What a site supervisor 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
None
No award minimum applies. National Employment Standards still apply.
Market band
$120,000 to $140,000
National advertised range, SEEK, refreshed 1 July 2026. Indicative day rate ~$550.
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 site supervisor.
| Classification | Hourly minimum | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Building and Construction level 6 (CW/ECW 6), residential weekly hire | $33.55 | |
| Building and Construction level 7 (CW/ECW 7), residential weekly hire | $34.47 | |
| Building and Construction level 9 (ECW 9), residential weekly hire | $35.87 | |
| Manufacturing C6 advanced engineering tradesperson level I | $33.77 | |
| Manufacturing C3 engineering associate level II | $37.24 |
There is no supervisor award. Supervisor classifications sit inside whichever award covers the trade being supervised, which is why we cannot publish a single national floor for this role. The Manufacturing Award goes further and sets its supervisor rates as a formula: a percentage of the highest employee supervised, with a floor. So the same job title can produce quite different legal minimums depending on the industry and on who is being supervised.
With no award floor to anchor to, the band is the whole picture on this role. Ordinary hours only: no overtime, no penalty rates, no superannuation.
Follows the trade. On construction, a white card is mandatory and a supervisor is normally expected to hold or have held the relevant trade qualification. First aid and specific high risk work tickets are commonly required. Some jurisdictions require a builder or site supervisor registration for particular work, which is separate again from any trade licence.
The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates 133111 Construction Project Manager as in shortage nationally and in every state and territory. There is no ANZSCO 2022 occupation for construction site supervisor specifically, so this is the closest assessed match. In the newer OSCA classification, construction site supervisor is rated as not in shortage nationally. That list is the official assessment, published by Jobs and Skills Australia, and it is the only shortage figure we will quote. Source, checked 27 July 2026.
Supervisors are made rather than hired: almost everyone in the role came up through the trade, so the pool is limited to experienced tradespeople who also want to manage people and paperwork, which is a much smaller group than the trade itself.
Advertising a supervisor role at a trade rate plus a little. The step from doing the work to being accountable for it is large, and the offer needs to reflect that or the good candidates stay on the tools. The second is not saying how many people and how many sites, which is the first thing an experienced supervisor asks. The third is expecting trade skill and people management to arrive in the same person automatically.
No. Supervisor classifications sit inside each parent trade award, so the answer follows the trade rather than the title.
As a formula rather than a fixed rate: a percentage of the highest employee supervised, with a minimum floor. So the rate moves with the team.
Because coverage follows the trade being supervised. A supervisor on a construction site and one in a factory sit under different awards with different structures.
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. 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.