Home care workers who look after people with disability will get a pay rise of up to 15% from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 December 2026. The Fair Work Commission's Expert Panel confirmed the increase on 11 September 2026 ([2026] FWCFB 232), but pushed it back two months from the 1 October 2026 start it had proposed. A full-time Level 3 worker with a Certificate III goes from $1,119.10 to $1,287.00 a week.
Schedule E minimum weekly rates (full-time)
| What changed | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 pay point 1 | $1,036.80 | $1,192.30 |
| Level 2 pay point 1 | $1,096.60 | $1,261.10 |
| Level 2 pay point 2 | $1,104.10 | $1,269.70 |
| Level 3 pay point 1 | $1,119.10 | $1,287.00 |
| Level 3 pay point 2 | $1,153.70 | $1,326.80 |
| Level 4 pay point 1 | $1,221.00 | $1,404.20 |
| Level 4 pay point 2 | $1,245.40 | $1,431.70 |
| Level 5 pay point 1 | $1,309.20 | $1,505.60 |
| Level 5 pay point 2 | $1,360.80 | $1,541.90 |
Who gets the 15%
The rise covers employees under Schedule E of the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 — “home care employee — disability care”. The award defines home care disability work as domestic assistance or home maintenance for a person with disability in the home care sector, and it does not include disability support work, which sits in the social and community services stream (Schedule B) and is not part of this increase.
Every Schedule E rate rises 15% except Level 4 pay point 2 and Level 5 pay point 2, which rise 14.96% and 13.31% — for those two, that is the whole increase the Commission found they were owed. Casuals keep the 25% loading on top of the new base rate.
Why it was delayed to December
In June the Commission proposed a 1 October 2026 start. Employer groups argued for 2027, saying the Commonwealth had not committed to funding the increase and that most of this work is paid for by the NDIS at prices providers cannot change quickly. The Panel held that these workers should not wait until October 2027, but moved the start to 1 December “given the absence of any commitment by the Commonwealth Government regarding funding”.
The rest of the increase — a further 1.97% to 6.97% (median 3.7%), on top of the 15% — arrives on 1 October 2027, when a new classification structure replaces Schedules B, C, E and F of the award. Those rates will be adjusted for the 2027 Annual Wage Review first.
What it means for take-home pay
On the FY2026-27 withholding tables, with the tax-free threshold claimed and no study loan, the Level 3 pay point 1 worker takes home about $943.10 a week now and $1,057.00 from December — $113.90 more, from a gross rise of $167.90. A casual at the same level goes from $36.81 to about $42.34 an hour (the new weekly rate divided by 38, plus the casual loading), or $110.60 more for a 20-hour week before tax.
Separately, the SCHADS vehicle allowance is temporarily $1.05 a kilometre from 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027 (PR813674), up from $1.01.
Full rate tables, penalty rates and allowances are on our SCHADS Award pay rates page. To see what your own rise is worth after tax, use the pay rise calculator or the weekly pay calculator.