What a machine operator 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
$27.08
The classification we quote is described in the ladder below. Award, Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award MA000010. Effective 1 July 2026.
Market band
$70,000 to $80,000
National advertised range, SEEK, refreshed 1 July 2026. Indicative day rate ~$350.
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 machine operator.
| Classification | Hourly minimum | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| C14 engineering/manufacturing employee level I | $25.74 | |
| C13 level II | $26.44 | |
| C12 level III | $27.08 | |
| C11 level IV | $27.97 | |
| C10 tradesperson level I | $29.45 |
C12 is the usual rung for a machine operator, with C13 and C14 below it for less complex production work and C11 above it. If the machine is mobile plant on a construction or civil site rather than a factory floor, the Building and Construction Award is likely to apply instead, and the rates are different.
The floor is the law and the market is what roles actually close at. On this role the distance between them is $16,490 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.
Generally none for factory machinery, though the specific machine may require site training and sign off. Mobile plant is a different world: excavators, loaders and graders on a civil site need high risk work licences or verification of competency, issued by the state work health and safety regulator. Confined space and hot work permits attach to the task rather than the person.
No, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates 711999 Machine Operators nec as not in shortage nationally or in any state, on the 2025 list. Mobile plant operators are a different story: earthmoving plant operators are rated as in regional shortage, and excavator, grader and loader operators are in shortage in every state. 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.
Factory machine operation is learned on the machine, so the supply constraint is low and the training burden sits with the employer. That is a genuinely different labour market from mobile plant, where a licence gates entry and the shortage ratings reflect it.
The label covers very different work. Running a CNC machining centre involves reading drawings, setting tools and offsets, and holding tolerance, and it sits close to a trade. Operating a press or an injection moulding machine is a cycle, a quality check and a changeover. Process plant operation is monitoring and intervention. Changeover time is the skill that quietly decides how a line runs, because it is unproductive time the operator controls. Most manufacturing runs continuous or two shift patterns, so the roster decides applications more than the rate does.
Using machine operator as a catch-all in the advertisement. It covers everything from feeding a press to running a CNC cell, and the applicants who arrive reflect that. The second is confusing factory machinery with mobile plant, which is a different award, a different licence regime and a different market. The third is not stating the shift, when continuous production usually means rotating shifts and that is the deciding factor for most applicants.
The Manufacturing Award for factory machinery, usually at C12. If the machine is mobile plant on a construction or civil site, the Building and Construction Award is likely to apply instead.
Generally not for factory machinery. Mobile plant is different and does require high risk work licensing or verification of competency.
About sixty four cents an hour at the floor, reflecting more complex work and greater autonomy at C12.
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.