The SCHADS Award…

If you’re like most regular people, simply reading the term “SCHADS Award” strikes boredom, confusion and frustration into your very soul. But stick with me, and lets learn how to approach it now because it could save you a lot of trouble down the road!

What is the SCHADS Award?

The Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services (SCHADS) award sets out the minimum pay rates and employment conditions for workers in these industries.

Read on and you’ll learn the key things you need to familiarise yourself with. I say familiarise because unless you’re Albert Einstein or that guy from Suits who remembers everything, you’re not going to memorise every detail in the SCHADS Award. The goal isn’t to know it all right away, especially when you’re just starting out. The goal is be to be familiar with situations that could trigger award conditions so when they come up you know its time to dig deeper! That way you build your knowledge bit by bit, stay compliant and avoid wasting hours of your life reading information that will disappear from your mind as soon as you leave the page.

As an NDIS Business do I NEED to Follow This Award?

Yes. Yes you do.

It’s important to get this right. Otherwise you might have to deal with back paying employees, penalties and fines, damage to company reputation, or in serious situations de-registration.

If you’re an NDIS support provider delivering Core Supports, the services your business and its employees provide fall under the category of disability support services and you will need to pay your employees providing core supports under the “Social and Community Services Employee” category within the award.

Now that you have mentally prepared yourself to take a ride on the SCHADS train, lets go over the key points to be familiar with!

Point 1. Minimum Pay Rates

The SCHADS Award states the minimum hourly rates you need to pay your employees per hour, and this rate changes depending on a whole range of factors. Whether they’re on set hours or casual, whether its a weekend, weekday, public holiday, night, day, evening, remote, VERY remote etc… they sure did think of everything when they wrote this award.

Make sure you are paying your employees these minimum rates. Remember to factor superannuation, allowances and portable long service leave (if you’re QLD based) on top of these wages into your budget.

Point 2. Pay Levels

You’ll notice there are a tonne of different pay rates depending on the employees level. If you search online for The Fair Work P.A.C.T tool, you’ll get a detailed breakdown of each level. You can even search an employees specific qualification and it will tell you what level they are qualified to be hired at. But as a general rule, the levels reflect the skills, responsibilities required for each role.

Level 1 – Entry level roles which require close supervision.

Level 2 – Likely will be the support workers who make up the core of your workforce

Level 3 – These are the employees who will train new staff and deal with the high complex needs participants.

You will need to pay your employees in line with the work they are actually providing, not what is written in their contract. For example, if you hire an employee as a Level 1 but they regularly perform duties that fall under Level 3, they could make a strong case to the Fair Work Commission that they’ve been underpaid, regardless of what their contract says.

If you want a general guide on what NDIS businesses should pay their employees, you should check out our article we have conveniently titled “A General Guide on What NDIS Businesses Should Pay Their Employees”.

Point 3. The Plethora of Allowances.

Fun fact: There are 20 allowances covered by the SCHADS Award. You need to be familiar with them and you need to pay them to your employees as they apply. (Okay I know that fact wasn’t very fun… but I’ve got to find some way to make learning the SCHADS award interesting!).

Keep in mind that these rates may have changed since this article was published, so always check the for the latest Fair Work updates. The key allowances to keep an eye on are:

Travel Allowance– This allowance is for employees while traveling with a participant or from one participant to another. The current rate is $0.99 per km. This does not include traveling to their first shift of the day or traveling home at the end of their last shift.

Sleepover Allowance– This is arguably the most complicated allowance. Its an amount of $60.02 per 8 hour sleepover. If your employee wakes up to perform their support duties during this time, they will need to be paid their regular hourly rate for that time, plus the sleepover allowance.

There’s a lot more to sleep over allowances than what is written above. I could dive into it here, but honestly you should just google search “SCHADS Award Sleepover Allowance” and click on the Fair Work Ombudsman link. That will give you a clear explanation!

Broken Shift allowance – This occurs when an employee has two or more shifts on the same day with unpaid breaks between them.

If the employee has one unpaid break during the day, they’re entitled to a $20.82 allowance. If the have two unpaid breaks, they’re entitled to $27.56 for the day.

Pro tip. Don’t use ChatGPT to work this all out. Use the latest updates from Fair Work. The award rates change so much and its so complex that even “old reliable ChatGPT” can get confused.

Point 4. Overtime Pay

If an employee is rostered on for more than 10 hours in one day, or for more than 38 hours in the whole week, they’ve officially unlocked the overtime pay achievement! 

These overtime allowances are noted on the SCHADS award and much like everything else in this award, there is a lot more detail to it. Overtime rate increase after the first two hours and changes based on a wide variety of factors. Its one of those areas where when you notice an employee has triggered an over time condition, check the award and make sure you get it right to save you from an accidental overpayment.

Most Common Mistakes Providers Make

If you have made these mistakes, don’t beat yourself up. The SCHADS Award is notoriously complicated. What matters is: 1. Correcting mistakes before they compound in to bigger problems, and 2. Setting controls in your business to prevent mistakes moving forward.

• Paying employees at the wrong level
• Not applying penalty & overtime rates
• Missing broken shifts
• Underpaying travel time
• Incorrect sleepover payments
• Not updating pay rates when they change.

Best Ways to Manage SCHADS Obligations

1. Use a proper payroll and rostering system. There are a tonne of software packages for NDIS Providers of all sizes that can alert you of events that trigger SCHADS awards conditions. Yes, it will come with extra subscription fees, however if you compare that to wrestling with spreadsheets for hours and still having no idea if you’re getting it right, the investment is totally worth it. The key is picking a software that is right for your business.
2. Train your rostering team. This means being proactive rather than reactive. Think ahead when you’re building shifts. Be aware of things that could potentially trigger the SCHADS award and blow out your wage budget. 
   
3. Work with an accountant who understands the NDIS. Typical accountants don’t fully grasp how the SCHADS award works which means they’re unlikely to spot issues or alert you when something looks off. An Accountant who understands your business  can quickly flag anomalies as they review your paryoll and processes. They can also advise you on strategies to budget for these costs.
4. Keep learning. Set aside time each week to stay across any updates to the SCHADS Award and other NDIS‑related changes. Subscribe to trusted newsletters and email updates from sources like the NDIS Commission or the Fair Work Ombudsman so you’re always informed. This steady, ongoing learning helps you build your knowledge bit by bit.

Remember: Awareness is key! Plan ahead to be aware of what will trigger an additional award payment. Consider alternatives. Where additional payments are unavoidable, take this into your budget. The SCHADS Award is infamously complex, but it is manageable.

If you’re finding payroll overwhelming or struggling to keep up with your employer obligations, click one of the below links to book a no-cost and no-obligation chat with a accounting expert who understands the NDIS and get your business on the right track today!