Restaurants · Australia
Do you tip at restaurants in Australia?
Short answer
Not expected. 10% for excellent service
Nothing required. Round up or leave 10% if it was great.
Optional
Leaving nothing at an Australian restaurant is perfectly normal and nobody will react. Rounding up the bill, or leaving around 10% at an upmarket restaurant after a genuinely good meal, is the outer edge of what locals do. Lonely Planet puts city restaurants with table service at 10–15%, which reflects how much faster the custom is changing in Melbourne and Sydney than elsewhere. Cafés and counter service take nothing at all.
In practice
- An $86 dinner → leave $90, or nothing at all
Tip calculator
- 10%
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Common questions
- How much should you tip at restaurants in Australia?
- Not expected. 10% for excellent service. Nothing required. Round up or leave 10% if it was great.
- Can you tip by card in Australia?
- Card terminals increasingly show a tip prompt, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. It is entirely optional and skipping it is normal.
More on tipping in Australia
Tipping at restaurants elsewhere
Full tipping guide for Australia
Reviewed by Greg Kockott on 3 September 2026.
Figures checked against the sources below on 4 September 2026.
Sources
- Rough Guides, “Travel Tips Australia” (consulted 2026-09-04)
- Lonely Planet, “Guide to Tipping in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific” (consulted 2026-09-04)