// AUSTRALIAN TRADIE RATES AND BENCHMARKS 2026
How much does an apprentice cost a trade business?
How much does an apprentice cost? Under the electrical award (MA000025), a first-year apprentice's minimum wage is $682.76 a week, or $17.97 an hour, from 1 July 2026. Add 12% super and workers comp and the wage bill alone is about $39,800 a year, before incentives of up to $5,000 come back.
Last updated: 18 August 2026. Sources: 6 primary datasets and program guidelines.
// THE WAGE FLOOR
What the award makes you pay
Apprentice wages are set by the award that covers your trade, as a percentage of the qualified rate that steps up each year. The table shows the electrical contracting award (MA000025); the building award (MA000020) and plumbing award (MA000036) follow the same year-by-year pattern at different dollar figures.
These are legal minimums from the Fair Work pay guide published 7 August 2026, effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Plenty of employers pay above them to win good candidates.
| Year | Completed year 12 | Did not complete year 12 | Adult apprentice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st year | $682.76 wk / $17.97 hr | $622.72 wk / $16.39 hr | $982.95 wk / $25.87 hr |
| 2nd year | $802.84 wk / $21.13 hr | $742.79 wk / $19.55 hr | $1,098.29 wk / $28.90 hr |
| 3rd year | $862.87 wk / $22.71 hr | $862.87 wk / $22.71 hr | $1,098.29 wk / $28.90 hr |
| 4th year | $1,006.97 wk / $26.50 hr | $1,006.97 wk / $26.50 hr | $1,098.29 wk / $28.90 hr |
Rates are for apprentices who started after 1 January 2014 and include the industry, tool and electrician's licence allowances (Fair Work pay guide MA000025, published 7 August 2026).
Your trade's award will differ. Fair Work publishes a pay guide for every award; read yours rather than borrowing these numbers.
// ON-COSTS
Super, workers comp and payroll tax
Superannuation adds 12% on top of wages. The ATO's super guarantee table holds the rate at 12% for 2026-27, and 12% is the final legislated rate. From 1 July 2026, payday super rules mean it is paid every payday, not quarterly.
Workers comp is a percentage of wages that varies by state and industry. Queensland's target average premium rate is $1.343 per $100 of wages for 2026-27 (WorkCover Queensland, 2026), and Queensland excludes apprentice wages from the premium calculation entirely. Every other state runs its own scheme with its own rates and apprentice rules, so confirm yours before you budget.
Payroll tax only enters the picture once your total wage bill passes your state's threshold. Some states exempt or rebate apprentice wages; the rules sit with your state revenue office.
First-year cash cost: $682.76 a week award wage plus $81.93 super is $764.69 a week, about $39,800 a year. A fourth-year on $1,006.97 a week costs about $58,600 a year on the same basis.
Both annual figures are derivations, the award weekly rate multiplied by 52 plus 12% superannuation, not published statistics. They exclude workers comp, overtime, above-award pay, PPE, tools and training fees, so treat them as the floor, not the budget.
// GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES
What the government pays you back in 2026
Employer incentives changed on 1 January 2026. The amounts below come from the Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System grant guidelines (DEWR, edition opening 1 July 2026) and apply to commencements from 1 January 2026. Claims run through your Apprenticeship Support Network provider and the ADMS portal.
| Program | What it pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Priority Hiring Incentive | Up to $2,500 per apprenticeship | Employers of apprentices in occupations on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List, commencing from 1 January 2026. Commencements before 31 December 2025 stay on the old $5,000 rate. |
| Key Apprenticeship Program (employer) | $5,000 full-time: $2,000 at 6 months, $3,000 at 12 months | Housing construction and new energy occupations flagged on the Priority List. Cannot be combined with the Priority Hiring Incentive for the same apprentice. |
| Disability Australian Apprentice Wage Support | $226.01 per week | Employers of eligible apprentices with disability. Indexed each 1 July against March-quarter CPI. |
| Paid to the apprentice, not you | Up to $10,000 Key Apprenticeship Program apprentice incentive; Living Away From Home Allowance from $125.52 a week | Worth knowing for recruitment: an eligible candidate has their own money on the table for finishing with you. |
Eligibility turns on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List current at your apprentice's commencement date. Verify the live program detail at apprenticeships.gov.au before counting any of it in a hiring decision.
