3. The driver — the draft is wrong in both directions on the same weekend

3.1 Which award

Two candidates, and the answer is worth ~$12,400/year.

• Amusement, Events and Recreation Award 2020 (MA000080) — coverage cl. 4.2(a) is
  gated on operating a primary venue (a leisure facility, tourism centre, theme park).
  Tour operations are only pulled in under cl. 4.2(c)(iii) as ancillary to that venue.
  A purely mobile operator has no primary venue. VERIFIED
  (award).
• Passenger Vehicle Transportation Award 2020 (MA000063) — coverage test is simply
  "the transport of passengers by motor vehicle." Grade 2 = "a driver of a motor vehicle…
  capable of carrying less than 8 persons and used for hire or reward." VERIFIED
  (award).

Model on MA000063 Grade 2. Three reasons: the primary-venue gate is a real obstacle;
MA000063 cl. 4.6 resolves overlaps by "the environment in which the employee normally
performs the work" — a van on a public road carrying paying passengers; and the error is
one-directional, since back-pay runs six years plus penalties.

⚠️ The decisive clause: MA000080 has no Saturday penalty at all (its casual table
has only Ordinary / Sunday / Public Holiday columns). MA000063 charges 175%. That one
difference is the biggest single number in the labour line — and the cheaper award is
the one you probably cannot claim.

3.2 The real rate — South Australia, FY2026-27

Annual Wage Review 2026 awarded +4.75%, effective first full pay period on or after
1 July 2026; NMW $1,004.90/wk / $26.44/h — VERIFIED
(Fair Work).
Penalties are additive, not compounded — the schedules state a single percentage of
the minimum hourly rate.

Sources: SG 12.0% for 2026-27 — VERIFIED
(ATO);
casual loading and penalties superable as OTE — VERIFIED
(ATO OTE list);
RTWSA 2.895% — VERIFIED
(2026-27 rates PDF);
SA payroll tax nil below $600,000 — VERIFIED
(RevenueSA).

3.3 How wrong is "$50/h loaded = $450/day"?

Wrong in both directions, and the errors partly cancel — which is the dangerous kind
of wrong. Against the base case (MA000063 Gr 2):

Under the best-case award (MA000080) the draft is 24% too high on Saturday and
11% too low on Sunday, netting to within 3% on a 50/50 mix — by coincidence, not
construction. Never model the two days at one blended rate. Sundays sell better in
wine tourism, so a Sunday-heavy season makes any blended figure optimistic.

Two costs the draft has no line for at all:

• Public holidays: 275%. ~2–4 of 66 days are gazetted holidays (SA and VIC both
  gazette Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday). At $76.92/h that is $700–$1,500/yr
  above the modelled rate — ESTIMATED, day count ASSUMED.
• Long service leave accrues to casuals in SA — "regardless of employment status —
  e.g. full-time, part-time, casual" — VERIFIED
  (SafeWork SA).
  ~2.5% of wages if a driver stays 7+ years. Deferred, but real.
• MA000080 carries a cancellation allowance: a casual who reports and is not allowed
  to start is paid 3 hours. Weather-cancelled days are not free.

3.4 Contractor (ABN) is a trap, and it doesn't even save money

From 26 Aug 2024, FW Act s 15AA requires the whole of relationship test — "the real
substance, practical reality and true nature of the relationship," including how the
contract is performed — VERIFIED
(Fair Work).
Scored against these facts: you set the route, the schedule and the standard; you supply
the van; there is no chance of profit or loss; no realistic delegation; fixed hours;
ongoing expectation. Six factors out of six point to employee.

Opt-out requires earnings above the $190,100 contractor high income threshold — VERIFIED.
Sham contracting penalties: $109,200 per contravention for a business with <15 employees — VERIFIED
(Fair Work).

And it avoids none of the on-costs. SGAA s 12(3) deems a person engaged wholly or
principally for their labour an employee for super — you still owe 12%. RTWSA's
deemed-worker provisions would likely still capture the premium. The only thing contracting
"saves" is the casual loading and penalty rates, which is precisely what the sham provisions
exist to punish. Market ABN day rates ($500–650 Sat, $650–850 Sun — ESTIMATED) are at or
above the employed cost anyway. Employ the driver as a casual.