Updates to the Broadcasting Award have clarified meal break rules for cinema workers.
What's changed
Under the Broadcasting Award (Broadcasting, Recorded Entertainment and Cinemas Award), cinema workers who work for longer than 5 hours must get a meal break of 30 minutes. If the employer and the employer agree, the meal break can be up to 60 minutes.
Updates to the Broadcasting Award have clarified that:
- this meal break is unpaid
- employees are entitled to this meal break even if they weren't rostered to work
- if employees aren't given this meal break, they get paid double the minimum hourly rate for the length of the break.
The updates start from the first full pay period starting on or after Friday 31 October 2025.
These updates follow a decision made by the Fair Work Commission that found the previous break information in the award ambiguous.
The Fair Work Commission is the national workplace tribunal and registered organisations regulator.
Updated resources
We have resources and helpful tools, including:
- the updated Broadcasting Award
- a calculator to work out pay rates and entitlements in our Pay and Conditions Tool.
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Related information
To learn more about these changes, you can also read the:
