Professional Diving Industry (Recreational) Award

If you run a dive school, a tourist dive operation or a charter or liveaboard dive vessel in Australia and employ dive masters, dive instructors or support staff, the Professional Diving Industry (Recreational) Award 2020 (MA000109) generally applies. Commercial and industrial diving, general marine tourism and the crewing of vessels sit under different instruments, so confirm coverage against the Fair Work source before setting pay and conditions.

The award has two classifications - dive master and dive instructor - defined by diving qualifications and instructional responsibility, with the dive instructor classification above the dive master. Deckhand, cook or skipper duties may be required but are not separate classifications. You classify each worker by the duties they actually perform and the qualifications they hold, then read the current minimum for that classification from the Fair Work Pay Calculator rather than relying on memory.

Casual employees, who make up much of the recreational diving workforce, are paid the minimum rate for their classification plus a casual loading, commonly 25% across modern awards, in place of paid leave and other permanent entitlements. Because so many shifts fall on weekends and holidays, the loading frequently combines with penalty rates. Treat 25% as a guide and confirm the exact casual loading, and how it stacks with penalties, against the Fair Work source.

Saturday and Sunday work attracts weekend penalties on top of the ordinary rate, and in recreational diving these are central because weekends are the busiest trading days. As a general guide across awards, Saturday is commonly around 25% and Sunday around 50%, but MA000109 sets its own figures. Always confirm the current Saturday and Sunday rates for your employee type on the Fair Work Pay Calculator before processing pay.

Work performed on a public holiday is paid at a significant premium under the award, which as a guide can reach up to 150% of the minimum rate, and a minimum engagement may apply. Public holidays and long weekends are often peak trading days for dive tourism, so this comes up regularly. Staff who would normally work the day but do not because it is a public holiday are generally entitled to their ordinary pay. Confirm the current entitlement against the Fair Work source.

Overtime applies when an employee works beyond the ordinary hours the award sets, such as exceeding the daily or weekly limit or working outside the spread of ordinary hours - which can happen on long charter days or multi-day trips. Overtime rates step up after the first couple of hours and are higher on Sundays. For the exact current multipliers, check the overtime provisions and the Fair Work source before paying.

Yes. Part-time employees work fewer than full-time hours on a reasonably predictable pattern, and the award requires a written agreement recording the agreed hours, days and times, with changes also agreed in writing. Part-timers receive pro-rata leave and the same minimum rates as full-timers for their classification. Given the seasonality of dive tourism, part-time and casual mixes are common, so check the award's provisions for each before engaging staff.

When recreational dive work takes staff away from home or their usual base, the award provides distant-work entitlements, including a travel allowance and an allowance covering accommodation and meals while away, separate from the ordinary rate. These arise often with charters and relocations to seasonal dive sites. Work out whether a particular engagement triggers the distant-work provisions and confirm the current travel and accommodation/meal amounts against the Fair Work source before paying.

The award provides for allowances suited to tourism dive work, which can include language, vehicle, distant-work travel, distant-work accommodation and meals, and loss-of-personal-effects allowances, several of which connect to multi-day and liveaboard trips. Some are paid per occasion or per trip, so they are easy to overlook. Identify which apply to each role and trip and confirm the current amounts on the Fair Work Pay Calculator rather than relying on remembered figures.

Yes. Annual leave loading is an extra payment on top of base pay when an employee takes paid annual leave, and under this award it is 17.5% of the minimum rate of pay. It applies to full-time and part-time employees taking annual leave; casuals, who are common in this industry, do not accrue annual leave. Apply the loading when processing leave payments and confirm the calculation against the Fair Work source.

Minimum rates and many allowances are reviewed each year in the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review and take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. The 2026 review increased modern award minimums by 4.75%. Because the dive season often builds around the same time, apply the new rates from that pay period and verify the current figures for each classification on the Fair Work Pay Calculator every year.

Multi-day charters and liveaboard trips raise questions a single-day roster does not - how ordinary hours are counted across days, overnight arrangements, time away, meals and when overtime or penalties apply. The award addresses these realities, but they need to be worked through trip by trip rather than treated as ordinary shifts. Map each trip's hours and conditions and confirm how they should be paid against the Fair Work source.

Start by confirming each person's correct classification - dive master or dive instructor - then apply the current minimum rate, the weekend and public holiday penalties that dominate a tourism roster, overtime on long or multi-day trips, the casual loading and any applicable allowances, refreshing every figure from the Fair Work Pay Calculator after each 1 July increase. Accurate time records across trips are essential. Valont's award-compliant payroll service handles this classification, rate and penalty mapping for recreational diving employers so the right amount is paid every cycle.