Method
100 is a line, not a grade
The index divides a gross yearly salary by full-time adult ordinary-time earnings, then multiplies by 100. The denominator is $108,352, which is $2,083.70 a week times 52. That weekly figure is the Australian Bureau of Statistics average for May 2026.
Ordinary time means the agreed or award hours, including penalties and allowances that are part of ordinary pay. It leaves out overtime and the employer’s super. The super guarantee from 1 July 2026 is 12% on top, up to a contribution base of $270,830.
The floor under the line
The national minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is $26.44 an hour, or $1,004.90 for 38 ordinary hours. On the index that is 48.2. Most employees are on a modern award, which can be higher. Award minimums rose 4.75% from 1 July 2026. A short entry-level award rate can be $25.74 an hour.
Junior rates on the national minimum
Junior hourly rates are the adult national minimum wage multiplied by the percentages used in National Minimum Wage Orders. A modern award can set a different junior rate.
- Under 16: 36.8% of the adult rate, $9.73 an hour.
- 16 years: 47.3% of the adult rate, $12.51 an hour.
- 17 years: 57.8% of the adult rate, $15.28 an hour.
- 18 years: 68.3% of the adult rate, $18.06 an hour.
- 19 years: 82.5% of the adult rate, $21.81 an hour.
- 20 years: 97.7% of the adult rate, $25.83 an hour.
The tax line under the pin
“In the account” uses resident tax rates for 2026–27 and a flat 2% Medicare levy. The first band is 15% between $18,200 and $45,000. It is not a payslip. HELP, salary sacrifice, the low-income Medicare reduction, and the surcharge are left out on purpose.
What a guide can and cannot say
Guides on this site use this index, Fair Work rates, and the ABS earnings release. Where a role is not in those releases, the guide says the figure is uncertain rather than inventing a median. Nothing here is an award interpretation or personal tax advice.