Northern Territory

Rail & bus pay — current classifications, rates, penalties & allowances

Enterprise Agreement

CDC Northern Territory & TWU Enterprise Agreement 2026 (AE532256)

Current (nominal expiry 30 June 2029)

AnnualHourly

Roles & Wages

Role	Pay Point	Mar 2026
Wash Bay / Driver Trainee Grade 1 Ordinary-hours hourly base rate. The full-time/part-time rate was set by an undertaking accepted when the FWC approved the agreement, and matches the printed casual rate for this grade.	Full-time / part-time	$65,492.92
	Casual (incl. 25% loading)	$65,492.92
School / Special Needs / Charter Driver / Transit Carer Grade 3 Ordinary-hours hourly base rate. The full-time/part-time rate was set by an undertaking accepted when the FWC approved the agreement; the casual rate includes the 25% casual loading.	Full-time / part-time	$57,006.55
	Casual (incl. 25% loading)	$71,258.34
Route Service / Extended Charter Driver Grade 4 Ordinary-hours hourly base rate for route-service and extended-charter driving; the casual rate includes the 25% casual loading.	Full-time / part-time	$69,381.67
	Casual (incl. 25% loading)	$86,727.08
Driver Trainer Grade 5 Ordinary-hours hourly base rate; the agreement publishes no casual rate for this grade.	Full-time / part-time	$73,027.57
Operations Supervisor Grade 6 Ordinary-hours hourly base rate for the highest classification in the agreement; no casual rate is published for this grade.	Full-time / part-time	$76,673.48

Showing annual salary rates

Allowances

Allowance	Unit	Amount
Meal Allowance (cl 24.3) Paid to employees who work more than 2 hours of overtime beyond their rostered finishing time. Fixed at this amount for the life of the agreement.	Per occasion	$10.00

Penalty Rates

Saturday — full-time/part-time (cl 22.6(a))145%

All work from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday, whether ordinary or additional hours. Rises to 146.5% from 1 July 2026, 148% from 1 July 2027 and 150% from 1 July 2028.

Saturday — casual (cl 22.6(b))170%

Same Saturday window; inclusive of the 25% casual loading. Rises to 171.5% from 1 July 2026, 173% from 1 July 2027 and 175% from 1 July 2028.

Sunday — full-time/part-time (cl 22.7(a))195%

All work from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday, whether ordinary or additional hours. Rises to 196.5% from 1 July 2026, 198% from 1 July 2027 and 200% from 1 July 2028.

Sunday — casual (cl 22.7(b))220%

Same Sunday window; inclusive of the 25% casual loading. Rises to 221.5% from 1 July 2026, 223.5% from 1 July 2027 and 225% from 1 July 2028.

Additional hours (overtime) — full-time/part-time (cl 24.2)145%

Work beyond 10 hours in a day or 38 hours in a weekly pay period. Rises to 146.5% from 1 July 2026, 148% from 1 July 2027 and 150% from 1 July 2028.

Additional hours (overtime) — casual (cl 24.2)170%

Same thresholds; inclusive of the 25% casual loading. Rises to 171.5% from 1 July 2026, 173% from 1 July 2027 and 175% from 1 July 2028.

Late-start penalty (cl 17.3)+11.89%

Extra 11.89% on the base rate for ordinary hours of duty commencing after 8:00pm, for all employees including casuals. Fixed for the life of the agreement, and the only penalty that stacks on top of Saturday, Sunday or overtime rates.

Public holiday — full-time/part-time (cl 30.3(a))145% + 7.6 hrs

Hours worked on a public holiday are paid at the additional-hours rate, plus an extra 7.6 ordinary hours of pay at the base rate. Public-holiday work is voluntary — the employer must seek expressions of interest first.

Public holiday — casual (cl 30.6)Set hourly rate

Casuals working a public holiday are paid the fixed public-holiday hourly rate printed per grade in the agreement: $118.1250 (Grade 4), $52.1227 (Grade 3, as printed) and $89.2035 (Grade 1). A 4-hour minimum shift applies to public-holiday work.

Casual loading (cl 14.4)125%

25% loading on the ordinary-hours base rate, paid in lieu of annual, personal/carer's and compassionate leave and notice on termination. Already included in the casual rates and casual penalty percentages shown.

Notes

•These figures are the ordinary-hours hourly base rate in Australian dollars under the CDC Northern Territory & TWU Enterprise Agreement 2026, covering CDC Darwin, CDC Regional NT and Buslink NT — the Darwinbus urban network, Alice Springs bus services and NT school, charter and regional routes.
•Rates shown are the commencement rates from the first full pay period on or after 17 March 2026 and already include the agreement's 4.0289% commencement increase. Further increases apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, 1 July 2027 and 1 July 2028 — each the greater of 3% or NT Wage Price Index growth — but those dollar amounts depend on ABS figures not yet confirmed, so only the commencement rates are listed here.
•Ordinary hours are capped at 10 per day and 38 per week; work beyond either cap is paid at the additional-hours rate shown under Penalties.
•The agreement's grade structure jumps from Grade 1 to Grade 3 — it contains no Grade 2 classification.
•The full-time/part-time base rates for Grade 1 and Grade 3 come from an undertaking accepted by the Fair Work Commission when it approved the agreement; they do not appear in the agreement's printed weekly rate schedule.
•The agreement also prints per-grade hourly rates for additional hours, Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday work; these equal the base rate multiplied by the percentages under Penalties, so only the base rates are listed here. Penalty and overtime rates are not cumulative — the highest single applicable rate is paid — except the late-start penalty, which is paid on top.
•Casual rates are published only for Grades 1, 3 and 4; no casual rate exists for Grades 5 and 6. Minimum shift engagements apply: generally 4 hours, or 2 hours for casual school runs.
•One-off ratification payments of $1,600 (full-time), $1,000 (part-time) and $400 (casual) were paid when the agreement was made and are not part of ongoing rates.
•Source: CDC Northern Territory & TWU Enterprise Agreement 2026 (AE532256), Fair Work Commission — https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/agreements/approved/ae532256.pdf