From 1 January 2025, changes to the SCHADS Award will introduce a new classification structure specifically for direct care workers in the aged care sector. If you have employees providing in-home care, it’s important to understand how these updates affect their classification, pay, and conditions.
This restructure is designed to provide clearer career pathways and ensure that roles are appropriately recognised and remunerated.
The key updates to the classification structure include:
Separation of home care and disability classifications
Increase in the number of classification levels from 5 to 6
Changes to the qualifications and experience required at each level
If you employ staff who provide in-home aged care, they will need to be reclassified under the new structure.
How you implement the change depends on when your employees started:
New employees (starting after 1 January 2025) must be classified under the new structure from day one
Existing employees (hired before 1 January 2025) will transition across using guidance from Schedule G of the SCHADS Award, which maps current classifications to the new levels
This may also impact employment contracts, position descriptions, pay rates and overall compliance with the Award.
Now is the time to review your current classifications and prepare for the transition. Getting on top of this early will help you avoid compliance issues and ensure a smoother change for your team.
If you’d like support understanding what these changes mean for your organisation — or assistance reviewing your classifications, contracts, or Award interpretation — we’re here to help.
Get in touch to chat about how we can support you.
