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Guide 3 of 5 · The employee path

Paying an employed marketer: awards and minimum pay

An employed marketer’s minimum pay comes from the award that covers the job or, where no award or registered agreement applies, the National Minimum Wage, which is $26.44 an hour or $1,004.90 a week from 1 July 2026. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s Find my award form and Pay and Conditions Tool are where an employer works out which applies and what it pays. A casual employee on the National Minimum Wage is owed at least $33.05 an hour, a figure that includes the 25 per cent casual loading.

General information, not employment advice, and not a pay calculation for any one person. The official place to check pay is the Fair Work Ombudsman; for tax and super, the ATO. A contracted marketer is paid the contract price instead, and the Fair Work Ombudsman says contractors don’t get the same pay and conditions as employees.

First: is the job covered by an award?

Awards are legal documents that set minimum pay rates and conditions of employment, and the Fair Work Ombudsman says most employees in Australia are covered by one, set for their industry or occupation. Its Find my award form takes three steps, and its award summaries set out who each award covers and who it doesn’t.

A job title like “marketing manager” doesn’t answer the question on its own. The Fair Work Ombudsman cautions that some managers and professionals are covered by an award, and says to read each award’s industry definition and job classifications carefully.

If no award covers the job, the employee is award free, and may have an employment contract.

Where the minimums come from

Four things set an employed marketer’s minimum pay and conditions. The contract sits on top, and the Fair Work Ombudsman is clear about how far down it can reach.

  1. The employment contractCan give more, never less: a contract can’t make employees worse off than their minimum legal entitlements, so the award and the National Employment Standards keep applying even if a contract offers less.
  2. The award or registered agreementIts minimum rates, penalty rates and allowances apply, and they may be higher than the National Minimum Wage. Where an award covers the job, its minimum wage applies instead of the National Minimum Wage, even where an introductory rate in some awards sits below it for a limited time.
  3. The National Employment StandardsMinimum entitlements that keep applying whatever the contract says, including paid personal/carer’s leave.
  4. The National Minimum WageThe minimum rate for employees not covered by an award or registered agreement.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s own example: an employee whose contract offers 5 days of sick leave a year still gets 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave under the National Employment Standards, plus anything in their award.

The National Minimum Wage, as at October 2026

  • $26.44 an hour, or $1,004.90 a week, as the National Minimum Wage for adult employees from 1 July 2026. The weekly figure is for a full-time employee on a 38-hour week.
  • $33.05 an hour for a casual employee on the National Minimum Wage, a figure that includes the 25 per cent casual loading.
  • A 4.75 per cent increase to minimum wages for employees covered by an award, from the same date.

These are gross figures, before tax. The increase applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026. The Fair Work Commission, a separate body from the Fair Work Ombudsman, sets the National Minimum Wage in its annual wage review, so the figure moves each year.

Paying on results

Marketing pay is sometimes tied to results. For award and agreement free employees, the Fair Work Ombudsman says piece rates or commission are allowed, but the employee still has to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. Those employees don’t get a higher rate for overtime unless their contract provides one. For an award-covered job, the award’s own terms on these points are the ones to read.

Commission counts for super too: from 1 July 2026, the ATO’s qualifying earnings include all commissions.

High income employees

Awards don’t apply to high income employees. The Fair Work Ombudsman defines one as an employee who has accepted a written guarantee of annual earnings and is guaranteed to earn more than the high income threshold. From 1 July 2026 that threshold is $190,100, and it changes every year. The Fair Work Ombudsman also notes that a high income employee with no award or agreement covering them is unable to apply for unfair dismissal.

In the job ad, and after the offer

A job ad can’t include a pay rate that breaches the Fair Work Act or an award or enterprise agreement. An award and agreement free employee working full-time or part-time has 4 weeks of annual leave each year. On top of wages, the business withholds tax and sends it to the ATO, and makes super contributions to the employee’s fund.

Small businesses can get free, tailored advice from the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Employer Advisory Service, it says, and the Pay and Conditions Tool calculates award rates, penalties and allowances. The tool’s own disclaimer says that where its information differs from the award, the award applies.

Super for a contracted marketer is in the super guide; whether a marketer is an employee at all, in the first guide.