National minimum wage orders

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Introduction

Every year an Expert Panel of the Fair Work Commission must review modern award minimum wages, and set a national minimum wage order for employees not covered by enterprise agreements or modern awards.

Each national minimum wage order made in an annual wage review comes into operation on 1 July in the next financial year, and continues in operation until the next national minimum wage order comes into operation.

National Minimum Wage Order 2021

The National Minimum Wage Order 2021 replaces the National Minimum Wage Order 2020.

The National Minimum Wage Order 2021 [PR729671] set the wages listed below for employees not covered by an enterprise agreement or a modern award.

The order comes into operation on 1 July 2021 and takes effect in relation to a particular employee from the start of the employee’s first full pay period that starts on or after 1 July 2021.

Find out more

Visit our Annual wage review section
Visit our Annual Wage Review 2020–21 pages
Read our Annual wage review fact sheet
View your award on our Modern awards list page

The National Minimum Wage Order 2021 includes the following:

National minimum wage – of $772.60 per week, calculated on the basis of a week of 38 ordinary hours, or $20.33 per hour.
Casual loading – of 25 per cent.
Special national minimum wage 1 – for employees with disability which does not affect their productivity: of $772.60 per week, calculated on the basis of a week of 38 ordinary hours, or $20.33 per hour in the case of an adult, (and who is not a junior employee, or an apprentice, or an employee to whom a training arrangement applies).
Special national minimum wage 2 – for employees with disability who are unable to perform the range of duties to the competence level required of an employee within the class of work for which the employee is engaged because of the effects of disability on their productive capacity, and who meet the impairment criteria for receipt of a Disability Support Pension (and who is not a junior employee, or an apprentice, or an employee to whom a training arrangement applies): a base rate of pay set in accordance with Schedule A to the National Minimum Wage Order.
Special national minimum wage 3 – for junior employees: to be based on a percentage of the national minimum wage.
Special national minimum wage 4 – for apprentices: to be based on the provisions in the Miscellaneous Award 2020 (clause 15) for apprentices (some transitional provisions apply see National Minimum Wage Order).
Special national minimum wage 5 – for trainees: to be based on the provisions set out in the Miscellaneous Award 202 0 (Schedule E) for employees to whom training arrangements apply.