What level is a Disability Support Worker under SCHADS?

Most entry-level Disability Support Workers are classified as Social and Community Services Employee Level 2. Workers with a Certificate III or IV, or significant experience performing complex tasks, may be classified at Level 3.

Do support workers get paid for travel time?

Yes. Under the SCHADS Award, time spent traveling between clients is considered working time and must be paid. You are also entitled to a vehicle allowance of $1.05/km (cl.20.7(a); temporary rate from the first full pay period on or after 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027; $1.01 otherwise) if using your own car.

Do SCHADS penalty rates stack on top of each other?

No. Penalty rates do not compound. When multiple penalties could apply (e.g. Saturday plus overtime, or a public holiday plus a night shift loading), the higher single rate applies. Allowances such as broken shift and travel do stack on top of penalty rates.

When does overtime kick in for a disability support worker?

It depends on employment type. For full-time employees, overtime applies to all work beyond their rostered ordinary hours (cl.28.1(a)) — there is no fixed 10-hour daily cap. For part-time and casual employees, overtime is triggered by work beyond 10 hours in a day or shift, or beyond 38 ordinary hours in a week (cl.28.1(b)(ii)). Note that DSWs are paid on the SACS classification scale, but for overtime purposes they fall in the disability services stream: the first 2 overtime hours are paid at time-and-a-half, then double time (cl.28.1(a)(i)) — a shorter band than the 3 hours that applies to SACS employees (cl.28.1(a)(ii)).

What is the casual loading under SCHADS?

The casual loading is 25%, added on top of the applicable rate. Casuals receive 125% on weekdays, 175% on Saturdays, 225% on Sundays, and 275% on public holidays.

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Disability Support Worker Pay Rates 2026-27

By CrossVault · Updated 14 October 2026

Disability Support Workers (DSWs) form the backbone of the NDIS sector. Under the SCHADS Award, pay rates vary based on classification level, employment type (casual vs permanent), and the time of day worked. This guide is published by CrossVault, which checks timesheets against the SCHADS Award; the rates in it come from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide for MA000100.

Want to quickly check a specific rate? Use our free SCHADS GPT tool to ask about any clause.

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Quick Facts

Award Classification: Usually Level 2 or Level 3 (Social & Community Services)
Base Rate (Level 2.1): $45.28/hr (Casual) / $36.22/hr (Permanent) — effective 1 July 2026
Weekend Rates: 150% (Sat) / 200% (Sun)
Public Holidays: 250% (Double time and a half)

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Disability Support Worker Pay Rates from 1 July 2026

Disability support workers (DSWs) are paid on either the social and community services (SACS) scale or the home care disability care scale of the SCHADS Award (MA000100). Which scale applies depends on the duties the employee actually performs, not the job title. DSWs are usually classified at SACS Level 2 or Level 3. All rates below are from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Casual rates include the 25% casual loading, and the SACS rates already include the Equal Remuneration Order.

SACS scale, Levels 1–4, every pay point:

Classification	Full-time / part-time hourly	Casual hourly (incl. 25% loading)	Full-time weekly
Level 1 – pay point 1	$27.55	$34.44	$1,046.90
Level 1 – pay point 2	$28.44	$35.55	$1,080.60
Level 1 – pay point 3	$29.45	$36.81	$1,119.10
Level 2 – pay point 1	$36.22	$45.28	$1,376.49
Level 2 – pay point 2	$37.36	$46.70	$1,419.79
Level 2 – pay point 3	$38.50	$48.13	$1,462.96
Level 2 – pay point 4	$39.53	$49.41	$1,501.95
Level 3 – pay point 1	$40.49	$50.61	$1,538.59
Level 3 – pay point 2	$41.66	$52.08	$1,582.94
Level 3 – pay point 3	$42.55	$53.19	$1,616.71
Level 3 – pay point 4	$43.42	$54.28	$1,649.97
Level 4 – pay point 1	$46.70	$58.38	$1,774.74
Level 4 – pay point 2	$47.92	$59.90	$1,821.07
Level 4 – pay point 3	$49.16	$61.45	$1,867.93
Level 4 – pay point 4	$50.25	$62.81	$1,909.51

