Australia's lowest-paid workers got a pay rise on 1 July 2026. The Fair Work Commission lifted the National Minimum Wage to $1,004.90 a week, which works out to $26.44 an hour, in its Annual Wage Review 2026. For a full-time worker on a 38-hour week that is about $52,255 a year before tax. Here is what the new rate pays each week and each year, and what a minimum-wage worker keeps once income tax and the Medicare levy come out.
Key takeaways
- The National Minimum Wage is $1,004.90 a week, or $26.44 an hour, from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
- For a 38-hour week that is about $52,255 a year before tax.
- Modern award minimum rates rose 4.75% in the same Fair Work Commission decision.
- After income tax and the 2% Medicare levy, that leaves about $45,230 a year in take-home pay for 2026-27.
- Employers pay 12% super on top, worth about $6,271 a year.
The new rate: weekly, hourly and yearly
The National Minimum Wage is the wage floor for adult employees who are not covered by a modern award or a registered agreement. From the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026 it is $1,004.90 a week, or $26.44 an hour, based on a full-time 38-hour week. Multiply the weekly figure out across a year and it comes to about $52,255 before tax. If you are paid by the hour, you can turn the $26.44 rate into weekly and annual pay with the hourly pay calculator.
Who set it, and the 4.75% award rise
The increase came out of the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review 2026, the yearly decision that sets minimum pay across the country. In the same ruling the Commission lifted modern award minimum rates by 4.75%. That award figure matters to more people than the headline minimum wage, because most Australian employees are paid under an award rather than the flat National Minimum Wage. The National Minimum Wage itself applies only to the small share of workers not covered by any award or agreement. How the minimum wage, awards and loadings fit together is covered in the guide to the minimum wage in Australia.
What the minimum wage pays after tax
A yearly figure before tax is not what lands in your account. On about $52,255 a year, a full-time minimum-wage worker who is an Australian resident for tax purposes pays around $5,980 in income tax and $1,045 in the 2% Medicare levy for 2026-27. That leaves roughly $45,230 in take-home pay, or about $870 a week. These figures use the 2026-27 resident tax scale, including the Low Income Tax Offset, and assume no study loan.
On top of that wage, your employer pays the 12% super guarantee into your fund, worth about $6,271 a year on this income. Super is paid in addition to your wage, so it does not come out of the take-home figure above. To see the same breakdown on your own hours or pay rate, run it through the take-home pay calculator.
When the rise reaches your pay
The new rate applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, not necessarily on 1 July itself. So the exact payday the increase shows up depends on your pay cycle. If your pay week started on, say, 29 June, the old rate covers that whole week and the new rate begins from the next one. Award-covered workers should see the 4.75% increase applied to their classification over the same first full pay period. This change sat alongside several others that started the same month, which are listed together in our summary of the 1 July 2026 pay changes.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
All figures verified against the named documents.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Minimum wages (the National Minimum Wage of $1,004.90 a week, or $26.44 an hour).
- Fair Work Commission, Annual Wage Review 2026 (the 4.75% increase to modern award minimum rates).
Last verified 25 July 2026.
