From the first full pay period that starts on or after 1 December 2026, home care employees who do disability care under Schedule E of the SCHADS Award get an interim increase of up to 15% to their minimum pay rates. The Fair Work Commission confirmed the date on 11 September 2026, two months later than it first proposed. Most other changes from the same review, including a new single classification structure, start from 1 October 2027.

NDIS price limits for four support items also rise from 1 December, by less than the pay rise. So most of the work is admin: knowing who is really on Schedule E, getting new rates into payroll and rosters, agreeing service agreement changes, and checking every shift still costs less than it brings in.

The short version: find out which workers are paid under Schedule E. Load the 1 December rates from Fair Work's pay guide into payroll and rosters before the first affected pay period. Update prices for the four NDIS items, but only change a service agreement once the participant agrees. Then cost a full fortnight of rosters at the new rates before that pay run.

What changes on 1 December 2026?

In June 2026, in its gender-based undervaluation review, the Fair Work Commission decided to replace Schedules B, C, E and F of the award with one classification structure from 1 October 2027, and proposed an interim 15% for Schedule E workers from 1 October 2026. In its decision of 11 September 2026, [2026] FWCFB 232, it kept the increase and moved the start to 1 December 2026. It pointed to "the absence of any commitment by the Commonwealth Government regarding funding" and the steps NDIS providers need to take with clients.

The determination, PR814259, applies from each employee's first full pay period that starts on or after 1 December. That's a Tuesday, so if your pay periods start on Mondays, the earliest is Monday 7 December. A fortnight that started on 30 November stays at the old rates.

Most Schedule E levels get 15%. E.4.2 gets 14.96% and E.5.2 gets 13.31%, because the Commission says their total increase is under 15%. Any remaining increase comes from 1 October 2027. The new rates also account for the 4.75% Annual Wage Review rise from 1 July 2026, so take the figures from Fair Work's pay guide instead of working out 15% yourself.

The Fair Work Ombudsman's page on the changes, published 21 September 2026, links the 1 December pay guide, and its Pay and Conditions Tool has the new rates. I've left dollar rates off this page on purpose, so nobody copies a figure that later changes.

"SCHADS award 2026 pay rates" and "SCHADS award increase" are among the top related searches for "SCHADS award" in Google Trends Australia over the last 90 days.

FromWhat changesWho it affects
First full pay period on or after 1 July 2026Award minimum wages up 4.75% (Annual Wage Review)Award-covered staff
First full pay period on or after 1 September 2026, until 28 February 2027Temporary increase to the per-kilometre vehicle allowanceSCHADS and Aged Care Award staff paid the vehicle allowance
First full pay period on or after 1 December 2026Interim increase of up to 15% (14.96% at E.4.2, 13.31% at E.5.2)Home care employees doing disability care (Schedule E)
Supports delivered on or after 1 December 2026Higher price limits for four NDIS support items (about 7.5% each at the national rate)Supports for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants
First full pay period on or after 1 October 2027New single classification structure replaces Schedules B, C, E and F, plus any remaining Schedule E increaseMost employees under the award

Who gets the increase, and who doesn't?

On 1 December, only the Schedule E pay tables change: home care employees at levels 1 to 5 doing disability care. The Fair Work Ombudsman calls them "home care employees who provide disability care".

Check this first. The Commission has found that "some employers are paying disability support workers under Schedule B" and others under Schedule E. Schedule B is the social and community services stream. A worker paid under Schedule B gets no change on 1 December, and their changes come in October 2027. If you aren't sure a worker is on the right schedule, that's one for your payroll adviser or Fair Work.

Also check these:

  • Some workers you pay above the award may be overtaken by the new minimum.
  • If staff are on an enterprise agreement, ask your adviser how the new rates affect it.
  • Workers who also support older clients need advice on mixed hours, since the 1 December change doesn't touch home care work with older people.
  • Casual, weekend and public holiday rates stored in payroll as fixed amounts each need updating.

