Ports, Harbours and Enclosed Water Vessels Award
Industry award for vessels operating wholly or substantially within a port, harbour or other body of water within the Australian coastline (or at sea on activities not covered by listed maritime awards). Carve-outs (cl 4.3-4.8): Dredging, Marine Tourism/Charter, Maritime Offshore O&G, Port Authorities, Stevedoring; Marine Towage operations; Manufacturing/Electrical-contracting maintenance contractors; local government employees; wild catch fishing (D9). 7 classifications (Master, Mate, Engineer, GP Hand [STANDARD RATE $1,128.00/wk], Shipkeeper, Crane Driver under-20t, Crane Driver over-20t). 38h Mon-Fri 6am-6pm. Distinctive features: Saturday baked into OT table at 150% (D4), permanent night shift at 130% (D7 - above standard 115%), shiftworker AL loading 20% with 10-week excessive threshold (D8/D11), 18-hour continuous duty override at 200% (D15), towing allowances all-purpose (D1), charge hand 2-tier supervised vs unsupervised (D2), cargo handling daily split 5-days-then-after (D6), late-night transport 3-way alternative (D10), cl 29.3 return-to-place-of-engagement obligation (D14).
Fully built. Rates, allowances, penalties and any required apprentice / junior rates are all wired to the rate resolver and have been verified against the consolidated award text and the latest pay guide.
Official Fair Work rates. This award’s minimum pay rates are synced directly from the Fair Work Commission’s Modern Awards Pay Database and updated automatically when the Commission changes them - including the annual wage review - so payroll always uses the current legal minimums without a manual update.
What's built
- All 7 cl 14.1 classifications at corrected July 2025 figures (PR786604 ppc 1Jul25): Master $32.94/hr → GP Hand $29.68/hr (STANDARD RATE) → Shipkeeper $27.21/hr.
- All cl 16.2 wage-related allowances incl charge hand 2-tier ($36.77 supervised / $54.71 unsupervised - D2), distant work weekly $634.27 / daily $90.24, dual capacity $6.54/day or $0.82/hr, dirty work $0.79/hr (bulk discharging $2.03/hr), wet $0.34/hr, garbage $0.79/hr, bilge $1.24/hr, chipping hammers $0.11/hr, first aid $19.18/wk, 4 cargo handling tiers (D3/D6), waiting orders phone $186.23/yr or $4.74/call, towing explosives $3.27/day all-purpose (D1), towing bunker barge ≥400t $3.05/day all-purpose (D1), wreck/stranded $19.29/hr, diving glass-bottom $6.20/day.
- Cl 16.3 expense allowances incl meal OT $21.44, bedding (in-kind), personal effects loss $2,362, protective clothing (in-kind), late-night transport $0.98/km (D10), uniform $18.30/wk.
- 16 penalty rows including OT first 3h/after (FT/PT 150/200, Casual 175/225), Sat ord 150% (D4), Sun 200%, PH 250%, recall min 4h, 18-hour continuous duty override at 200% (D15), work during meal breaks at 200% (D16), afternoon shift 115%, night shift 115%, permanent night shift 130% (D7).
- All 7 leave entitlements with shiftworker variants (D11): AL loading 17.5% non-shiftworkers / 20% shiftworkers; excessive accrual 8 wks non-shiftworkers / 10 wks shiftworkers (D8).
- 3 pay conditions: FT (38h/wk Mon-Fri 6am-6pm, max 8h/day, 2 consecutive days off, 18h continuous max with 10h rest after - cl 12.4), PT (min 2 consecutive hrs/shift), Casual (25% loading, min 3h per attendance - cl 11.4).
- All 2 default super funds per cl 17.4 (substituted PR794748 ppc 23 Jan 2026): HOSTPLUS Superannuation Fund, AMP Super Fund (D12).
- Cl 12A right to disconnect with cl 12A.4 recall exception (employer may contact for recall to work under cl 18.3 - D13).
- Cl 25A workplace delegates with full NES s.350C standard set.
