Australian workers are paid weekly, fortnightly, or monthly depending on their industry and employer. While your annual income stays the same, the timing of your pay affects budgeting and how PAYG tax is withheld.
Weekly pay: Common in trades, retail, hospitality, and shift-based roles. PAYG withholding adjusts each week based on what you earn and whether the tax-free threshold applies.
Fortnightly pay: Common for full-time roles and government jobs. This simply doubles weekly figures, and withholding is calculated per pay cycle.
Monthly pay: Less common in Australia but used in some corporate and tech roles. Employers divide annual salary by 12. Withholding amounts may appear larger but normalise over the year.
Why your pays differ between frequencies: Rounding, overtime variation, allowances, and ATO withholding formulas can cause slight differences in net income between weekly vs monthly payslips.
Superannuation contributions follow each pay period and do not change your take-home pay timing.
Call to action: Use the main Australian Pay & Tax Calculator on this site to compare weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and annual amounts side by side.