Rostery

What is SCHADS Award?

Also known as: Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010

The SCHADS Award is the modern award covering most Australian disability and community services employees. It sets minimum pay rates by classification level, and the rules for penalties, overtime, broken shifts, sleepovers, on-call, travel reimbursement and minimum engagement periods. Compliance is a legal obligation, not a payroll preference.

Full guide: SCHADS Award 2026: pay rates, levels and rules

Free toolSCHADS pay rates 2026Every level and pay point, with the penalty and casual rates.

SCHADS is complex because the sector is: a single worker may attract a weekday rate, an evening loading, a broken-shift allowance and a travel reimbursement in one day. Interpreting that by hand across a workforce is where underpayment happens, and underpayment in this sector is enforced.

The award also sets minimum engagement — generally two hours for part-time and casual employees in disability services — which is why a one-hour shift can cost more than it earns.

Award interpretation should be derived from actual worked times on an approved timesheet, not from the rostered plan, because the two differ whenever a shift starts late or runs over.

Who the award covers

The Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (MA000100) covers employers and employees in the crisis assistance and supported housing, social and community services, home care and family day care sectors. Classifications sit in Schedules B to F; Schedule E covers home care employees in disability care.

It does not cover employers and employees covered by the Aged Care Award 2010, the Nurses Award 2010 or the Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2010.

Rules that drive disability payroll

  • Casual loading of 25% on the hourly rate (clause 10.4).
  • Minimum payment of 2 hours for each part-time or casual shift, or each period of a broken shift, for disability and home care work (clause 10.5).
  • Broken shifts of up to 2 periods, or 3 by agreement, within a 12-hour span, with an allowance per broken shift (clause 25.6).
  • A sleepover allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate per night, with work during the sleepover paid at overtime rates (clause 25.7).
  • Shift loadings of 12.5% for afternoon shifts and 15% for night shifts, Monday to Friday (clause 29.3).
  • Casual weekend rates of 175% on Saturday and 225% on Sunday, inclusive of casual loading (clause 26.4).

Changes in 2026 and 2027

Annual Wage Review increases apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July each year.

On 11 September 2026 the Fair Work Commission decided on Schedule E as part of its gender-based undervaluation review. Home care disability employees receive an initial increase to their minimum rates from 1 December 2026. Most other changes, including a new classification structure, start from the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2027. The NDIA has said it will update the 2026-27 pricing schedule to reflect Fair Work Commission decisions affecting the award.

How Rostery helps

Rostery interprets the SCHADS Award from approved actual shift times, then sends the result to your payroll system through a payroll export.

Questions people ask

What does SCHADS stand for?

Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services. The full title is the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (MA000100).

When do the SCHADS Schedule E pay rises start?

Home care disability employees receive an initial increase from 1 December 2026. Most other changes start from the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2027.

Does the SCHADS Award cover aged care?

It covers home care employees, including in aged care home care, but not employers and employees covered by the Aged Care Award 2010.

What is the SCHADS casual loading?

25% of the hourly rate, paid instead of entitlements casuals do not receive, such as paid annual leave.

Checked against the official sources on 2 October 2026. Rules change: confirm the current position with the agency before you rely on it.

Related terms

Broken shiftA broken shift is a shift split into two or three separate periods of work in one day, with unpaid breaks between them. Under the SCHADS Award a broken shift attracts an allowance, and the number of breaks determines which allowance applies. It is common in disability support, where morning and evening routines sit hours apart.SleepoverA sleepover is an arrangement where a support worker stays overnight at a participant’s home to be available if needed, and is permitted to sleep. Under the SCHADS Award it attracts a flat sleepover allowance rather than hourly pay, plus payment at the appropriate rate for any period the worker is actually woken to work.Casual loadingCasual loading is the additional percentage paid to casual employees in place of paid leave and notice entitlements. Under the SCHADS Award it is 25 per cent of the minimum hourly rate. It applies to the base rate, and the interaction between casual loading and penalty rates is set by the award rather than chosen by the employer.Minimum engagementMinimum engagement is the shortest period an employee must be paid for when called to work, regardless of how long the shift actually runs. Under the SCHADS Award, disability support workers generally have a two-hour minimum for part-time and casual engagements, with some exceptions for particular arrangements.Active and passive overnightActive overnight support means a worker is awake and working through the night and is paid hourly at the applicable rate. Passive overnight, or a sleepover, means the worker is present and available but permitted to sleep, and is paid an allowance. Which applies depends on the participant’s assessed overnight support needs.

More in Payroll & award

Contractor vs employee

Rostery handles this in practice

SCHADS interpretation, NDIS price-guide validation, claiming and the evidence an audit asks for — built for Australian providers.

Book a demoSee the features