Architects Award under review from Fair Work Commission

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The Australian Fair Work Commission (FWC) has announced that it is undertaking a review of the Architects Award in order to determine whether architects, and other professionals, are underpaid.

According to a release from the FWC, the review is "on work value grounds to remedy potential undervaluation."

The awards under consideration are those that necessitate, at a minimum, an undergraduate university degree, and which are not aligned with the minimum weekly rate of pay, described as the C1(a) benchmark rate. Alongside the Architects Award 2020, these include awards for higher education staff, such as academics and people working in local government.

The FWC's decision to conduct the review is based on the findings of their 2025 Annual Wage Review on 3 June, which revealed that these classifications may be undervalued, particularly on gender-based grounds.

In their Annual Wage Review, the FWC states, "Professional occupations, considered as a whole, are majority female (55.4 percent). However, a much higher proportion - 69.7 percent - of modern award-reliant professionals are female. This … makes clear that the detriment of non-alignment with the C1(a) benchmark rate principally accrues to female professionals."

In response to the review of professional awards, the Association of Consulting Architects (ACA) - the industry's "peak employer association" - submitted concerns that gender undervaluation was not, in itself, reason to review the Architects Award.

"The architecture industry and occupation has never been a female-dominated workforce, either historically or at present," the ACA's submission noted, adding that "there is no evidence of historic gender undervaluation through the award system."

According to the ACA, "The rates of pay under the Architects Award have consistently been aligned with comparable technical and professional awards (such as engineers and scientists)."

"While gender equity challenges exist in the profession, particularly in retention and progression, these issues are structural and cultural, not the product of award wage setting. They are being addressed through workplace and industry initiatives, rather than through the modern award framework," the ACA added.

The FWC's review is based on an accepted benchmark where females make up 60 percent of the industry's population. However, the ACA argued that according to Australian 2021 Census data reported by advocacy group Parlour, women architectural graduates make up less than 50 percent.

In a social media post, Parlour welcomed the review as a "chance for structural change."

Parlour co-founder and director Justine Clark said, "Architects constantly complain about no one values their work, data points to architects being among the lowest paid in the industry, and people are moving on in droves to better paid roles elsewhere. The award is part of this systemic undervaluing."

"The review is an excellent opportunity to benchmark against other industries and clearly articulate the value of architects," Clark added, noting that while "many practices are facing tough economic times right now … keeping the most vulnerable people on wages below the benchmark is not a viable long-term sustainable solution to the profession's problems."