What a forklift driver is paid in Australia: the legal minimum under the award, the classification ladder either side of it, and what the market actually pays. Every figure sourced and dated.
Award floor
$27.97
The classification we quote is described in the ladder below. Award, Storage Services and Wholesale Award MA000084. Effective 1 July 2026.
Market band
$65,000 to $80,000
National advertised range, SEEK, refreshed 1 July 2026. Indicative day rate ~$300.
Every rung of the award, not just the one this role usually sits on. The highlighted row is the classification we quote as the floor for forklift driver.
| Classification | Hourly minimum | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Storeworker grade 1, on commencement | $27.08 | |
| Storeworker grade 1, after 3 months | $27.41 | |
| Storeworker grade 1, after 12 months | $27.72 | |
| Storeworker grade 2 | $27.97 | |
| Storeworker grade 3 | $28.77 | |
| Storeworker grade 4 | $29.61 |
Grade 2 is the rung that covers licensed operation of materials handling equipment, so it is where a forklift driver usually sits. Note the service steps exist only within grade 1: grades 2 to 4 are single rates with no time-served increments. The published ladder stops at grade 4.
The floor is the law and the market is what roles actually close at. On this role the distance between them is $9,731 a year at the bottom of the band, which is the number worth knowing before you set an offer. Ordinary hours only: no overtime, no penalty rates, no superannuation.
A high risk work licence issued by the work health and safety regulator in each state and territory. The forklift class is LF. An LO licence covering order picking forklifts is a separate class, and this is the detail that causes the most confusion in hiring: someone licensed for one is not licensed for the other. Licences are portable between states through mutual recognition but they do carry expiry dates.
No, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates 721311 Forklift Driver as not in shortage nationally or in any state, on the 2025 list. Being off the shortage list does not mean the role is easy to fill well, it means the national supply of people who can do it is not constrained. Source, checked 27 July 2026.
The licence takes days rather than years, so supply responds to demand far faster than in the trades. That is the honest reason this role is not on the shortage list while every trade on this site is.
Equipment type decides who is suitable far more than the licence does. A counterbalance in an open yard, a reach truck in narrow aisle racking, an order picker at height and a walkie stacker are four different jobs, and a driver strong on one is not automatically quick or safe on another. Racking height is the detail most advertisements omit and most experienced operators ask about first. Cold store work is its own filter again, because not everyone will do a shift at minus twenty. Beyond the machine, the job is usually a warehouse management system and a scanner, so pick accuracy and system discipline decide who lasts rather than driving skill.
Asking for forklift experience when the actual requirement is a specific licence class. LF and LO are different licences and an advertisement that says forklift attracts both. The second is not saying what the equipment is: a counterbalance in a yard and a high reach in narrow aisle racking are different jobs for different people. The third is treating the licence as the whole qualification, when in most warehouses the scanning system and the pick rates are what actually determine whether someone lasts.
LF is the standard forklift class and LO covers order picking forklifts. They are separate high risk work licences and holding one does not authorise the other.
High risk work licences are recognised across jurisdictions through mutual recognition, but they expire and need renewal.
Because the licence takes days to obtain rather than the years a trade apprenticeship takes, so supply can respond to demand quickly.
Award rates are the adult full-time minimum for the classification named, effective the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guides. Casual loading of 25 per cent sits on top. This award publishes base rates, so allowances are paid on top of the hourly figures shown. Market bands are the national advertised ranges published on SEEK salary pages, refreshed 1 July 2026, quoted as published. Annual conversions use 38 ordinary hours a week over 52 weeks and exclude overtime, penalty rates and superannuation. Award minimums are national, so these figures do not vary by state. Checked 27 July 2026. The award that applies to any individual is decided by the work actually performed and by the employer's industry: see our award finder, or ask the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.