Electrician Apprenticeship Salary: Pay and Your First Budget

Starting an apprenticeship means being paid while you learn a trade. It also means your first payslips are well below what the qualified people around you earn, and you're still expected to get to work, buy boots and keep a phone on.

Your award sets how pay progresses as you train. For an electrician apprenticeship, knowing the salary at each stage helps you plan around the first one.

How apprentice pay is set

Your pay is set by the award for your industry, the legal document that sets minimum pay and conditions for a type of work. Most awards pay apprentices a percentage of a qualified worker's rate, rising with time or training progress.

Three things usually decide your rate: your training stage, whether you finished Year 12 and whether you started at 21 or older. Starting at 21 or older makes you an adult apprentice, with higher rates from the start. Apprentice rates in the early years are often below the national minimum wage, and that's allowed: the award rate is your legal minimum. Your employer can always pay more.

Time at TAFE or trade school that's part of your training contract is paid like any other work day. The electrical award also requires your employer to pay back your course fees and textbooks, unless your progress isn't satisfactory, and other awards have their own rules on this. Fair Work's Pay and Conditions Tool finds your award and works out your rate for your year, age and schooling.

What an electrical apprentice earns each year

Here's what that looks like for one trade. Under the electrical award, a junior apprentice who finished Year 12 earns $17.97 an hour in their first year in 2026–27, including the allowances the award pays to all apprentices. A full-time week is 38 hours.

The first two years pay a little less if you didn't finish Year 12: $16.39 and $19.55 an hour. From the third year, both paths pay the same. Overtime, weekend work and public holidays are paid at higher rates on top, and minimums may change after Fair Work's annual wage review.

Your payslip is the place to check you're getting the right rate for your year. Our guide to your payslip, line by line shows where to find it, and award and penalty rates explains the extra rates for weekends and overtime.

Living on a first-year wage

A plan for the first year is the one that matters, because that's the year with the least room. Here's a made-up example. Liam is 18, finished Year 12 and is a first-year electrical apprentice working 38 hours a week. He lives at home and pays board.

From his $683 a week before tax, his employer withholds $62 in tax with the tax-free threshold claimed, so $621 lands in his account. Here's one way he could plan it.

The costs that come first are the ones that don't move: board, getting to work and his phone. Liam drives, so his car share covers fuel and puts some aside each week for registration and insurance, which arrive as big yearly bills. Our guide to car insurance under 25 explains why that bill is higher at his age.

The $100 he sets aside goes towards things a trade asks for over time, such as better tools, a licence or a car that can carry gear. Liam's rate includes a tool allowance. Ask which tools your employer supplies before buying your own. If you buy tools you use for work, our guide to tax deductions explains what you can claim.

We are building Clova, a budgeting app that plans each pay around board, car costs and savings.

Before a pay rise arrives, you can decide what the extra is for. Liam's rise is about $120 a week before tax. Putting part of it towards savings and keeping his spending where it was means each step up goes towards something he chose. Our first job budget covers the rest of a first plan, from bills to a buffer.

Help that's there while you train

If you're 16 to 24 and doing a full-time apprenticeship, you may be able to get Youth Allowance from Services Australia. Your wage counts towards its income test, so a full-time wage often reduces it, but it's worth checking if you've moved out or work fewer hours. Our guide to living on Youth Allowance explains how the payment works.

The government also offers payments and loans to some apprentices, mostly in trades on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List. The amounts changed for apprentices who started in 2026, and change again from 1 January 2027, so check the government support factsheet or by calling 13 38 73.

A plan that fits your first-year pay gives you a starting point to adjust as training progresses.

A note from us

A first-year wage leaves little room. As your pay rises, you can choose where the extra goes.