The minimum legal pay for an "Introductory Level" casual cafe employee, more than 19 years old, in Australia is, in 2019:
  • $24.36 per hour from Monday to Friday
  • $29.24 per hour on Saturday and Sunday
  • $48.73 per hour on Public Holidays
  • when 19 years old: $20.71 Monday to Friday and $24.86 on Saturday and Sunday
  • when 18 years old: $17.06 Monday to Friday and $20.48 on Saturday and Sunday
  • when 17 years old: $14.63 Monday to Friday and $17.55 on Saturday and Sunday
  • when under 17 years old: $12.19 Monday to Friday and $14.63 on Saturday and Sunday

It is against the law to keep you at this "Introductory Level" for more than 3 months. After three months you become a "Level 1" employee and paid at least $25.08 (Mon-Fri) and $30.09 (Weekends).

These rates apply between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020. Rates are revised every year. Revised rates come into effect on the 1st of July each year.

The media has glamorized the food and restaurant business, making household names of figures such as Perry, George Calambaris, and Shannon Bennett, and Australian consumers have grown accustomed to quality food, wine, and coffee - arguably the best in the world - at relatively low prices.

Beyond the glitz, however, work conditions in restaurants and cafes, including those linked to celebrity chefs, have been exposed as anything but alluring. It is a notoriously precarious industry for employers and workers alike - especially small, one-off cafes - and making a dollar is not easy.

It is a highly fragmented industry made all the more so by being relatively easy and inexpensive to get into.

“It’s the free market at work,” says Juliana Payne, chief executive of industry lobby Restaurant & Catering Australia. “You get your liquor license, you get your lease, you do your fit-out, you buy your Catering Equipment, you hire a chef and buy a coffee machine and you’re a restaurant.” 

Pay rates change from 1 July each year, the rates in this guide apply from 23 January 2020.

For the full updated list, you can download it through  

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/872/restaurant-industry-award-ma000119-pay-guide.docx.aspx

For further info from the Fair Work Australia..  https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/minimum-wages

So, do the right thing, your Restaurant has a call of responsible service to your staff  - pay what is due, and legal and right and you will receive honorable good workers, who build your business up and support you, through thick and thin.