is a real gap. A 20 year old food and beverage attendant grade 1 in a restaurant is on 100% of A$26.44 an hour. A 20 year old fast food employee level 1 is on 90% of A$27.81, which is A$25.03. A$1.41 an hour apart, on the same birthday, decided entirely by which award covers the venue. Note which way it runs: the fast food adult rate is the higher of the two, and the junior still comes out cheaper.
That makes coverage a live question rather than paperwork, and the clauses are narrower than most operators assume. A room with sit-down service is not fast food even if most of the trade is takeaway, and a restaurant inside a hotel is not on the restaurant award. The coverage clauses are set out here.
At 20, and it is not close. The restaurant award moves from 85% to 100% in one go, a 15 point step against 10 points everywhere else. On Level 1 that is A$3.96 an hour.
What that is worth depends on the roster rather than the rate. On a 20 hour week, the sort of load a student actually works, it is A$79.20 a week and A$4,118.40 over a year, for one person, with no change in what they do. Fast food splits the same distance into two 10 point steps at 20 and 21, so the increase arrives in halves.
The practical read is that the cost of a junior turning 20 lands in a single pay period and is entirely predictable months in advance, which is more than can be said for most things that move a wage bill. It belongs in the same forecast as the labour share you are aiming at rather than as a surprise.
Quite a lot, and this is where most of the mistakes are.
They do not change penalty rates. Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and late night loadings apply to the junior's rate the same way they apply to an adult's, so a junior on a Sunday is still on the Sunday multiplier. They do not change the casual loading, which is 25% on top either way. They do not change minimum engagement, so the shortest shift you can legally roster is the same for a 16 year old as for a 40 year old.
They also do not cover apprentices. A junior apprentice in the cooking trade is a separate table under MA000119 clause 18.3, and a first year apprentice is not simply a junior with a qualification attached.
Start with the award, then the classification, then the age, in that order, because getting the first one wrong makes the other two irrelevant. The percentage applies to the minimum rate for the classification the person is actually working at, which is where a kitchen attendant who starts prepping to a recipe can quietly move up a level.
Then use the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool for the named person and the date. The figures on this page are our arithmetic on the published percentages and the published Level 1 rate, dated 21 September 2026, and they are not payroll advice. Rates change every 1 July and an enterprise agreement overrides the award entirely.
A venue that runs on juniors runs on supervision. The person who can answer the phone properly, take a booking without losing it and handle a complaint is usually the one person on shift you cannot spare, and the phone pulls them off the floor at exactly the wrong moment.
Skai Solutions answers the phone instead, takes the booking, answers what callers actually ask and passes the real ones through. That means the supervisor stays where the juniors are, which is the whole argument for it. Setup takes five days. If the phone is currently being answered by whoever is nearest, the cost of that is on its own page.
If the wage side of this is what pushed you to look at the phone in the first place, our AI receptionist page explains what the category does, what it does badly and who should not buy one.
Before the pay rate there is a licensing question. Minors on licensed premises covers what an under 18 may lawfully do on a licensed site, including why the same carton is fine in the store room and a possible offence in the bottle shop aisle.
At what age does a junior get full adult pay in a restaurant? 20. MA000119 clause 18.2 Table 4 sets 100% of the adult rate from 20 years of age. The Fast Food Award MA000003 does not reach 100% until 21.
What percentage is a 17 year old paid in hospitality? 60% of the minimum rate for their classification, in both MA000119 and MA000003. The two awards agree at 17 and 18 and diverge at 19.
Is there a 16 year old rate in the Restaurant Award? Not separately. The MA000119 table starts at "under 17 years of age" at 50%, so a 16 year old and a 15 year old sit on the same step. The Fast Food Award splits them, with under 16 at 40% and 16 at 50%.
Do juniors get penalty rates? Yes. Junior percentages apply to the minimum rate for the classification. Weekend, public holiday and late night penalties then apply on top in the normal way, and casual loading is still 25%.
How much does it cost when a junior turns 20? On MA000119 Level 1 the step from 85% to 100% is A$3.96 an hour from 1 July 2026. On a 20 hour week that is A$79.20 a week, about A$4,118 over a year, for one person.
Do junior rates apply to apprentices? No. Junior apprentices in the cooking trade are dealt with separately under MA000119 clause 18.3, on their own table.