Delayed finalisation of 1 October changes for Health Professionals & SCHADS Award

Employers engaging Health Professionals under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (HPSS Award) and/or organisations who employ Home Care – Disability Care employees under the Social, Community, Home Care & Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS Award) may reasonably have forgotten that earlier this year the Fair Work Commission (FWC) foreshadowed major changes to both awards from 1 October.

A complete overhaul of the classification structure for Health Professionals is set to occur in just over a month but the variation remains in draft form, while the FWC is yet to make a determination on a proposed 15% wage increase for Home Care – Disability Care employees, mooted to also take effect from 1 October.

Health Professionals

From the first pay period commencing (ppc) on or after 1 October 2026, the classification structure for Health Professionals under the HPSS Award will be replaced, and new rates of pay will attach. It is the finalisation of the relevant rates of pay which has caused the unexpected delay, with the rates published in a draft determination of late-May requiring adjustment to account for the 2026 Annual Wage Review increase which took effect ppc 1 July. The revised version of the draft determination was published on 14 August and can be viewed on the FWC website here. In addition to the brand-new classification structure from ppc 1 October, subsequent wage increases will also apply from 30 June in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.

The FWC will receive “responsive submissions of a technical nature only” on the revised draft determination through to 28 August before publishing the final variation. ES Subscribers will be furnished with an explanatory email and the final determination as a priority when it is released.

Employers can read about the origins of the FWC’s decision to replace the classification structure for Health Professionals in our earlier news post here.

Home Care – Disability Care employees

On 1 June (the day before the 2026 Annual Wage Review decision was handed down), the FWC issued a substantial decision which had been over a year in the making, outlining two significant changes for the SCHADS Award. Firstly, the Commission confirmed the classification structure of the award – currently split across five separate streams – would be replaced by a simplified, ten-level structure which would apply to all categories of workers, except Family Day Care employees. The new classification structure will not come into effect until late next year (i.e. 1 October 2027).

In the same decision, the FWC expressed the provisional view that employees currently classified as Home Care – Disability Care workers under the SCHADS Award should benefit from a 15% wage increase with a proposed operative date of ppc 1 October 2026.

The FWC indicated that awarding an interim increase of this size (15%) to employees classified under the existing Schedule E would better align these workers with the higher rates awarded in recent years to Aged Care employees and reduce the size of increase that will need to be flowed on to these same workers when all employees are translated to the new classification structure (mentioned above) from 1 October 2027. Refresh with our earlier news post here.

The Commission accepted submissions on their provisional view throughout June, but the matter remains unresolved, possibly due to the considerable opposition voiced by many employer groups who expressed concerns regarding insufficient funding to support implementation of the higher rates. Naturally, the relevant unions endorse the FWC’s provisional view and have accused several employer organisations of seeking to re-agitate matters which have already been determined (in relation to the overhauling of the classification structure) as a delaying tactic.

There is uncertainty as to whether the Commission will forge ahead with the 15% wage increase for Home Care – Disability Care employees from 1 October or potentially be persuaded to delay implementation to give employers time to suitably prepare for increased costs.

It has been confirmed that the classification structure of the SCHADS Award will be replaced in its entirety from 1 October 2027, but the final determination reflecting those extensive changes is also awaiting publication.

ES Subscribers will be notified via e-bulletin when a final determination is published in respect of both matters.