Employers are paying the price for job advertisements offering unlawful wage rates, with fines up 18 per cent in the last year. Repeat or significant offenders have also been warned they could face court action.
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s ongoing efforts to stamp out unlawful job advertisements saw it issue 358 Infringement Notices in 2025–26, with employers paying fines totalling $131,836.
The annual results mean the workplace watchdog’s compliance measures have led to employers paying more than $317,000 in fines since laws banning job advertisements offering below-minimum rates came into effect in 2023.
Advertised pay rates must meet the minimum rates required by an industrial instrument such as an award or enterprise agreement, or the National Minimum Wage if no award or agreement applies.
The FWO issued 318 Infringement Notices for this contravention in 2024–25, with employers paying a combined $111,306.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the regulator wanted to stop wage underpayments before they occurred and warned that litigation remained an option for serious or repeated breaches.
“Prevention is always better than the cure and stamping out job ads that offer dodgy pay rates helps prevent vulnerable workers from being underpaid from the beginning, as well as ensuring a fair playing field for businesses that are doing the right thing,” Ms Booth said.
“Employers who don’t advertise lawful pay rates face being hit with fines. Repeat or significant breaches can lead to us taking an employer to court.”
The FWO has also called on major employment platforms to increase efforts to prevent unlawful job advertisements appearing online.
It welcomed SEEK’s introduction of a “Report this job ad” feature, which allows jobseekers to report potentially unlawful advertisements directly to the FWO, and also commended Backpacker Job Board for including minimum wage information under the Horticulture Award on fruit-picking advertisements.
Examples of fines issued over unlawful job advertisements during 2025–26 include:
- A Melbourne fast food outlet advertised for a casual employee offering $24–$30 per hour, with the lower rate $9.19 below the applicable award rate of $33.19 as at 1 July 2025. The FWO issued a $330 fine.
- A Sydney restaurant advertised for wait staff at $24–$26 per hour, with the lower rate $6.35 below the Restaurant Industry Award rate of $30.35 per hour as at 1 July 2025. The FWO issued a $330 fine.
- A refrigerated transport provider in South Australia advertised for a courier driver to work three days per week, including Saturdays, at $30–$32 per hour and listed an ABN as an essential requirement. Following further inquiries, FWO Inspectors formed the view the driver would have been an employee and that the advertised rates were below the applicable Saturday rate under the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020. The employer paid a $330 fine.
Maximum infringement notice penalties for advertising jobs at unlawfully low rates increased from 1 July 2026.
The maximum penalty is now $2,184 per contravention for an individual and up to $10,920 per contravention for a company of any size.
The FWO said it will also look closely over the coming year at job advertisements that may incorrectly treat workers as independent contractors when they would legally be employees.
Whether a worker is an employee or contractor depends on a range of factors, including the level of control a business has over how the work is performed and how working hours are set. Incorrectly describing an employee as an independent contractor can amount to sham contracting.
Employers can use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay and Conditions Tool and pay guides to check applicable wage rates. Anyone can also anonymously report a potentially unlawful job advertisement to the FWO.
From 1 July 2026, the National Minimum Wage increased to $26.44 per hour or $1,004.90 per week for a 38-hour week, while minimum award wages increased by 4.75 per cent.