How many hours is full time work in Australia?

A full-time employee in Australia usually works an average of 38 ordinary hours a week. Your award or agreement can set fewer. What counts as reasonable extra hours, how hours can be averaged, and why the ABS counts 35 hours as full time.

Published

A full-time employee in Australia usually works an average of 38 ordinary hours a week. Your award, enterprise agreement or contract can set fewer, and the law lets your employer ask for reasonable extra hours on top. The Australian Bureau of Statistics uses a lower line: in its figures, anyone who usually works 35 hours or more a week is employed full time.

Updated 27 October 2026.

What are full-time hours?

The Fair Work Ombudsman says a full-time employee usually works an average of 38 ordinary hours a week, and is usually employed permanently or on a fixed term contract. Ordinary hours are the hours you work that aren't overtime.

The exact hours depend on your job and industry. They can be set by your award or enterprise agreement, or agreed between you and your employer. The Clerks Private Sector Award, for example, says a full-time employee is someone engaged to work 38 ordinary hours a week, or the smaller number of hours a week the employer treats as full time at that workplace.

The 38 hour figure is the same across the main rules. What changes is how the hours can be arranged.

Where the rule comes from Full-time hours How they can be arranged
National Employment Standards 38 a week Unless your award or agreement sets different hours. Extra hours only if they are reasonable. Award and agreement free employees can agree in writing to average over up to 26 weeks.
Clerks Private Sector Award 38 a week, or the smaller number the employer treats as full time Averaged over up to 4 weeks or an agreed roster period, worked between 7 am and 7 pm Monday to Friday and 7 am and 12.30 pm Saturday.
General Retail Industry Award An average of 38 a week 38 in a week, 76 over 2 weeks, 114 over 3 or 152 over 4, with up to 9 ordinary hours a day, or 11 on one day a week.
Hospitality Industry (General) Award An average of 38 a week An agreed pattern such as 4 days of 9.5 hours, 5 days of 7 hours 36 minutes, a 19 day month of 8 hour days or 152 hours over 4 weeks, with 6 to 11.5 ordinary hours a day.
Banking, Finance and Insurance Award An average of 38 a week 38 in one week, 76 over 2 weeks, 114 over 3 or 152 over 4.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 35 or more a week A counting rule for its figures. It gives no entitlement.

Full-time employees get the National Employment Standards in full. That includes 20 days of annual leave and 10 days of paid sick and carer's leave a year, plus compassionate leave, parental leave, family and domestic violence leave, public holidays and the rules about ending employment. Our guides cover annual leave and sick leave.

Can your employer ask you to work more than 38 hours?

Yes, if the extra hours are reasonable. Under the National Employment Standards, an employer can't ask or require a full-time employee to work more than 38 hours a week, or the different hours their award or agreement sets, unless the additional hours are reasonable. You can refuse extra hours that are unreasonable.

Whether extra hours are reasonable depends on:

  • any risk to your health and safety
  • your personal circumstances, including family responsibilities
  • the needs of the workplace
  • whether you get overtime, penalty rates or other pay for working extra hours, or a salary that reflects an expectation of working them
  • how much notice your employer gave, and any notice you gave that you would refuse
  • the usual patterns of work in your industry
  • the nature of your role and your level of responsibility
  • whether the hours fit an averaging arrangement in your award or agreement

Paid and unpaid leave your employer has authorised counts towards your weekly hours. Our guides cover unpaid overtime for salaried employees and the right to disconnect after hours.

Can full-time hours be averaged over several weeks?

Yes. An award or agreement can let hours be averaged over a period longer than a week. The Clerks award, for example, lets ordinary hours average 38 a week over up to 4 weeks, or over a roster period you and your employer agree.

If you are award and agreement free, you and your employer can agree in writing to average your hours over up to 26 weeks.

Averaging doesn't make every pattern reasonable. Fair Work's example is a full-time employee whose award allows 152 hours over 4 weeks. His weeks run 21, 60, 38 and 33 hours, which fits the award, and his employer still has to consider whether the extra 22 hours in the second week are reasonable, given his family responsibilities, his health and safety and the notice he was given.

What time of day can full-time hours be worked?

Awards and agreements usually set a spread of hours, the times of day ordinary hours can be worked. Work outside that spread can attract overtime rates. Under the Clerks award, ordinary hours can be worked between 7 am and 7 pm Monday to Friday, and between 7 am and 12.30 pm on Saturday.

How many hours a week do Australians work full time?

The ABS classes someone as employed full time if they usually work 35 hours or more a week across all their jobs, or if they usually work less but worked 35 hours or more in the survey week. It says the most common hours people usually work are 38 or 40 a week. In January 2021, almost 40% of employed people usually worked one or the other, and 68.8% of employed people were classed as full time.

That 35 hour line is a counting rule for statistics. Your own full-time hours come from your award, agreement or contract.

What is the difference between full-time and part-time hours?

A part-time employee works fewer than 38 hours a week, or fewer than the full-time hours at their workplace, usually on a regular pattern. They get the same minimum entitlements as a full-time employee on a pro rata basis. Our guide to part-time hours covers the rules, and our pro rata salary guide shows how pay scales with hours.

You and your employer can agree to change your job from full time to part time or casual. Different rules apply when your employer wants to change your employment type and you don't agree.

How many hours does a full time employee work?

An average of 38 ordinary hours a week under the National Employment Standards, plus any extra hours that are reasonable. Your award or agreement can set a different number, and the Clerks award lets an employer treat fewer than 38 as full time at its workplace.

What is the minimum hours for full time?

The law sets no minimum. The Fair Work Ombudsman describes full time as an average of 38 ordinary hours a week, and an award can set fewer. The ABS counts anyone who usually works 35 hours or more a week as full time in its statistics.

What is the maximum working hours per day in Australia?

The National Employment Standards cap the week at 38 hours plus reasonable extra hours. Daily limits come from your award or agreement. Under the General Retail Industry Award the maximum is 9 ordinary hours a day, or 11 on one day a week, and under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award it is 11.5.

How many hours is full time for a year?

38 hours a week over 52 weeks is 1,976 hours. Annual leave, public holidays and sick leave come off that, so the hours you work are fewer.

What is full time work?

Full-time work is a permanent or fixed term job with an average of 38 ordinary hours a week and the National Employment Standards in full, including 20 days of annual leave and 10 days of paid sick and carer's leave a year.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Awards and agreements differ, so check the one that covers you.

Sources

Spotted an error? Correct something.

More guides