What the SCHADS Award covers, how workers are classified, and why it matters for your pricing and claiming.

Key facts

The SCHADS Award sets minimum pay and conditions for disability support workers across Australia.
NDIS price limits are modelled on award costs, so understanding the award helps you price services correctly.
Key cost drivers include classification level, penalty rates for evenings and weekends, and broken-shift allowances.

What the SCHADS Award is

The Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (SCHADS Award) is a national minimum-wage instrument that covers workers in the disability support, home care, community services and crisis accommodation sectors official source (opens in a new tab). It is maintained by the Fair Work Commission and sets the floor below which no worker in these industries may be paid. Most disability support workers providing NDIS services are covered by the award unless a registered enterprise agreement applies in its place.

The award operates alongside broader Fair Work Act obligations such as the National Employment Standards. Coverage depends on the employer, duties and industrial arrangements. An applicable registered agreement may set the operative conditions, while minimum statutory obligations still apply. Check coverage rather than assuming every NDIS employee belongs to the same stream.

Classifications and levels

The SCHADS Award groups workers into classifications that reflect the complexity and responsibility of their role. Lower levels generally cover work carried out under close supervision, following set routines, and requiring limited formal qualifications. Higher levels recognise workers who exercise independent judgment, hold relevant vocational qualifications, and take on coordination or leadership responsibilities official source (opens in a new tab).

Most direct support workers delivering NDIS services to participants sit in the middle tiers of the classification structure. Correctly classifying each employee matters because the classification determines their minimum pay rate, and underpayment is a compliance risk with both Fair Work and, indirectly, NDIS registration obligations.

Good to know

Classification is set by the nature of the work actually performed, not by the job title. A worker called a “support worker” may need to be classified at a higher level if their duties include active support planning, behaviour support implementation, or team coordination.

Penalties and overtime

The SCHADS Award provides penalty rates for work performed outside standard Monday-to-Friday daytime hours. Evening shifts, weekend work, and public holidays each attract loadings above the base rate. These loadings increase progressively, with Saturday work carrying a moderate loading, Sunday work carrying a higher loading, and public holiday work carrying the highest loading official source (opens in a new tab).

Overtime provisions apply once a worker exceeds their ordinary hours on a shift or across a week. Overtime, shift penalties and minimum engagements have specific interaction rules. Long shifts, broken shifts and insufficient rest can materially increase labour costs. Providers should model roster patterns against award conditions rather than using flat hourly rates across all shifts.

Broken shifts and allowances

The SCHADS Award permits broken shifts in certain home care and disability support contexts, where a worker’s day is split into two or more separate periods of work with unpaid breaks in between. A broken-shift allowance is payable to compensate workers for the inconvenience of that arrangement. The total number of breaks, the minimum break duration between spans, and the span of ordinary hours are all regulated by the award.

Beyond broken-shift allowances, other entitlements can apply depending on work arrangements: sleepover allowances and pay for work during a sleepover, travel-time payments between clients, uniform or laundry allowances, and first-aid allowances where applicable official source (opens in a new tab). Because these costs are real but often overlooked in budget planning, providers new to the sector sometimes underprice services and then find they cannot meet award obligations without running at a loss.

Changes to check in 2026

Sleepover rostering and pay rules changed from the first full pay period on or after 1 June 2026, including the treatment of work on either side of the sleepover and rest between shifts. Read the official source (opens in a new tab) before applying an older roster template.

The eligible vehicle allowance temporarily increased to $1.05 per kilometre from the first full pay period on or after 1 September 2026, through 28 February 2027 official source (opens in a new tab). This employee entitlement does not set the participant’s billable travel rate.

For home-care disability employees covered by Schedule E, an initial minimum-rate increase of up to 15% starts with the first full pay period on or after 1 December 2026. It is not a universal increase for every disability support classification. Verify the applicable stream and current pay guide official source (opens in a new tab).

Why it matters for NDIS pricing

The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) set maximum prices for each support item. The NDIA designs those price limits with reference to the cost of delivering supports in compliance with the SCHADS Award, including the classification structure, penalty loadings, and typical on-costs such as superannuation, leave entitlements, and workers compensation insurance official source (opens in a new tab).

The cost model is not a promise that the maximum price covers your organisation’s actual costs. Your employment stream, roster, agreed prices, service mix and overheads still determine the result. Where a provider’s workforce is predominantly working evenings, weekends, or broken shifts, their average labour cost per hour delivered will be higher than for providers working mainly standard weekday hours. Understanding your specific roster profile and mapping it against award costs and PAPL limits is essential for sustainable pricing. The guides in the pricing section of this hub cover how to read the support catalogue and make accurate payment requests.