What a storeperson 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
$27.72
The classification we quote is described in the ladder below. Award, Storage Services and Wholesale Award MA000084. Effective 1 July 2026.
Market band
$60,000 to $70,000
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 storeperson.
| 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 |
This is one of the few awards on this site with genuine time-served steps, and they sit only in grade 1: on commencement, after three months, and after twelve months. An employer who leaves a storeperson on the commencement rate past those dates is underpaying them by the award's own terms. Wholesale employees run a parallel ladder at identical money.
The floor is the law and the market is what roles actually close at. On this role the distance between them is $5,225 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.
None required to start, which is what makes this the common entry point into warehousing. A forklift high risk work licence is the usual first ticket and it lifts the person to grade 2. Some sites add food safety or dangerous goods requirements depending on what is stored.
No, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List rates 741111 Storeperson 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.
No licence and no qualification is required to begin, so the pool is large and turnover is high. The constraint in warehousing is almost never finding people, it is matching the shift and the work honestly enough that the job still suits them at the end of the first month.
The work splits into receiving, put away, replenishment, picking and despatch, and people are rarely equally good across all five. Picking is measured, usually on units per hour and on accuracy, and those two numbers are what performance conversations end up being about. Almost every site runs a warehouse management system with handheld scanners, so comfort with the system matters as much as physical pace. Shift pattern is the single biggest filter on applications: a day shift, an afternoon shift and a rotating roster attract different people, and pretending the roster is flexible when it is not produces first month departures.
Ignoring the service steps and leaving people on the commencement rate. It is an award breach waiting to happen and it is also the fastest way to lose someone at three months. The second is advertising a picking role and a forklift role as the same job. The third is not mentioning the shift pattern, which is the single thing warehouse applicants filter on hardest.
Grade 1 has three rates: on commencement, after three months, and after twelve months. The steps are automatic with time served and they apply only within grade 1.
Grade 2 covers licensed operation of materials handling equipment, so a forklift licence is the usual route.
No. Wholesale employees run a parallel classification structure at identical rates under the same award.
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.