Half a million young Australians just won the right to be paid like adults. The Fair Work Commission has abolished junior pay rates for workers aged 18 and over in the retail, fast food, and pharmacy sectors, ending a system that paid 18-year-olds as little as 70% of the adult wage for identical work.

The decision, handed down by the commission’s full bench, will be phased in over four years — a concession to employer groups that argued scrapping junior rates would discourage hiring. Workers will need to have been with their employer for six months to qualify for the adult rate. Junior pay remains intact for those under 18.

Under current award rules, 20-year-olds receive 90% of the adult rate, 19-year-olds get 80%, and 18-year-olds receive 70%. The change affects employees at some of Australia’s largest employers, including Coles, Woolworths, McDonald’s, and Hungry Jack’s.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), which brought the case, called it one of the most significant wage decisions in decades. SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer compared it to the introduction of equal pay for women in the 1970s.

“Eighteen-year-olds can vote, drive and put their lives on the line for their country,” Dwyer said. “Now they will be paid the same as other adults.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers described the ruling as a “great outcome,” framing it as part of broader efforts to secure fair wages for Australian workers.

The commission struck a deliberately moderate path — preserving junior rates for minors while extending adult pay to those 18 and up. In its decision, the bench said this approach “strikes a balance between these competing perceptions that promotes both harmony and fairness.”

The precedent, though confined to three sectors for now, will sharpen youth wage campaigns elsewhere. If 18 is old enough to vote, the argument runs, it is old enough for a full paycheck. That logic just became significantly harder to rebut.

Sources