Upcoming Fair Work Changes! The Care Industry
Oct 29, 2024Upcoming Fair Work Changes! The Care Industry
Recently the Fair Work Commission announced changes to Awards related to the aged care sector, effective from 01 January 2025.
The Awards updated include; the Aged Care Award, Social, Community Home Care and Disability Services Award (SCHADS) and the Nurses Award.
Continue reading to unpack the changes and understand how they may impact you and your employees.
Aged Care Award – CLICK HERE
The upcoming changes include:
- A definition of a ‘direct care’ employee to provide clarity regarding their role in the aged care sector
- A new classification structure of direct care workers
- Updates to the classification schedule reflective of the duties and qualification for direct care employees
- Important: Nursing assistants working in the aged care industry, currently covered by the Nurses Award will be covered by the Aged Care Award
SCHADS Award – CLICK HERE
The upcoming changes include:
- Classifications for home care workers will be split into two streams
- Home care employees performing wok for clients in aged care
- Nursing assistants working in home care/ aged care sector (previously covered by the Nurses Award)
- Updated schedule and classification descriptions to cover the split streams and assist employers in classifying employees
- The existing home care stream will be renamed ‘Home Care Employees- Disability Care’
Nurses Award – CLICK HERE
The upcoming changes include:
- Nursing assistants currently covered by the Nurses Award who perform aged care work in the aged care sector will be covered by the Aged Care Award OR the SCHADS Award.
- Employees who were covered by the Nurses Award on 31 December 2024 will receive the more generous annual leave entitlements in the Nurses Award.
Pay Increases!
In addition to the above changes, effective 01 January 2025, eligible employees will receive a 3% increase to their minimum pay rate.
This increase will apply to:
- Aged care employees covered by the SCHADS Award (including nursing assistants who were covered by the Nurses Award)
- Indirect care workers covered by the Aged Care Award
- Direct care workers covered by the Aged Car Award (including nursing assistants who were covered by the Nurses Award)
Some employees will receive their increase in 2 stages. Stage 1 commencing on 01 January 2025 and stage 2 on 01 October 2025.
See the table below for a full break down on when the increase will start:
If you have any questions regarding the information above, please feel free to reach out to the Employii team via [email protected] or give us a call on 0401 510 559.
Author: Jess Roughsedge (HR Officer)