What is the NDIS changing on 1 December?

When the 2026-27 price limits were set on 24 September 2026, the government's media release said the Pricing Schedule would be updated later in the year. The NDIA's notice of 19 October 2026 confirms it. From 1 December 2026, price limits rise for these four items:

  • House or Yard Maintenance (01_019_0120_1_1)
  • House Cleaning and Other Household Activities (01_020_0120_1_1)
  • Assistance with Personal Domestic Activities (01_004_0107_1_1)
  • Specialised Home-Based Assistance for a Child (01_016_0104_1_1)

By my maths from the NDIA's old and new national prices, each rises about 7.5%. The new limits apply to supports delivered on or after 1 December, item numbers and claiming don't change, and the updated Pricing Schedule comes out on 1 December. Any change to an existing service agreement has to be discussed with the participant, and they must agree before it's made.

Schedule E minimum rates rise by up to 15%. Those four price limits rise about 7.5%. In the current Pricing Schedule, each of the four items has one hourly limit whatever the day, while Sunday and public holiday work costs more in pay.

The notice lists no other items. The NDIA's 2026-27 Disability Support Worker Cost Model takes its pay settings from the award's social and community services section, which it says "has the more generous provisions". If Schedule E workers deliver other supports, like personal care, your costs rise in December and, so far, the price limit doesn't.

Price limits only apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants, according to the NDIS pricing arrangements page. Because the price follows the date of the support and pay follows the pay period, some early December shifts will carry the new limit while the worker is still on the old rate. If you claim by bulk upload, check the file uses the right price for each date. Our NDIS bulk upload guide covers the file. A higher price also uses a participant's budget faster, so raise it with them and their plan manager if they have one.

What about Support at Home?

If you also deliver Support at Home, the December pay change mostly doesn't touch it, because the determination only changes disability care rates. The price caps planned for Support at Home from 1 July 2026 are paused. On 19 May 2026 the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, Sam Rae, announced the government was "deferring the implementation of formal price caps until we have greater confidence in the stability of the market". My Aged Care's update of 20 May 2026 says prices must still be reasonable and based on your costs, and providers are encouraged to raise prices no more than twice a year. Our Support at Home claiming guide covers the claiming side.

What to update, where, and who usually owns it

Every business splits these jobs differently, so treat the last column as a starting point.

What to updateWhere it usually livesWho usually owns it
Each worker's schedule, level and pay pointEmployee records and the payroll profileOwner or HR, with a payroll adviser
Schedule E rates from the 1 December pay guidePayroll award settings: Xero pay templates, an Employment Hero award package or similarBookkeeper or payroll officer
Casual, penalty and allowance pay itemsPayroll pay itemsBookkeeper or payroll officer
Shift costsAward and pay settings in ShiftCare, Deputy, Brevity or your roster spreadsheetRostering coordinator
End of the temporary vehicle allowance increase, 28 February 2027Payroll and roster allowance settingsBookkeeper
Prices for the four NDIS itemsPrice list, invoice templates and claim filesOps manager or billing officer
Service agreements and participant budgetsParticipant files and plan manager statementsOps manager, with each participant
Your margin and cash flow forecastXero budget and management reportsOwner and bookkeeper

Xero's blog of 19 June 2026 says its award rate bulk update tool updates eligible pay template earnings lines in bulk, but "you'll still need to check the correct published rates". Employment Hero's help centre says that on its classic platform an admin applies award updates in two steps, in payroll and then in HR. ShiftCare says its shift costing, available on its Intelligence (Premium) plans, pulls cost data from Xero or PayCat in Australia, so its margins are only as right as your payroll rates.

If your rostering tool can't cost shifts at all, our guide to the best NDIS software for small providers compares the options, and our NDIS rostering and Xero guide shows how the two connect.

How to check every roster line before the first affected pay run

The safest way to find a wrong rate is to cost a real roster at the new rates before anyone is paid.

