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Kitchen Hand salary in Australia
The median full-time salary for a kitchen hand is $67,200 per annum, before tax, up $14,100 since 2018.
- Kitchen hand pay usually follows the hospitality industry award, so what you take home depends on when you work: evenings, weekends and public holidays attract penalty rates, and casual shifts carry a loading instead of paid leave.
- Venue type matters too, with hotel, hospital and aged care kitchens often paying above a small café, and the classification steps up once you take on more cooking or supervisory duties.
- Because so many kitchen hand jobs are part time or casual, two people on the same hourly rate can earn quite different weekly amounts.
The median salary rose by $14,100 between 2018 and 2024; the dashed line shows a projection to 2028 based on the real ABS Wage Price Index growth rate, not a role-specific forecast.
Roles that pay more than kitchen hand
The largest typical pay rise is $10,800 a year, moving into Barista.
How to negotiate a higher kitchen hand salary
- Know the market rate before you ask. The median full-time kitchen hand salary is $67,200; use that, not a guess, as your anchor, and adjust for your experience and employer.
- Lead with what's scarce, not just tenure. Skills like Food preparation and cooking and Food safety and hygiene tend to command a premium over general kitchen hand experience, name them specifically when you ask.
- Bring a real alternative to the table. Barista pays a typical $10,800 a year more and draws on similar skills, even mentioning you're weighing it up is a legitimate data point in a pay conversation.
- Time it deliberately. Reviews, the end of a project you delivered, or taking on responsibility beyond your job description are stronger moments to ask than an arbitrary date on the calendar.
- Ask for a number, not a raise. "Based on the market rate and [specific contribution], I'd like to move to X" gets a clearer answer than "I think I deserve more."
Kitchen Hand salary questions
How much do kitchen hands earn in Australia?
The median full-time salary for a kitchen hand is $67,200 a year before tax. Seniority, specialisation, sector and the award or agreement you're employed under all move it.
Is kitchen hand pay rising or falling?
The median kitchen hand salary is up $14,100 since 2018. Figures from 2025 onward on this page are a projection, not a measured result.
What pays more than kitchen hand?
Barista pays a typical $10,800 a year more and draws on similar skills to kitchen hand.
Related salaries
Pay advice
- How to ask for a pay rise, and back it up with real numbersWhat national wage growth looks like right now, how to work out a figure for your own role, wording you can adapt for the conversation, and what to do if the answer is no.
- The average salary in Australia (2026)Full-time adults in Australia averaged $2,083.70 a week in May 2026. Several measures get called the average salary, and this explains which one fits your situation.
- Overtime pay, time in lieu and what your award saysOvertime rates come from your award or agreement, not one national rule. How rates work, what happens on a salary, and how time off in lieu works.