Hairdresser apprentice pay rates by year
An apprentice's pay is a share of the standard rate, which is the level 3 qualified rate of $1,119.10 a week. It goes up each year, and starts a bit higher if they finished Year 12. These are the minimums from 1 July 2026.
| Year | No Year 12 | Finished Year 12 | Beauty, either |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st year | $14.73 (50%) | $16.20 (55%) | $14.73 or $16.20 |
| 2nd year | $17.67 (60%) | $19.14 (65%) | $17.67 or $19.14 |
| 3rd year | $22.68 (77%) | $22.68 (77%) | $23.56 (80%) |
| 4th year | $26.51 (90%) | $26.51 (90%) | $26.51 (90%) |
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 [MA000005], clause 18.1 Tables 6 and 7, clause 18.2 Tables 8 and 9, read 27 October 2026.
The only place beauty apprentices differ is the third year, 80% instead of 77%. Weekend penalties apply to apprentices the same as everyone else, so a Saturday is 133% of their own rate.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 [MA000005], clause 23.1 Table 14, read 27 October 2026.
Apprentice rates only apply with a real apprenticeship. Fair Work says "An employee can only be paid apprentice pay rates if they have a formal training contract with their employer. The training has to be registered and recognised by a state or territory training authority." Without that contract they're a junior or an adult on the level 1 rate.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Apprentice and trainee pay rates, read 27 October 2026.
Adult apprentice hairdresser wages
Someone who is 21 or older when the apprenticeship starts is an adult apprentice, and the table above is only the floor. In the first year they get at least 80% of the standard rate, $23.56 an hour. From the second year they get at least the lowest adult rate in the award, $27.81 an hour, which is more than a 4th year junior apprentice.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 [MA000005], clause 2 Definitions and clause 18.4(a) and (b), read 27 October 2026.
And if you take on someone already working for you, 6 months full time or 12 months part time or regular casual, they keep the rate of the job they had before. A receptionist on level 1 who starts an apprenticeship with you doesn't drop to $14.73.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 [MA000005], clause 18.4(c) and (d), read 27 October 2026.
Why an adult apprentice costs nearly what a qualified stylist does
A second year adult apprentice at $27.81 is $1.64 an hour under a qualified level 3 stylist at $29.45, but they can't do every service yet and spend a day a week or so at training. So the cost per hour clients actually book is often higher than the stylist's. That's not a reason to say no, a good adult apprentice who stays is worth it. Just price knowing it.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 [MA000005], clauses 17.1 and 18.4, read 27 October 2026.
What does an apprentice cost the salon?
What an hour of an apprentice costs your salon
The award rate for their year, super, paid training days and the hours nobody books, worked into one figure. Every box with a number is yours to change. Everything stays in this browser.
You pay $14.73 an hour. Counted over the hours clients book, each one costs you $38.73, about 2.6 times the pay rate.
Price your services from this cost →An estimate from the award's rates from 1 July 2026 (clauses 12.5, 18.1, 18.2, 18.4, 23.1 and 24.2, read 27 October 2026) and the ATO's 12% super guarantee. It counts 52 paid weeks with a 17.5% loading on 4 weeks of leave, and training days as paid days off the floor. Training days, weeks on leave, the unbooked share and workers comp are examples, put in your own. It leaves out overtime, public holidays worked, any government incentive and payroll tax. Not tax advice and not financial advice, check pay with Fair Work's Pay and Conditions Tool before you rely on it.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Super guarantee, Table 21, read 27 October 2026.
Government incentives for employing an apprentice change often, so they aren't counted here. Ask about them when you sign the training contract.
Training days are paid days
You pay your apprentice for the days they're at training. The award says the employer "must release an apprentice from work to attend training or any assessment in accordance with their training agreement without loss of pay", and the time "is to be regarded as time worked for the employer".
If the apprentice pays their own course fees and textbooks, you pay them back, within 6 months of starting or 3 months after the training starts, whichever is later, as long as they're making satisfactory progress. Or you pay the college directly.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020 [MA000005], clause 12.5, read 27 October 2026.
Who supervises an apprentice hairdresser?
In NSW you can't cut hair for money without a qualification, but an apprentice is the exception, as long as someone qualified is watching. NSW Government says "An apprentice acting as a hairdresser does not require qualifications and a qualified person should: have direct control of the apprentice be supervising the apprentice."
Source: NSW Government, Working as a hairdresser, read 27 October 2026.
So an apprentice can't run the salon on their own on a Saturday, even a fourth year. Roster a qualified person on every shift they work, and count that person's time when you work out what the apprentice costs.
What happens if you get it wrong
Lizzy Hair Design in Plumpton, Sydney, employed an apprentice hairdresser aged 20 to 23 from May 2018 to June 2022 and didn't pay out her unused annual leave when she left. A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice and the salon didn't act on it. The Federal Circuit and Family Court fined the company $55,000 and a former director $3,000, and ordered $6,413 back pay plus interest.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, Court penalises Sydney hair salon operators, 19 December 2024, read 27 October 2026.
The back pay was $6,413. The fines were nine times that, because the notice was ignored. If Fair Work writes to you about an apprentice, answer it.
Book clients in and send tax invoicesYamate sells software to salons and tradies. This guide and its calculator are free and ask for nothing.
Related
General information, not tax advice and not legal advice. Wage figures are the award's published minimums from 1 July 2026 and the calculator is an estimate. You pay your staff and lodge your own tax. Check the award or Fair Work's Pay and Conditions Tool before you rely on a figure.