  1. Export the roster for the first affected pay period: one line per worker per shift, with participant, support item, times and day type.
  2. Match each line to your classification register: schedule, level, pay point and employment type.
  3. Cost each line at the new rates, with the right penalty, casual loading, allowances and super.
  4. Price each line from the participant's service agreement, and check it's within the price limit for that date.
  5. Flag anything that needs a person: an old rate, a shift below your margin threshold, a support item that doesn't match the work, or a price nobody has agreed to.
  6. Fix the flags before the pay run, then compare a few payslips with the costed roster.

Test the check on a past fortnight first. With a few Schedule E workers and one pay cycle, a spreadsheet and a careful bookkeeper will do. Mixed schedules and a few hundred shifts a fortnight are where checks by hand start missing things.

Our employee cost calculator shows roughly what super, payroll tax and workers comp add to base pay. If you'd like a second set of eyes on your roster costing before the first December pay run, book a free call and I'll tell you what I'd check first.

Worked example: a 20-worker provider checks one fortnight

Say a disability support provider in Toowoomba with 20 support workers. Eleven do mostly personal care and community access, paid under Schedule B. Seven do cleaning, domestic help and some personal care in participants' homes, paid under Schedule E. Two do a mix, and nobody remembers why one is on B and the other on E. They roster in ShiftCare and pay fortnightly through Xero. Their fortnight from Monday 30 November stays at the old rates, so the first affected one starts Monday 14 December, with Christmas Day and Boxing Day in it.

  1. In November, the ops manager builds a classification register. The two mixed workers, and one who finished a qualification in August, go to the payroll adviser.
  2. The bookkeeper lists every pay item built off the base rate, ready to load the pay guide rates after the last pay run at the old rates.
  3. The ops manager calls the eight participants whose service agreements quote a price for the four items. Six agree before 1 December. Two want to ask their plan manager first, so they stay on the old agreed price for now.
  4. The drafted roster for 14 to 27 December has 231 shifts, each matched to the register, costed at the new rates and compared with its price.
  5. The check flags 26 lines: 14 for the two participants who haven't agreed yet, 6 Sunday and public holiday cleaning shifts where pay with penalty rates and super comes to more than the price limit, 4 with the wrong support item and 2 for the worker whose level needs to change.
  6. The owner makes the calls. The Christmas shifts stay, because those participants need the support. One Sunday shift moves to Saturday with the participant's agreement. The rest are fixed before the pay run, so nobody is underpaid.

What can be automated, and what should stay with people?

The checking doesn't stop after December. The temporary vehicle allowance increase ends on 28 February 2027, award rates usually change each July after the Annual Wage Review, and the new structure starts on 1 October 2027. These parts are worth automating:

  • A classification register that flags new starters with no classification, and rostered work that looks different from someone's classification, for a person to review.
  • A pre-pay-run check that costs every roster line against its price and lists the shifts that need a look before anyone approves the pay run.
  • A fortnightly margin report by participant, support item, worker and day type.
  • Date reminders for each rate change, sent to the right person early. Our post on how NDIS providers stop missing compliance deadlines shows how a register and reminders work.

People still decide which schedule a worker belongs in, talk participants through service agreement changes, decide what to do with a loss-making shift and approve the pay run. The automation takes the checking off your rostering coordinator and bookkeeper.

I've built the register and reminders side of this before: a compliance setup for an NDIS provider in the middle of an audit. Every obligation sat in one register and the reminders went out on their own at 60, 30 and 7 days. They've since brought me back for a bigger build: automatic rostering and invoicing. Our NDIS compliance automation case study covers the first build.

Our workflow automation service builds this kind of register and check in the systems you already use, and you own what we build.

Want every roster line checked before the first December pay run? Tell us what you roster and pay in. We'll show you what we'd check first, and what you can leave alone. Book a free call.

Sources

This page is general information, not payroll, legal or tax advice. Check Fair Work's pay guide, call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94, or ask your payroll adviser how the award applies to your staff.

Facts checked 24 October 2026.