- Cl 29 employee notice tiers + cl 29.2 1-day job search; cl 29.3 DISTINCTIVE return-to-place-of-engagement obligation (employer must convey employee back to place of engagement on termination unless misconduct - D14).
- Cl 30 redundancy with pay-difference (30.1(c)), benefits-preserved (30.2), 1 day/wk + proof job search (30.3) replacing termination job search (30.3(e)).
- Cl 20 annual leave full set: in advance allowed (20.4), cashout 2 wks/yr / 4 wks min remaining (20.5(g)/(h)), excessive direction 6/1/8/12 (cl 20.7(b)), excessive request 6mo/4 wks/yr (cl 20.8).
- ~95 configuration entries documenting 16 distinctive features (D1-D16).
Known limitations
- Towing allowances all-purpose (D1) requires resolver to add to base hourly BEFORE multipliers - application logic.
- Shiftworker AL loading 20% vs standard 17.5% (D11) requires per-employee shiftworker classification flag at AL accrual time.
- Cargo handling daily split 5-days-then-after (D6) requires per-engagement day-counter for the mainland-resort vessel context.
- Late-night transport (D10) is a 3-way alternative (conveyance / 0.5-1h ord pay / $0.98/km own vehicle) - runtime selection per occurrence.
- Cl 29.3 return-to-engagement obligation (D14) requires HR/payroll runtime check on termination cause vs misconduct.
- 18-hour continuous duty override (D15) requires per-shift continuous-duty tracking against the 18-hour threshold, with 200% rate continuing until 10h rest commences.
Setup & special instructions
- Standard rate = General Purpose Hand weekly $1,128.00 = $29.68/hr (cl 2 + 14.1).
- Saturday is BAKED INTO the OT table at 150% (cl 18.2 / D4) - not a separate weekend penalty rule.
- Permanent night shift = 130% (cl 19.2 / D7) - above the standard 115% night shift loading.
- Shiftworker definition (cl 20.3): 3 shifts/day over 7 days OR regularly rostered Sun/PHs.
- Shiftworker AL loading 20% (D11), excessive threshold 10 weeks (D8) - different from standard 17.5%/8 weeks.
- Towing or carrying explosives (cl 16.2(m)(i)) and towing non-self-propelled bunker barges ≥400t (cl 16.2(m)(ii)) are ALL-PURPOSE - included in ordinary hourly rate when paid.
- Charge hand 2-tier (cl 16.2(b) / D2): $36.77/wk if supervised by foreman vs $54.71/wk if not directly supervised in duty allocation.
- Cl 12.4(b) 18-hour continuous duty override (D15): if employee resumes/continues work after >18h continuous duty (incl meal breaks) WITHOUT 10h rest = 200% until 10h rest commences.
- Cl 13.6 work during meal/tea breaks at 200% (D16) - continues until granted a meal break or released from duty.
- Cl 29.3 return-to-place-of-engagement (D14): employer must convey employee back to place of engagement on termination, except for misconduct. Same maritime-industry obligation as MA000050 D15 and MA000085.
- Cl 12A.4 right-to-disconnect recall exception (D13): employer may contact for recall to work under cl 18.3.
- Wild catch fishing industry explicitly excluded (cl 4.8 / D9).
- 2 default super funds per cl 17.4 PR794748 ppc 23Jan26: HOSTPLUS Superannuation Fund, AMP Super Fund (D12).
- • Ports
- • Harbours
- • Enclosed water vessels
- • Maritime
- • Master mariner
- • Marine engineer
- • Mate
- • General purpose hand
- • Deckhand
- • Crane driver (port)
- • Shipkeeper
- • Cargo loading
The consolidated award text is the authoritative source. Always confirm specific obligations against the award itself - Mployr's implementation status reflects what we've seeded; it does not replace legal advice.
Want to see this award running on your data?
We can demo a pay run on the ports, harbours & enclosed water vessels award using sample employees in a sandbox tenant - including any of the special-instruction steps above so you can see exactly what your team's day-to-day looks like.
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