SCHADS Award Pay Rates 2026‑27 for Disability Support

The short version

If you employ disability support workers under the SCHADS Award, four dates matter:

• 1 July 2026. Every SCHADS minimum rate went up 4.75% under the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review.
• 1 June 2026. New rules for shifts either side of a sleepover, and a 10 hour daily overtime trigger for part-time and casual staff.
• 1 December 2026. Home care employees in disability care (Schedule E) get an interim rise of about 15%. Not 1 October, the date many articles from mid-2026 still give.
• 1 October 2027. A new single classification structure replaces Schedules B, C, E and F, and every SCHADS employee moves to a new level.

Every number below comes from the Fair Work Commission (FWC) or the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO). This is general information, not legal or payroll advice. If your enterprise agreement or contracts pay above the award, those rules apply on top.

Which part of the award covers your workers

The Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (MA000100), called SCHADS, has two pay tables that disability providers use:

• Social and community services employees (Schedule B, rates in clause 15). Most disability support workers in group homes, SIL and community access sit here.
• Home care employees, disability care (Schedule E, rates in clause 17.1). Workers providing care in a client's private home.

The FWC itself says the split is a mess. In its April 2025 decision it found "some employers are paying disability support workers under Schedule B (to which the ERO applies) and others are paying them under Schedule E", and that this is "work primarily funded by the NDIS, whose cost model assumes the payment of wages under Schedule B and the ERO" (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232, quoting the April 2025 decision).

The ERO is the Equal Remuneration Order, which lifts social and community services rates at Level 2 and above by a set percentage: 123% of the award rate at Level 2, 126% at Level 3 and 132% at Level 4. The award says the ERO rates "form employees' ordinary rates of pay for all purposes" (SCHADS Award, clause 15, Note 2).

This is the first trap. The weekly rates printed in clause 15 are the base rates before the ERO. The FWO pay guide shows the ERO rates, which are the ones you actually pay. Use the pay guide.

The 2026 Annual Wage Review

The FWC announced its Annual Wage Review 2026 decision on 2 June 2026. Modern award rates rose 4.75%, effective from 1 July 2026, and the National Minimum Wage went to $26.44 an hour (FWC, Annual Wage Review 2026; decision announcement).

The new rates apply from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026 (FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026). A pay period that started on 29 June stays on the old rates until it ends.

What that looked like for common disability classifications (FWO pay guide, 1 July 2025; FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026):

SCHADS pay rates from 1 July 2026

Hourly rates are the weekly rate divided by 38 (SCHADS Award, clause 10.4). Casual rates include the 25% casual loading.

Social and community services employees (Schedule B)

Source: FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026. Levels 2 to 4 include the ERO.

Levels 4.2 to 8.3 (coordinators and managers) are in the same pay guide. These rates do not change on 1 December 2026: the FWO's December pay guide shows the same social and community services rates (FWO pay guide, 1 December 2026).

Home care employees, disability care (Schedule E)

Two sets of rates this year: 1 July 2026, and the interim increase from 1 December 2026 (FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026; FWO pay guide, 1 December 2026; FWC Determination PR814259):

Look at the gap. A Certificate III home care disability worker on $29.45 an hour is paid less than a Level 2.1 social and community services worker on $36.22, even though the FWC called the way disability work is split between the two schedules "not readily explicable" (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232). That gap is what the December increase starts to close.

Casual loading

Casuals get 25% on top of the hourly rate (SCHADS Award, clause 10.4). On weekends and public holidays the award sets all-inclusive casual rates instead of stacking: 175% on Saturday, 225% on Sunday and 275% on a public holiday, all including the loading (clauses 26.4 and 34.2(d)).

Penalty rates and shift loadings

The award's definitions (SCHADS Award, clauses 26, 29 and 34):

• Afternoon shift: any shift that finishes after 8pm and at or before midnight, Monday to Friday. Loading of 12.5% for the whole shift.
• Night shift: any shift that finishes after midnight or starts before 6am, Monday to Friday. Loading of 15% for the whole shift.
• Saturday: ordinary hours between midnight Friday and midnight Saturday at 150%.
• Sunday: ordinary hours between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday at 200%.
• Public holiday: 250% for all time worked.

