Employers in animal work are frequently unsure which award applies to them, and that uncertainty is entirely reasonable. The award has "animal care" in its title, which sounds like it should cover anyone who looks after animals for a living. It doesn't. The Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award 2020 (MA000118), often shortened to the Animal and Veterinary Services Award, reaches two specific kinds of employer, and a great many businesses that work with animals every day sit completely outside it.
Getting that question right comes before every other question, because if the coverage answer is wrong then every pay rate, penalty and allowance derived from it is wrong too. This summary covers who MA000118 actually applies to, the classification structure and rates from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, and the operational rules that catch employers out. Figures come from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide for MA000118, published 24 June 2026, cross-checked in the Pay and Conditions Tool. This is general information: confirm current figures against your own circumstances before relying on them.
Who the Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award covers
Clause 4.1 says the award covers employers throughout Australia in two industries, the veterinary surgery industry and the animal care industry, and their employees in the classifications listed in the award's classification schedule. Both terms are defined narrowly in the clauses that follow, and the definitions do most of the work.
Private veterinary practices
Clause 4.2 is one sentence long. The veterinary surgery industry means private veterinary surgery practices. That's a clean boundary and it captures what people expect: the practice down the road, the emergency clinic, the specialist referral hospital, whether it employs two people or forty.
The "animal care industry" means charities, not commercial pet businesses
Clause 4.3 is where the assumptions break. The animal care industry means community-based charity organisations working to prevent cruelty to animals by actively promoting their care and protection and educating people in the care of animals.
Read that against a commercial business and it doesn't fit. A boarding kennel isn't a community-based charity working to prevent animal cruelty. Neither is a cattery, a doggy daycare, a mobile grooming van, a grooming salon or a pet shop. These businesses provide animal care in the ordinary sense of the words and are not in the animal care industry as MA000118 defines it. An animal welfare charity that runs a shelter, rehomes animals and employs inspectors is a different matter, and that's precisely the kind of organisation clause 4.3 was drafted for.
Businesses that fall outside this award
Clause 4.4 then excludes employers in four named industries:
- Amusement, Events and Recreation Award 2020
- Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award 2020
- Horse and Greyhound Training Award 2020
- Pastoral Award 2020
Clause 4.7 excludes three further groups: employees excluded from award coverage by the Fair Work Act, employees covered by a modern enterprise award or an enterprise instrument, and employees covered by a State reference public sector modern award or transitional award. That last limb is how council pounds and local government animal management staff usually fall out of this award.
Two extensions work the other way. Clause 4.5 brings in labour hire employers supplying staff on an on-hire basis into these industries, along with those on-hire employees while performing that work. Clause 4.6 does the same for group training services and the trainees they place. A practice using agency nurses, or hosting a trainee through a group training organisation, is dealing with this award even though the employment relationship sits elsewhere.
That still leaves a real gap for the commercial pet services sector. If the award covers neither a grooming salon nor a boarding facility, another award may, or the business may be award free with the national minimum wage and the National Employment Standards applying instead. The answer turns on the actual work performed and the industry the employer operates in, not the label on the business.
It isn't a question to settle by assumption, and the cost of getting it wrong runs in both directions. An employer paying under the wrong award can underpay for years. An employer applying a more generous award it was never covered by has usually locked that treatment into practice by the time anyone checks, and unwinding it is a different and harder conversation than correcting an underpayment.
If it would help to have the coverage question and the classification structure checked properly, Brookvale HR Solutions offers an independent check of your classifications and penalty settings, delivered by Daniel personally with no lock-in contracts. Where the underlying question is which instrument applies at all, start with the framework for checking award coverage.
Classification and pay rates under the award
Schedule A sets out three classification groups, and an employee is classified against the group and level their duties belong to. The employer must tell each employee in writing what their classification is, and of any change to it (clause 12.3). Note that the published pay guide splits the middle group into two tables for readability, which is a presentation choice rather than a difference in the instrument: in the award itself, practice managers, veterinary nurses, receptionists, animal attendants and assistants all sit on one scale.
Veterinary surgeons, called associates in the award
The award defines an associate as a veterinary surgeon who is employed on a full-time, part-time or casual basis, so every employed veterinary surgeon is an associate and the associate-specific provisions reach all of them. That definition matters, because the vet-specific rules are written in terms of associates. Schedule A.3 sets five levels, from Level 1A to Level 4. Level 1A is the graduate starting point and must progress to Level 1B no later than 6 months after commencement; a competent Level 1B can expect Level 2 within 2 years. Level 3 is the experienced veterinary surgeon, and Level 4 the senior veterinary surgeon with supervisory and practice management responsibilities.
