Hospitality vs Restaurant vs Clubs: which award covers your venue?

If you run a venue that serves food and drinks, one of three awards almost certainly covers your floor staff: the Hospitality Industry (General) Award (MA000009), the Restaurant Industry Award (MA000119), or the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award (MA000058). They look similar, they share classification names, and they are not interchangeable. Get the award wrong and every rate, penalty, and loading that follows is wrong too.

The one-question test

Start with what the business is, not what the worker does. A cook is a cook in all three awards; it is the venue that decides the award.

• Hotels, pubs, motels, casinos, caterers, and most bars: the Hospitality Award (MA000009). This is the broad default for accommodation and licensed venues.
• Standalone restaurants and cafés whose business is serving meals: the Restaurant Award (MA000119). A restaurant inside a hotel usually stays under Hospitality, because the employer is the hotel.
• Registered clubs (RSL, leagues, bowls, golf and community clubs): the Clubs Award (MA000058), which follows the club as the employing entity.

Why it matters in dollars

Entry-level casual rates start within cents of each other across the three awards, but the penalty structures diverge: weekend multipliers, late-night loadings, and minimum engagement rules all differ. A roster that is perfectly legal under one award can underpay under another, and the difference compounds every weekend. The full casual rate tables are on each award page linked above.

The edge cases that trip venues up

• A café that becomes a function caterer on weekends may drift between coverage rules as the business mix changes.
• Venue groups that hold a pub, a standalone restaurant, and a catering arm can owe different awards to near-identical roles across sites.
• Labour supplied by an agency or platform is paid under the host’s applicable award classification: the supplier being licensed does not change which award applies to the work.

MyGig’s award engine resolves the venue type when a shift is posted, applies the right award with the clause cited, and shows the all-in cost before you book. If you are not sure which award your venue owes, ask our compliance team, it is a five-minute conversation.