Fitness Award Pay Rates 2026-27

Fitness Award pay rates 2026-27 by level

Full-time is an average of 38 hours a week, and part-timers are paid the same hourly rate for their agreed hours. The last two columns show what a full-time week leaves after the ATO weekly tax table. Level 5 is paid more than Level 6: that is how the award's rates table is written, not a typo.

How much tax comes out of a Fitness Award pay

The award lets your employer pay weekly or fortnightly, or monthly if most staff agree, and tax is withheld each pay from the ATO's Schedule 1 tables. For a full-time Level 4A personal trainer who has claimed the tax-free threshold:

If the gym job is a second job and you have not claimed the threshold there, $319 is withheld from the same week; the second job tax calculator shows both jobs together. The fortnightly tax calculator works from any fortnightly figure.

Weekly withholding runs a little ahead of the real annual bill. A full-time Level 4A year of $63,497.20 carries $10,791.56 of income tax and Medicare levy, while 52 weeks of withholding comes to $10,868, so about $76 comes back at tax time. Full-time Level 1 keeps $847.10 a week and Level 5 keeps $1,057.20. The tax refund calculator works out your own figure.

Even Level 7 ($68,936.40 a year on 38 hours) sits under the $69,528 study loan repayment threshold, so a HECS or HELP debt adds nothing to a standard full-time week at any level; overtime or a second job can change that, and the HECS repayment calculator shows the yearly repayment. Employer super is paid on top: 12%, or $7,619.66 a year at full-time Level 4A.

Casual and part-time Fitness Award rates

Casuals are paid the minimum hourly rate plus a 25% loading for ordinary hours Monday to Friday, and plus a 30% loading for ordinary hours on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. There is no separate weekend or holiday penalty on top, so the 130% figure is the whole rate. Overtime is paid without any casual loading.

A casual is engaged for at least 3 hours, except that a Level 2, 3, 3A, 4, 4A or 5 instructor, trainer or tennis coach, or a trainee doing practical work, can be engaged for 1 hour. So a single 45-minute class is paid as at least one hour. Part-timers agree a regular pattern of days and start and finish times in writing, are rostered for at least 3 consecutive hours, and any time beyond the agreed hours is overtime.

Four common fitness weeks, with the tax withheld on each:

Days are 7.6 hours. The swim teacher earns $467.98 and has only $16 withheld on the main job scale, because that scale withholds nothing on a weekly pay up to $364. If you work for more than one gym or pool, claim the tax-free threshold with only one of them. The casual pay calculator prices any casual rate and hours after tax.

Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates

Full-time and part-time staff get 125% of the minimum hourly rate for ordinary hours on a Saturday, 150% on a Sunday and 250% on a public holiday, with at least 4 hours' pay for any public holiday worked. Ordinary hours can fall between 5am and 11pm Monday to Friday and between 6am and 9pm on weekends.

Casual or permanent on a public holiday

The gap is widest on public holidays. A 4-hour public holiday shift at Level 3A pays a permanent employee $294.52 and a casual $153.16, because the casual rate is 130% and the permanent rate 250%. On a Sunday the permanent employee also gets more: $44.18 against $38.29 for a casual. On weekdays it runs the other way: the casual gets $36.81 against $29.45, because casuals get no paid leave.

Fitness Award overtime, meal breaks and breaks between shifts

Overtime is any time worked outside the 5am to 11pm weekday span or the 6am to 9pm weekend span, beyond an average of 38 hours a week over 4 weeks, beyond 10 hours in a day, or for a part-timer beyond their agreed hours. Monday to Saturday it is 150% for the first 2 hours and 200% after; Sunday overtime is 200%. Casuals are paid the same figures, because their loading does not apply to overtime.

Meal breaks. An unpaid break of 30 to 60 minutes is due within 5 hours of starting. Working through it is paid at 200% until the break is given; the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide puts the casual figure at 225% on a weekday and 230% on a weekend.