Weekend and public holiday rates replace the shift loadings, they don't add to them. Day workers' ordinary hours run from 6am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday (clause 25.2).

How that lands as a percentage of the base hourly rate, checked against the FWO pay guide's dollar figures (FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026):

For casuals on afternoon and night shifts, the pay guide adds the shift loading and the 25% casual loading together, both on the base rate.

Overtime

Full-time disability services and home care employees get time and a half for the first 2 hours of overtime Monday to Saturday, then double time. Sunday overtime is double time, public holiday overtime is double time and a half (SCHADS Award, clause 28.1(a)).

Part-time and casual employees go onto overtime after 38 hours a week or 76 a fortnight, or after 10 hours in a day or shift. Where a shift is split either side of a sleepover and the worker has agreed to it, that limit is 12 hours (clause 28.1(b)). The 10 and 12 hour shift rules started on 1 June 2026 (FWC Determination PR798459).

Sleepover allowance

A sleepover is when you require a worker to sleep overnight where the client is. The rules (SCHADS Award, clause 25.7):

• The sleepover is a continuous 8 hours, with a separate room, bed, clean linen and free board.
• The allowance is 4.9% of the "standard rate" (the Level 3.3 social and community services weekly rate before the ERO) per night. From 1 July 2026 that's $62.87 a night, up from $60.02 (FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026; FWO pay guide, 1 July 2025).
• Work during the sleepover is paid at the overtime rate, with a minimum of one hour.
• You must roster or pay at least 4 hours' work either before or after the sleepover, and the allowance is paid on top.

The June 2026 changes also matter here. By agreement, a shift split around a sleepover can run to 12 hours, with no more than 8 ordinary hours before or after. The work before and after counts as one shift, and shift loadings are worked out on each part separately. The break before a shift leading into a sleepover, or after one coming out of it, can be cut from 10 hours to 8 by agreement (FWC Determination PR798459).

Broken shift allowance

The broken shift rules apply to social and community services employees doing disability services work, and to home care employees (SCHADS Award, clauses 20.12 and 25.6):

Sources: FWO pay guide, 1 July 2026, FWO pay guide, 1 July 2025.

The span is up to 12 hours, and anything past 12 hours is double time. Workers need at least 10 hours off between broken shifts on consecutive days. Shift loadings apply only to the part of the broken shift that meets the afternoon, night or public holiday definition. A meal break doesn't count as one of the unpaid breaks.

Minimum engagement

Part-time and casual employees must be paid at least 2 hours for each shift, or each period of work in a broken shift. The 3 hour minimum for social and community services employees does not apply when they are doing disability services work (SCHADS Award, clause 10.5).

If a break inside a broken shift falls within that 2 hour minimum, it counts as time worked and isn't a break (clause 25.6(c)). Roster a 1 hour job, pay 2 hours.

Schedule E: 1 December 2026, not 1 October

You'll find both dates online. Here's why, and which one is right.

What the FWC proposed in June. On 1 June 2026 the FWC's Expert Panel finalised its gender undervaluation review of SCHADS. Its provisional view was that Schedule E employees should get "an initial 15 per cent increase with effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2026", with the rest of their increase on 1 October 2027 (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 137). Articles written between June and September reported that date.

What the FWC decided in September. Employer groups argued the date was too early because the Commonwealth had made no funding commitment, and providers would need to renegotiate service agreements with every client. On 11 September 2026 the Panel said: "We have determined to defer the commencement of the interim increase from 1 October 2026 to 1 December 2026." It confirmed the remaining increase applies from 1 October 2027 (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232, paragraph 9).

The determination says it "comes into operation on 1 December 2026" and takes effect from each employee's first full pay period starting on or after that date (FWC Determination PR814259). The FWO published its 1 December pay guide on 18 September 2026 (FWO pay guide, 1 December 2026).

