This labour cost calculator works out the fully loaded cost of one traffic controller hour, the number every quote, tender and rate card depends on. The pay rate is only the start. Super, payroll tax, workers comp, leave, allowances, tickets, PPE and the hours you pay for but can't invoice all sit on top, and they add up to far more than most people guess.
What goes into the labour cost of a traffic controller
A traffic controller's cost has four layers.
- The pay rate. Under the Building and Construction General On-site Award (MA000020), the ordinary rate is the classification minimum plus the $67.15 weekly industry allowance, divided by 38. For CW1 (level a) from 1 July 2026 that's $28.44 an hour. Casuals get 25% more: $35.55.
- Paid time that isn't worked. A permanent worker gets 4 weeks of annual leave with a 17.5% loading, 10 days of personal leave and the state's public holidays, all paid but not worked. A casual's 25% loading replaces those.
- On-costs that follow wages. Super at 12%, payroll tax once your wages pass the state threshold, workers comp and, in some states, a portable long service leave levy.
- Per-worker costs and lost hours. The fares and travel allowance, overtime meals, tickets and training, PPE, phones, a share of the ute, and the hours you pay for but can't bill: travel between jobs, standby, yard time and short jobs inside a minimum engagement.
The calculator spreads all of it over three kinds of hours:
| Hour | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hour | Every hour on the payslip, including leave | Compares with the pay rate |
| Worked hour | Hours actually on site or on the clock | Leave and public holidays are taken out |
| Billable hour | Worked hours you can invoice | The number your charge-out must cover |
Payroll tax by state for 2026–27
Payroll tax is the on-cost that changes most between states. It's charged on total wages, including super and most allowances, once a business (or group of related businesses) goes over the threshold.
| State | Threshold | Rate | How the deduction works |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $1.2M | 5.45% | Flat deduction |
| VIC | $1M | 4.85% | Tapers from $3M, gone at $5M |
| QLD | $1.3M | 4.75% (4.95% over $6.5M) | $1 less per $7 over $1.3M, gone at $10.4M |
| WA | $1M | 5.5% | $2 less per $13 over $1M, gone at $7.5M |
| SA | $1.5M | up to 4.95% | $600k deduction, rate phases in to $1.7M |
| TAS | $1.25M | 4% to $2M, then 6.1% | Banded |
| ACT | $1.75M | 6.75% (tiers over $20M) | Flat deduction |
| NT | $2.5M | 5.5% | Tapers, gone at $7.5M |
The calculator shows two numbers: the average rate on your wages, which goes into the cost per hour, and the rate on your next $100k of wages. Where the deduction is tapering out, the next dollar can be taxed well above the headline rate. That's worth knowing before you hire for a big contract. Research sources disagreed on the Victorian, South Australian and Northern Territory thresholds, so the figures above come from each revenue office's own page, and the calculator flags the parts we couldn't fully confirm.
Workers comp and long service leave
Workers comp premiums depend on your industry class, your wages and your claims history. The calculator uses your rate if you enter one. If you leave it blank, it uses the published state average for Queensland ($1.343 per $100 of wages) or Victoria (1.8%). Traffic control is usually classed with construction, which normally pays more than the state average, so treat those as a floor and use your premium notice.
Construction portable long service leave schemes may also apply. In Victoria, traffic controllers are listed as a covered trade with LeavePlus and the 2026 CFMEU traffic control agreement pays long service leave into it. Western Australia's MyLeave scheme has been applied to a traffic controller working in construction. Coverage in NSW and Queensland isn't confirmed. Enter the levy rate your scheme charges.
A worked example
A Queensland company pays casual CW1 (level a) traffic controllers the award: $35.55 an hour. Each casual works 38 hours a week for 46 weeks, and 85% of worked hours are billable. The company's total wages are $2.5M, it pays the $22.41 fares and travel allowance every day, about 20 overtime meals a year, and spends $1,580 a worker on tickets, PPE and phones. Overheads are $6 a billable hour.
- Wages: 1,748 hours × $35.55 = $62,141.
- Super (12%): $7,457. Payroll tax at QLD's average rate of 2.61% on $2.5M of wages: $1,958. Workers comp at the 1.343% average: $909.
- Allowances: 230 days of fares and travel plus 20 meals = $5,549. Kit: $1,580.
- Total: $79,595 a year. Spread over 1,486 billable hours plus overheads, that's $59.57 per billable hour.
- Charge-out at a 20% margin: $74.46 an hour. A Sunday hour needs about $118, or 1.58 times the weekday rate.
A permanent worker on $28.44 costs $57.38 per billable hour on the same settings, even though 296 hours of leave and public holidays are paid but not worked. Notice the payroll tax line too: at $2.5M of wages the Queensland deduction is tapering away, so the next $100k of wages is taxed at about 5.4%, double the 2.61% average.
Margin or markup
Margin is profit as a share of the price. Markup is profit as a share of the cost. They're easy to mix up, and the gap costs money:
- a 25% markup on a $50 cost gives $62.50, but the $12.50 profit is only a 20% margin
- to keep a 25% margin, divide the cost by 0.75 to get $66.67, which is a 33.3% markup
The calculator shows both side by side. Price from the margin you want to keep. Our guide to setting a traffic control charge-out rate goes into overhead recovery, and traffic control pricing covers how to present rates to clients.
Night, weekend and public holiday rates
Penalty hours cost more in wages, and the on-costs that follow wages go up with them. Kit, vehicles and overheads don't. The calculator adds the pay premium for each band to your weekday cost and shows the charge-out and the multiple of your weekday rate:
- civil afternoon or night shift at 115%, or 150% when nights don't run 5 in a row
- Saturday blended over your shift length: 150% for 2 hours then 200%
- Sunday at 200% and public holidays at 250% (casuals 225% and 275%)
When to get professional advice
This is a planning aid. Get your accountant to check payroll tax grouping, contractor payments that count as wages, and your workers comp classification. Check award coverage and your agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman. Then put the rate to work: price a job in the traffic control quote builder, check what a crew should be paid with the traffic controller pay calculator, and plan super cash flow with the Payday Super calculator. Our guide to traffic control cash flow explains how to fund the gap between paying crews and getting paid.