Australia and the World Past and Present

Supermarket workers in Australia are generally covered by the General Retail Industry Award. This award sets the minimum wages, penalty rates, overtime, and conditions for most employees working in retail businesses, including supermarkets.

Employees at the large chains are usually covered by the award or an enterprise agreement based on it. For example, Woolworths Group, Coles Group and ALDI fall under this category.

These companies often have enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) negotiated with unions that can set different pay structures, but they must leave workers better off overall than the award.

The General Retail Industry Award also has junior pay rates. Workers under 21 years old can be paid a percentage of the adult rate, increasing each year until they reach the full adult wage at 21.

What are the hourly rates between 16 years and 21 years?

Below are typical weekday base rates for a Level 1 retail employee (the most common entry-level job such as checkout operator or shelf stacker).

Hourly pay by age (approximate award minimum)

Age	% of adult rate	Hourly rate
16	~50%	$13.28/hour
17	~60%	$15.93/hour
18	~70%	$18.59/hour
19	~80%	$21.24/hour
20	~90%	$23.90/hour
21+	100%	$26.55/hour

These are weekday base rates for full-time or part-time employees.

Casual workers get 25% extra loading instead of paid leave. So the approximate casual weekday rates become:

• 16: about $16.60 per hour
• 17: about $19.91 per hour
• 18: about $23.24 per hour
• 19: about $26.55 per hour
• 20: about $29.88 per hour
• 21+: about $33.19 per hour

There are also penalty rates. Pay increases further if shifts are after 6pm, on weekends, or on public holidays.

In big supermarket chains in Australia, roughly what percentage of workers would be under 18?

A good real-world data point comes from one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains, Coles Group.

According to evidence provided to the Australian Parliament Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices in 2024,

• 13% of employees are under 18
• 23% are aged 18–21
• 20% are aged 22–29
• 16% are aged 30–39

Therefore, for a large supermarket chain, roughly 1 in 3 workers are under 21.

Because Coles Group and Woolworths Group have very similar staffing models, this is generally considered a good approximation for big Australian supermarkets overall.

Supermarkets are one of the largest employers of young people because the retail sector is a major entry point for first jobs and work can be done after school or on weekends. Many roles require minimal prior experience and junior wage rates make teenage labour cheaper.

Teenagers are frequently scheduled evenings and weekends. Older staff often work day shifts or managerial roles.

In general, Supermarkets try to hire large numbers of young people because it makes financial sense to do so.