Associates are treated differently from every other employee under this award. Their minimums are set in the award as annual salaries, with the hourly rate derived from them. Clause 21 is expressly headed as applying to employees other than veterinary surgeons, several allowances carry the same carve-out, and public holidays are dealt with separately again in clause 27.3.
| Classification (Schedule A.3) | Hourly rate | Casual hourly | Public holiday (clause 27.3) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1A | $34.20 | $42.75 | $68.40 |
| Level 1B | $36.08 | $45.10 | $72.16 |
| Level 2 | $38.98 | $48.73 | $77.96 |
| Level 3 | $42.83 | $53.54 | $85.66 |
| Level 4 | $48.38 | $60.48 | $96.76 |
The public holiday figures above are 200 per cent of the minimum hourly rate under clause 27.3(a)(i), where every other employee under this award is paid 250 per cent under clause 27.2(a), because veterinary surgeons have their own public holiday provision rather than sitting under the general one.
Extra hours are the detail practices miss most often. Under clause 20.2(a), an employer compensates an associate for time worked in addition to 38 hours per week, other than on-call time, either by additional remuneration at the employee's ordinary time rate or by time off instead on an hour for hour basis if the associate agrees. There's no overtime multiplier. A Level 2 vet working extra hours is compensated at $38.98, not a multiple of it, which is why payroll configured on a generic time-and-a-half assumption will overpay against the award minimum. Clause 20.2(b) also allows an allowance to be paid instead, by agreement, provided it isn't less over a calendar year than what clause 20.2(a) would have produced, and clause 20.2(c) requires any such agreement to be in writing.
The corollary matters just as much. Because veterinary surgeons sit outside clause 21, a practice can't reason from what its nurses are paid on a Sunday to what its vets are owed. Practices that have built one set of payroll rules for the whole clinic have usually got one of the two groups wrong.
Practice managers, veterinary nurses, receptionists, animal attendants and assistants
Schedule A.2 covers all five of these roles on one scale, running from an introductory level through four levels, with practice manager at Level 5. A kennel hand at a shelter and a veterinary nurse at a clinic are classified against the same structure, on the same rates. Level 3 generally requires an AQF Certificate III or equivalent, and Level 4 the competencies of an AQF Certificate IV, which is where qualified veterinary nurses usually sit.
| Classification (Schedule A.2) | Minimum weekly rate | Hourly rate | Casual hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introductory level | $978.10 | $25.74 | $32.18 |
| Level 1 | $1,004.90 | $26.44 | $33.05 |
| Level 2 | $1,073.10 | $28.24 | $35.30 |
| Level 3 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 |
| Level 4 | $1,221.10 | $32.13 | $40.16 |
| Level 5, practice manager | $1,283.10 | $33.77 | $42.21 |
The introductory rate is genuinely temporary by design. Schedule A.2.1 applies it to an employee with no experience in the industry, and only until they have performed satisfactory service for a period not exceeding 3 months. An employee still on $25.74 a year into the job is a misclassification, and every pay run extends it.
Animal care industry inspectors
Schedule A.1 sets a three-level scale for inspectors authorised under animal welfare legislation: $34.20 an hour at Inspector Level 1, $36.08 at Inspector Level 2 and $38.98 at Senior Inspector Level 3, each set in the award as an annual salary. Schedule A.1.1 also notes that an Inspector Level 1 can expect to move to Level 2 after 6 months. This group exists because of the enforcement work animal welfare charities perform, and it's another signal of who clause 4.3 was written for.
The operational rules employers get wrong
Pay rates are the easy part. The rules about when hours are worked, and what happens around the edges of a roster, produce more underpayments in veterinary practice than the base rates ever do.
Hours of work, breaks and days off
Ordinary hours of work average 38 per week, and can't exceed 152 hours in 28 days or an average of 38 hours over an agreed roster cycle, with no single shift longer than 10 hours excluding meal breaks (clause 13.1). Every employee must be allowed an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes between the fourth and fifth hour of work (clause 14.1). Employees other than vets are entitled to a 10 minute paid rest break after 4 hours of work, and two on a 7.6 hour day, which can be combined into one 20 minute break by agreement.
Veterinary surgeons, other than casuals, should receive at least 3 full days off per fortnight under clause 13.3(c). Days off that aren't given accumulate, and if they aren't used within 6 weeks they must be paid out at the associate's ordinary rate of pay. Annual leave entitlement comes from the National Employment Standards, with an additional week for a 7-day shiftworker regularly rostered on Sundays and public holidays in a business that runs shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (clause 22.2).
The 6am to 9pm span of hours
Under clause 13.2 the ordinary hours of work are between 6.00am and 9.00pm Monday to Sunday. Clause 13.2(c) lets the employer and an individual employee agree to alter that span of hours, and without that agreement, work outside the span is not ordinary time. A clinic that routinely starts a nurse at 5.30am for surgical prep, with no agreement in place, isn't simply starting early: it's working outside the ordinary hours span.
Note also that the span runs Monday to Sunday. Weekend work is within ordinary hours under this award rather than outside them, which is why weekend work attracts penalty rates instead of overtime rates.