The FWC is the primary source. The date is 1 December 2026.

How much. About 15% at most levels, already built on top of the 2026 Annual Wage Review. Level 4.2 gets 14.96% and Level 5.2 gets 13.31%, because the full fix is smaller for them (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232). In its June decision the FWC put the rest of the increase due in October 2027 at 1.97% to 6.97% (median 3.7%), worked out on the rates as they stood then (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 137).

Who gets it. Only employees classified under Schedule E, home care disability. Social and community services rates don't change on 1 December (FWO pay guide, 1 December 2026).

NDIS prices. Not updated yet. The government said on 24 September 2026 that the Pricing Schedule "will be updated later this year to reflect any required changes" (NDIA news, 24 September 2026). As of 2 October 2026 the NDIA's pricing updates page lists no SCHADS change (NDIA pricing updates). Our NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 guide covers this year's prices.

The new classification structure from 1 October 2027

Confirmed:

• A single integrated classification structure replaces Schedules B, C, E and F from 1 October 2027. The FWC refused employer requests to move that date (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232).
• Disability support work falls under the social and community services stream "regardless of where that work is performed". Home care disability work will mean domestic assistance or home maintenance only (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232, paragraph 26 and annexure).
• A disability support worker with less than 12 months' relevant industry experience, who doesn't fit a higher level, starts at Level 2.2. After 12 months they move to Level 3.1, then 3.2 and 3.3 after a further 12 months each (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232, annexure clauses A.2.2, A.3.3 and A.3.5).
• The ERO will be revoked, because the new rates build it in. Existing employees whose current rate is higher than their new minimum keep the higher rate (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232).
• The FWC said translations range from a 1% reduction to a 17% increase, with a few administrative roles as exceptions (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232, paragraph 11).

Not final yet:

• The 2027 dollar amounts. The draft determination attached to the September decision lists Level 2.2 at $1,307.80 a week, Level 3.1 at $1,376.70, Level 3.2 at $1,431.70 and Level 3.3 at $1,486.80. The final determination will be "published closer to its operative date of 1 October 2027, updated for any changes arising from the 2027 Annual Wage Review" (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232, paragraph 70). Treat those figures as a floor, not the rates you'll pay.
• Further work value claims. The Australian Services Union's separate application to vary SCHADS on work value grounds (AM2024/27) was stood over during the review. The FWC says a process for hearing it "has now been initiated" (FWC, AM2024/27).
• Funding. No Commonwealth funding commitment had been made as at the September decision (FWC, [2026] FWCFB 232, paragraph 9).

What to do now

1. Check every worker's classification. Schedule B or Schedule E, which level, which pay point. Get it right now, because it decides what happens in December and how they translate in 2027.
2. Check you're paying the ERO rates for social and community services Levels 2 and up. Use the FWO pay guide, not the clause 15 table.
3. Load the 1 December rates for every Schedule E worker, starting from their first full pay period on or after 1 December 2026.
4. Cost the December rise against your NDIS prices. Until the NDIA updates the Pricing Schedule, your price limits don't move, so talk to participants about service agreements early.
5. Review sleepover rosters against the June rules: 12 hour split shifts, the 8 hour break by agreement, and shift loadings worked out on each part.
6. Check the 2 hour minimum on every short visit, and on every period of work in a broken shift.
7. Plan for October 2027. Map each worker to their likely new level and keep evidence of their industry experience.
8. Subscribe to FWC and FWO updates for MA000100, and recheck after the 2027 Annual Wage Review.

If your payroll still runs off a rate card someone types in each July, December will hurt. Orangised keeps each worker's SCHADS classification and pulls the award's rates and allowances from the Fair Work Commission's pay database twice a month, so timesheets worked out after new rates are published use them, with penalty rates, casual loading, sleepovers and broken shifts included, and sends them to Xero as draft timesheets. It doesn't calculate overtime or minimum engagements, so check those yourself.