Break between shifts. You are entitled to 10 hours off between shifts. If you are called back sooner, everything until you have had a 10-hour break is paid at 200% ($58.90 at Level 3A, or $66.26 for a casual on a weekday), unless the earlier shift ran 3 hours or less. That catches the 9pm close followed by a 5.30am class.

Time off instead. Time off in lieu must be agreed in writing for each lot of overtime, is hour for hour, and must be taken within 6 months or paid out at the overtime rate. The overtime pay calculator compares the two.

Which level am I? Trainers, instructors, swim teachers and lifeguards

Your employer must tell you your classification in writing when you start. The award sets levels by supervision, qualifications and hours of experience, not job titles, so check the description rather than what your roster calls you.

Personal trainers and gym instructors. The qualification decides the level, but only if you use it in the job. A Certificate III in Fitness takes a Level 3 employee to Level 3A, paid $29.45 an hour; a Certificate IV takes a Level 4 employee to Level 4A, paid $32.13 an hour; and a fitness diploma with program work for special groups is Level 5, paid $33.87 an hour.

Swim teachers. A beginner swimming and water safety teacher is Level 2. The step to Level 3 comes after 350 hours of paid teaching under the award, and to Level 4 after 700. Hours count only if they were paid under this award, so keep your own record.

Lifeguards, gymnastics and tennis coaches. An appointed pool lifeguard with a nationally recognised lifeguarding qualification is Level 3, and a senior lifeguard leading a team is Level 4. Gymnastics coaches with annual professional development move to Level 3 at 1,500 coaching hours and to Level 4 at 3,000. Tennis coaches run from Level 2 (beginner) to Level 5 (Master Club Professional or High Performance Coach).

Fitness Award junior rates

Employees under 20 get a percentage of the adult rate for their level: 55% under 17, 65% at 17, 75% at 18 and 85% at 19. From 20 they are paid the full adult rate. Weekend, holiday and overtime rates for juniors use the same percentages as adults, applied to the junior rate. The first five levels:

A 17-year-old casual swim teacher at Level 2 working 12 weekday hours earns $257.88 and has $0 withheld after claiming the tax-free threshold. A student whose only job this is should claim it on the TFN declaration.

Fitness Award allowances

A broken shift can be split into no more than 2 parts, must total at least 3 hours, and must fit inside 12 hours from start to finish. Annual leave loading is 17.5% of the minimum rate; the annual leave loading guide covers the tax on it.

Who the Fitness Award covers, and who it doesn't

The award covers employers in the fitness industry and their employees: fitness centres, fitness services and classes, group fitness organisations, weight loss centres, aquatic centres and swim schools, indoor sports centres, golf driving ranges, dance and martial arts centres, recreational camps, tennis clubs and coaching, and gymnastics. Where it applies, it applies to the exclusion of any other modern award.

It does not cover employers or employees covered by the Amusement, Events and Recreation, Children's Services, Cleaning Services, Hospitality (General), Local Government, Registered and Licensed Clubs or Security Services awards. If one of those covers you, its rates apply instead, for example the Hospitality Award pay rates. Admin staff who work outside the centre, such as at a head office, are outside this award and usually fall under the Clerks Award pay rates. Shop staff in a sports store are on the Retail Award pay rates.

Personal trainers who rent floor space and bill their own clients under an ABN are running a business, not employed, so no award rate applies and no PAYG is withheld from their fees. The sole trader tax calculator and the ABN tax guide cover that side; the contractor pay calculator turns an hourly rate into take-home pay and the salary it matches.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Fair Work Ombudsman: Pay guide, Fitness Industry Award 2020 [MA000094] (published 24 June 2026; every rate, junior and allowance figure on this page)
• Fair Work Commission: Fitness Industry Award 2020 (coverage 4, part-time 11, casual loading and minimum engagement 12, ordinary hours and broken shifts 13, breaks 14, minimum rates and junior rates 15, payment of wages 16, allowances 17, overtime and time off instead 19, penalty rates 20, annual leave loading 21, public holidays 26, classifications Schedule A, summary of rates Schedule B)
• ATO: Schedule 1, statement of formulas for calculating amounts to be withheld (NAT 1004)

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