• Key dates and changes

  Date	What is changing?	Who is affected?
  1 July 2026	4.75% minimum wage increase	All employees covered by the SCHADS Award
  1 October 2026	Initial 15% increase to minimum wages (provisional view)	Home Care Employees – Disability Care (currently engaged under Schedule E to the SCHADS Award)
  1 October 2027	New classification structure replaces Schedules B, C, E and F Classification by experience/role rather than qualifications 2012 SACS Equal Remuneration Order will be revoked	All employees covered by the SCHADS Award

HPSS Award 

• Key dates and changes

  Date	What is changing?	Who is affected?
  1 July 2026	4.75% minimum wage increase	All employees covered by the HPSS Award
  1 October 2026	New classification scheme and minimum rates introduced  New minimum qualification standards  Updated penalty rates and overtime schedules	Health Professional employees at Levels 1 – 4
  1 July annually from 2027 to 2030	Further staggered rate increases	Health professional employees at Levels 1 – 4

Important: No employee can be worse off. Where an employee’s existing rate exceeds the new rates, that higher rate is preserved.  

Interaction with the 2026 Annual Wage Review: The Commission has published draft determinations setting out the precise increases as a result of the decisions. These may be revised to account for the increases determined in the latest Annual Wage Review. 

Interaction with enterprise agreements: If an enterprise agreement applies to your organisation, the base pay rates must not be less than the award rate. To assess whether pay rates are sufficient, a classification translation exercise must first occur to ensure that enterprise agreement classifications are correctly mapped to the new award classifications.

What is required of employers? 

Employers should: 

	Review job descriptions and commence the process to reclassify employees under the new proposed frameworks (the Commission has published draft translation tables to assist with this process).
	Review payroll systems and industrial instruments to ensure compliance with new minimum rates.
	Monitor the ASU’s work value pay rise claim under the SCHADS Award, which has resumed after a two-year pause (noting that the ASU is seeking a 35% work value pay rise for 300,000 SCHADS-covered community and disability workers).

Key takeaways 

These changes represent a significant shift for the NFP and community healthcare sectors. Following the minimum wage increases on 1 July 2026, and given the first tranche of additional minimum wage increases commencing on 1 October 2026, employers should begin reviewing classifications, payroll mapping and industrial instruments now to ensure they are ready. Early action will help avoid underpayment risk and ensure a smooth transition to the new structures.