Industry award or occupational award: which one applies?

The two kinds of award

The reason this creates confusion is that a person can plausibly sit inside both at once. A bookkeeper in a construction company is doing clerical work, in the construction industry. Both awards look relevant. Only one operates.

How the Clerks Award exclusion actually works

The Clerks Private Sector Award contains an exclusion: it does not cover an employer who is bound by a modern award containing clerical classifications. That single clause resolves most administrative-role questions.

So the test is not "is this person doing clerical work". It is "does the employer's industry award already classify clerical or administrative work". If it does, that award covers the administrator. If it does not, the Clerks Award is likely to.

These are likely outcomes, not automatic ones. The actual answer always comes from reading the coverage clause of the specific awards in play.

When no exclusion resolves it

Sometimes two awards could apply and neither excludes the other cleanly. The general test then is which award is most appropriate to the work performed and the environment in which the employee normally performs that work.

That is a judgement, and there is no register you can check to confirm you got it right. What you can do is make it defensible: write down which awards you considered, which coverage clauses you read, what the employee actually does, and why you landed where you did. Date it. A reasoned, contemporaneous document is a materially different position to be in than a recollection.

One employer, several awards

Coverage is worked out per employee against the work they perform, not once for the business. So a single employer commonly has staff across several awards, plus possibly some award-free roles.

This is the error we see most often in this territory. A business identifies its industry award, applies it to everyone, and the roles that do not fit are systematically underpaid. Warehouse staff in a retail business, a qualified professional inside a trades company, administrators in an industry award with no clerical classification: each needs to be worked out on its own facts.

Common questions

Does an administrator always fall under the Clerks Award?

No, and assuming so is a common and expensive error. If the employer is covered by an industry award that contains clerical or administrative classifications, that industry award covers the administrator instead. An administrator in a health service is likely covered by the health industry award rather than the Clerks Award, because that award classifies support and administrative roles. The Clerks Award tends to apply where the employer's industry award has no clerical classification, or where no industry award covers the employer at all.

Can one employer be covered by more than one Modern Award?

Yes, and this is normal rather than unusual. Coverage is worked out for each employee against the work they perform, not once for the whole business. A single employer can have staff across several awards, and can also have some award covered employees and some award free ones. Treating the business as having one award is a frequent cause of systematic underpayment in the roles that do not fit the assumed award.

What is the difference between an industry award and an occupational award?

An industry award covers employers operating in a particular industry and the employees they engage in that industry, so coverage follows the business. An occupational award covers a particular occupation wherever it is performed, so coverage follows the job across industries. The Clerks Private Sector Award and the Professional Employees Award are common occupational awards. Because a person can plausibly fall inside both kinds at once, awards carry exclusion clauses that decide which one operates.

FairCheck provides information about Australian pay rules and does not provide legal advice or guarantee compliance. Overlapping award coverage depends on the specific facts and the wording of the awards in question. Official information is available from the Fair Work Ombudsman at fairwork.gov.au.