Weekend penalty rates and public holidays
Saturday is the trap, because the penalty doesn't run all day. Under clause 21, Saturday penalties attach to work between 1pm and 9pm, and they step up after the first three hours.
| Penalty | Full-time and part-time | Casual |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday between 1pm and 9pm, first 3 hours | 150% | 175% |
| Saturday between 1pm and 9pm, after 3 hours | 200% | 225% |
| Sunday | 200% | 225% |
For a Level 1 nurse that means $39.66 an hour for the first three hours of a Saturday afternoon, $52.88 after that, and $52.88 all day Sunday. Work on a public holiday is paid at 250 per cent, which is $66.10 for the same employee, and clause 27.2(a) attaches a minimum payment of 4 hours provided the employee is available to work 4 hours. Sunday overtime under clause 20.1(b)(ii) carries a minimum payment of 3 hours provided the employee is ready, willing and available to work it.
Shiftwork penalties, and who they actually apply to
Clause 21.2 sets separate penalties for employees engaged on shiftwork: 115 per cent of the minimum hourly rate for a shift finishing after 8.00pm, 130 per cent where the majority of hours fall between midnight and 8.00am, and 115 per cent for a shift commencing at or before 6.30am. Where the major portion of a rostered shift falls on a weekend or public holiday, clause 21.3 replaces those with 150 per cent for a Saturday shift, 200 per cent for a Sunday shift and 250 per cent for a public holiday shift.
For a Level 1 nurse, receptionist or attendant on $26.44 an hour, that produces:
| Shiftwork category | Level 1 rate | Level 1 casual |
|---|---|---|
| Commencing at or before 6.30am | $30.41 | $37.02 |
| Finishing after 8pm | $30.41 | $37.02 |
| Majority of hours between midnight and 8am | $34.37 | $40.98 |
| Saturday shift | $39.66 | $46.27 |
The qualification matters more than the rates. Clause 21.2 carries an express note that these shiftwork penalties don't apply to employees engaged as day workers. A day worker who starts early isn't picked up by clause 21.2: they're working outside the ordinary hours span, which is an overtime question under clause 20.1. Whether an employee is engaged as a shiftworker or a day worker therefore decides which rules apply to the same 6am start.
On-call duty: two different systems
Veterinary practice runs on after-hours availability, and this award handles it with two separate mechanisms depending on who is on call.
For employees other than veterinary surgeons, clause 16.2(c) sets an on-call allowance payable for each 24 hour period or part of one: $23.17 Monday to Friday, $34.80 on a Saturday, and $40.51 on a Sunday, public holiday or off duty day. For veterinary surgeons, clause 16.3(a) sets a minimum of $56.63 for each period of on-call duty, a vet who actually attends cases is paid at least their hourly rate for that active duty, and by written agreement the on-call pay can be taken as time off hour for hour or as an annual allowance that is no less than the payments it replaces. Running one blanket on-call rate across the whole practice, which is common, will underpay one group or the other.
Other allowances worth checking against payroll:
- Broken shift allowance, clause 16.2(a), $17.91 per shift, paid once per 24 hours, which doesn't apply to veterinary surgeons
- First aid allowance, clause 16.2(b), $21.93 per week, which doesn't apply to veterinary surgeons
- Meal allowance, clause 16.5(a)(i), payable where overtime of more than one and a half hours is worked without prescribed notice, at $15.61 for the first meal and $13.41 for each subsequent meal, which doesn't apply to veterinary surgeons
- Clothing and laundry allowance, clause 16.4(a)(i), $6.68 per week
- Vehicle and travel allowance, clause 16.4(b)(ii), $0.34 per kilometre for a motorcycle and $1.00 per kilometre for a motor vehicle
Casual employees are paid the minimum hourly rate plus a loading of 25 per cent under clause 11.1, with a minimum payment of 3 hours' work under clause 11.4. Clause 11.5 reduces the minimum engagement to 2.5 hours only where all four conditions are met: the employee is a full-time secondary school student, is engaged between 3.00pm and 7.00pm on a day they're required to attend school, both the employee and a parent or guardian agree to the shorter period, and a longer engagement isn't possible because of the employer's operational requirements or the employee's availability.
What changed on 1 July 2026
The 2026 Annual Wage Review did two separate things to this award, and treating them as one produces wrong numbers.
The general increase lifted award minimum rates by 4.75 per cent. Checked directly, a Level 1A veterinary surgeon moved from $32.65 to $34.20 an hour, which is exactly 4.75 per cent. Separately, the lowest classifications in the award now sit on the economy-wide award floor rather than on a percentage uplift of last year's figure, which is why the introductory and Level 1 rates for nurses, receptionists and attendants land at $25.74 and $26.44. A Level 1 nurse moved from $24.95 to $26.44, a larger movement than the headline increase.
The practical rule is the same either way: never calculate a 2026 rate by adding a percentage to last year's figure. Load each rate from the current pay guide, and check each employee's classification against the duties they actually perform rather than the title on their contract. For a practice with three classification groups, two on-call systems and a Saturday penalty that starts at 1pm, an annual check when the new rates land in July is the cheapest compliance control available.