// THE REAL COST
The productivity trade-off
A first-year apprentice is a cost, not a saving. Expect roughly a day a week off the tools for trade school, close supervision that eats your own billable hours, and work that needs checking. The wage is low because the output is low.
The economics flip because the wage steps rise more slowly than the output does. A third or fourth-year on $22.71 to $26.50 an hour who works largely unsupervised produces something close to tradie output for well under the $32.19 qualified electrician floor.
The honest way to model it: year one is an investment funded partly by incentives, and years three and four are the return. A business that loses its apprentice to a competitor after year two wears the cost and hands over the return. If the alternative you are weighing is putting work out rather than training it up, we run the same arithmetic on subcontractor versus employee cost per worked hour.
// CHARGE-OUT MATHS
Apprentice charge out rate
Your apprentice charge out rate is the other half of the equation: what you bill customers for the apprentice's hours. No published national benchmark exists, and the right number falls out of your own cost base, the supervision loading and your market, not someone else's price list. Most firms bill supervised apprentice hours at a discount to the qualified rate rather than giving them away free.
An apprentice also changes your own rate. Their wage, super and gear land in your overheads while their early hours add little billable capacity, so the hours you do invoice have to carry more.
An apprentice on the payroll with no booked work is pure cost. Hiring one assumes a pipeline that keeps two pairs of hands busy, so if the lead flow is the doubt, fix that first.
See the Lead System →// COMMON QUESTIONS
Apprentice cost questions
Straight answers to the questions employers actually search, from the same sources as the tables above.
Get in touchHow much does an apprentice cost per hour?
A first-year electrical apprentice who finished year 12 is $17.97 an hour under the award, about $20.13 with 12% super. The cost per productive hour is higher once TAFE days and supervision time are counted.
What incentives can I get for hiring an apprentice in 2026?
Up to $2,500 under the Priority Hiring Incentive, or $5,000 under the Key Apprenticeship Program for housing construction and new energy occupations, plus $226.01 a week Disability Australian Apprentice Wage Support where it applies. Amounts are from the DEWR grant guidelines current at 18 August 2026 and change with each policy cycle.
Do apprentices get superannuation?
Yes. The super guarantee is 12% for 2026-27 (ATO), the same as any other employee, and from 1 July 2026 payday super rules mean it is paid every payday rather than quarterly.
Is an apprentice cheaper than a qualified tradie?
Per hour paid, yes: a first-year is $17.97 against a qualified electrician award floor of $32.19 including allowances. Per hour of finished work, usually not until the second or third year, once supervision drops away.
Do I pay workers compensation on an apprentice?
You must cover them, but premiums vary by state. Queensland excludes apprentice wages from the premium calculation entirely; check how your own state scheme treats them before you budget.
// METHODOLOGY & SOURCES
Sources and methodology
Every figure on this page was read directly from the named primary source on 18 August 2026: award wages from the Fair Work pay guide PDF, the super rate from the ATO's rate table, incentive amounts from the DEWR grant guidelines, and workers comp figures from WorkCover Queensland. Derived figures are labelled as derivations where they appear.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Pay Guide: Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award (MA000025)
Page date: published 7 August 2026, rates effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Accessed 18 August 2026.
- Australian Taxation Office, Super guarantee percentage (key superannuation rates and thresholds)
Page date: current 2026-27 rate table. Accessed 18 August 2026.
- Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System Grant Guidelines
Page date: edition opening 1 July 2026, closing 31 December 2026. Accessed 18 August 2026.
- Apprenticeships.gov.au, Financial support for employers
Page date: undated program listing. Accessed 18 August 2026.
- WorkCover Queensland, Ways to reduce your premium (apprentice discount)
Page date: undated. Accessed 18 August 2026.
- WorkCover Queensland, WorkCover Queensland holds premiums steady for the second year
Page date: 2026. Accessed 18 August 2026.
Every wage, on-cost and incentive figure on this page with its source. Free to reuse with attribution and a link.
// KEEP EXPLORING