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Security guard pay in Australia is set by a layered system of awards, classifications, and shift rules that sit beneath every job ad. The hourly figure on a listing can mask the classification level, licence class, and shift loadings that affect your weekly total. Reading those numbers in full turns a surprising payslip into a predictable one.
The Award Rates That Set Your Hourly Pay in Australia
Security guard pay across Australia is set by the Security Services Industry Award 2020. Employees fall into five classifications; Security Officer Level 1 through Level 5 which sets their minium hourly rate. From the first full pay period after 1 July 2025, a Level 1 permanent employee earns a base of $27.13 per hour, a Level 2 earns a base of $27.91, a Level 3 earns a base of $28.38, a Level 4 earns a base of $28.86, and a Level 5 earns a base of $29.79.
Entry level jobs tend to fall on Level 1, mid-career officers move into Level 2, and Senior officers work at Level 4 and Level 5 and carry the highest award rates,
How Your Security Licence Class Changes What You Earn
Your security licence class decides which jobs you can legally take on, and each class unlocks a different bracket of security guard pay. The unarmed officer licence covers static guarding, gatehouse work, patrol roles, and retail loss prevention, and those jobs pay at the Level 1 or Level 2 award rate.
A crowd controller licence opens pub, club, and event security shifts. Hourly pay in these roles can climb above the award through a mix of overtime, public holiday work, and employer loadings, and a guard rostered across Friday through Sunday nights earns more across a week than the weekday award rate alone implies.
State and Territory Salary Variations
Security guard pay at the award floor stays constant across states and territories. What varies between jurisdictions is where employers pay above that floor and how much weight casual penalty income carries in the effective weekly total.
New South Wales’ effective hourly pay runs above the award floor through the weight of event-driven casual work in Sydney. South Australia and Queensland event work lifts casual effective rates via weekend penalties in the same way.
Victoria and Tasmania pay closer to the award floor on an hourly basis. ACT, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory carry the country’s highest concentration of above-award hourly rates.
Penalty Rates
Penalty rates are where security guard pay lifts well above the base hourly figure. Work done outside ordinary Monday to Friday daytime hours attracts an extra percentage ontop of your base and award classification.
Night work for a permanent employee pays at 121.7 per cent of the base rate, rising to 130 per cent for workers on a permanent night roster. Saturday shifts pay at 150 per cent of the base, Sunday shifts pay at 200 per cent, and public holiday shifts pay at 250 per cent.
Casual employees carry the 25 per cent casual loading inside those rates, which lifts a Sunday shift to 225 per cent and a public holiday to 275 per cent of the base. A Level 1 permanent employee on $27.13 per hour earns $54.26 on a Sunday, $67.83 on a public holiday, and $33.02 on a weekday night shift, and a roster that crosses into weekend and overnight territory can lift a weekly total by several hundred dollars above the pure weekday base.
Shifts, Casual Loading, and Permanent Employment
The type of employment under which you work shapes security guard pay as much as your award level. Casual employees receive a 25 per cent loading on top of the base rate, putting a Level 1 casual at $33.91 per hour. A full-time permanent employee works 38 ordinary hours per week at the lower base rate but accumulates annual leave, personal leave, and redundancy entitlements as paid time accrues. Part-time employees sit between those two, working an agreed pattern of fewer than 38 hours per week at the permanent rate, with leave rights scaled to their hours.
A broken shift structure, where one rostered day is split into two periods of duty, attracts a $17.47 allowance on top of the hourly rate. Night shifts add penalty loading whether you are permanent or casual, and a rotating roster across weekdays, weekends, and public holidays lifts the annual packet for casual officers above the flat weekday rate.
Your First Step Toward a Security Guard Pay Packet
Security guard pay makes it an appealing entry level career for school leavers or those just looking for a career change. It’s made even more appealing by how easy it is to enter the industry; all you need is your security license, obtainable after you complete a Certificate II in Security Operations course. Enrolling today brings you one step closer to getting hired in well-paying security guard jobs.
FAQs
Do Security Guards Get Paid Extra For Holding A First Aid Certificate?
No. Holding a current first aid certificate is part of the standard qualification pathway for Australian security guards, so it forms part of the baseline licensing requirement rather than an extra skill that attracts additional pay.
What Superannuation Do Security Guards Receive?
From 1 July 2025, employers must contribute 12 per cent of an eligible employee’s ordinary time earnings into their nominated super fund. Security guards receive super on their base pay, casual loading, and most allowances, but not on overtime hours.
What Is The Minimum Break Between Shifts For A Security Guard?
The award requires a minimum 8-hour break between the finish of one rostered shift and the start of the next.
