Card Payment Surcharges Banned in Australia from 2026

[MELso]

So just looked at the WA restaurant awards.
Saturday 25% for permanent 50% casuals.
Sunday 100% for all
Public Holiday 150% .

Why do you think that particularly on Sunday and Public Holidays a hospitality business should not have a surcharge?

It's not the higher prices on the weekend that are the problem, it's how they're displayed.

Just like credit cards, it can be awfully hard to work out if a surcharge applies as it's often not displayed prominently, and it means that the price you see in the menu isn't the price you pay. It's not expensive for restaurants to print other menus for weekends showing the correct prices and they should do so.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Such a complicated equation isn’t it?

Businesses by nature are designed and built to make money and hence product pricing is at their very whim.

Customers by nature can and will decide where and when to spend their hard earned readies at their discretion based most times on perceived product quality and price.

Where and when the twain shall meet is one of life’s great mysteries - do I or don’t I - your money spend is as you choose - but is the rest of world interested in your spending patterns?

 

[Berlin]

Yes as I posted previously I avoid eating out on Sundays and Public Holidays...Im sure Im not the only one...making a small dent in demand

Same here. I just plan carefully to avoid those charges. Beer tastes the same no matter the day

 

[SeaWolf]

Why do you think that particularly on Sunday and Public Holidays a hospitality business should not have a surcharge?

Similar penalty rates also apply to retail businesses as well, but supermarkets, department stores, clothing stores, petrol stations, hardware stores etc. don't charge an increased price on those days.
So of course people are going to question why it is that hospitality businesses hike their prices on these days when other types of businesses do not, even though they're paying penalty rates as well.

 

[Mr_Orange]

they're a cost of doing business

This is the crux of all these surcharges.

 

[drron]

Similar penalty rates also apply to retail businesses as well, but supermarkets, department stores, clothing stores, petrol stations, hardware stores etc. don't charge an increased price on those days.
So of course people are going to question why it is that hospitality businesses hike their prices on these days when other types of businesses do not, even though they're paying penalty rates as well.

If a weekend surcharge is incorporated into the everyday price then those of us who go out to lunch on non public holidays are paying a lot mote than we should. So the cost is shifted to older folks.
There is so much misinformation here about weekend and public holiday penalty rates.
The y were nationally introduced here in 1947 so unlikely people on here experienced a time without these surcharges. They were introduced after a campaign by the unions.

If you bother going and looking t the various States Fair Work Office you might notice that larger corporations have different awards and most without penalty rates but other benefits like paid days off in lieu of the day worked.
With restaurants all chains such as KFC,Maccas Hungry jacks etc have separate awards. So do Woollies and Coles plus department stores. So you are not comparing like to like.

Restaurants under the Merivale banner had their own FDA but the Fair Work commission cancelled it in 2019 as many ex employees were complaining of underpayment. So they shelled out 19.5 million but now again being investigated by the FWC fo the use of migrants at lower pay rates.

So true small business have been charging Penalty rates for 80 years now. Restaurants that didn't charge those rates were almost certainly part of large business.

 

[Mr_Orange]

If a weekend surcharge is incorporated into the everyday price then those of us who go out to lunch on non public holidays are paying a lot mote than we should. So the cost is shifted to older folks.

Except that there are only about 10-12 public holidays per year and most businesses do not open on all of them so the impact on prices the year round would be miniscule.

 

[drron]

Except that there are only about 10-12 public holidays per year and most businesses do not open on all of them so the impact on prices the year round would be miniscule.

Plus 52 Saturdays and 52 Sundays.
Large business often don't have penalty rates in their awards but you are still paying more because of their FDAs.

 

[burmans]

Coffee prices at some cafes rise by 10pc after RBA card surcharge ban

A ban on card surcharges has led some cafe owners to lift coffee prices. It's an unintended consequence of the Reserve Bank's card surcharge ban, which was intended to lower prices for consumers.

www.abc.net.au

So cafés re increasing prices by 4 times the maximum possible cost impact of the change.
This is why I never fall for the small business sob stories.
Spare me.

Cafes have been complaining about how tough life is for some time (with some validity). Raw product prices have increased a lot, difficulty of getting staff (which will no doubt become more of a problem if we cut back on students/backpackers). So I have no doubt that while this is the excuse they are using to increase prices it’s not the only reason, indeed possibly not even the main one, just convenient!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

So just looked at the WA restaurant awards.
Saturday 25% for permanent 50% casuals.
Sunday 100% for all
Public Holiday 150% .

Why do you think that particularly on Sunday and Public Holidays a hospitality business should not have a surcharge?

Because it’s a cost of doing business.
They should suck it up.
If not they should shut down.

 

[oz_mark]

Cafes have been complaining about how tough life is for some time (with some validity). Raw product prices have increased a lot, difficulty of getting staff (which will no doubt become more of a problem if we cut back on students/backpackers). So I have no doubt that while this is the excuse they are using to increase prices it’s not the only reason, indeed possibly not even the main one, just convenient!

That may be the case, but to blame a 10% (or whatever) rise on the end of surcharges would be misleading.