Home care scale, disability care, Levels 1–5, every pay point:

Classification	Full-time / part-time hourly	Casual hourly (incl. 25% loading)	Full-time weekly
Level 1 – pay point 1	$27.28	$34.10	$1,036.80
Level 2 – pay point 1	$28.86	$36.08	$1,096.60
Level 2 – pay point 2	$29.06	$36.33	$1,104.10
Level 3 – pay point 1	$29.45	$36.81	$1,119.10
Level 3 – pay point 2	$30.36	$37.95	$1,153.70
Level 4 – pay point 1	$32.13	$40.16	$1,221.00
Level 4 – pay point 2	$32.77	$40.96	$1,245.40
Level 5 – pay point 1	$34.45	$43.06	$1,309.20
Level 5 – pay point 2	$35.81	$44.76	$1,360.80

Saturday, Sunday, public holiday and shift rates for every pay point are in the SCHADS pay rates calculator and full tables. If you are a worker checking your own pay, the free payslip check compares the rates, hours and allowances on a payslip against the award.

What changes next: home care employees under Schedule E (disability care) get an initial increase of 15% from the first full pay period on or after 1 December 2026 (14.96% at Level E.4.2 and 13.31% at Level E.5.2), per Fair Work Commission decision [2026] FWCFB 232 of 11 September 2026. The home care table above does not include it. A new classification structure replacing Schedules B, C, E and F then starts from the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2027. See the SCHADS Award guide and our Schedule E explainer.

Note: Rates are updated 1 July annually. Ensure you validate your timesheets to catch any underpayments.

Penalty Rates and Loadings

Support work often involves non-standard hours. The SCHADS Award provides significant penalty rates:

Afternoon Shift: +12.5% loading
Night Shift: +15% loading
Saturday: 150% of base rate
Sunday: 200% of base rate
Public Holidays: 250% of base rate

How Penalty Rates Interact (Non-Stacking)

Penalty rates under SCHADS do not compound. When more than one penalty could apply to the same hour, the higher rate applies — not the sum. Clause 26.2 specifies that weekend rates substitute for the cl.29 shift premiums, and cl.34.2(b) specifies that the public holiday penalty applies in lieu of shift and weekend rates.

In practice this means:

A Saturday night shift attracts the 150% Saturday rate, not 150% plus the 15% night loading.
A public holiday afternoon shift attracts 250%, not 250% plus 12.5%.
If overtime falls on a Saturday, the worker is paid the higher of the overtime rate or the Saturday rate per hour — not both added together.

Allowances behave differently. Broken shift, travel and on-call allowances are paid in addition to whichever penalty rate applies. Systems that simply add penalties together overpay; systems that only apply one type of penalty underpay.

Worked Example: Saturday Shift Spanning Midnight

Consider a Level 2.1 disability support worker (ordinary rate $36.22/hr) who starts at 2pm Saturday and finishes at 1am Sunday — 11 hours in total.

2pm–12am Saturday (10 hours): Saturday rate = $36.22 × 150% = $54.33/hr.
12am–1am Sunday (1 hour): Sunday rate = $36.22 × 200% = $72.44/hr.

For a part-time or casual worker this 11-hour engagement also exceeds the 10-hour daily overtime threshold in cl.28.1(b)(ii). But the 11th hour (12am–1am) is already at 200% under the Sunday rate, which equals the double-time overtime rate — so no additional overtime applies for that hour. (For full-time employees, overtime is triggered by work beyond rostered ordinary hours rather than a fixed 10-hour daily cap — cl.28.1(a).)

Common Compliance Mistakes

The most expensive payroll error in disability services is wrong classification level. A worker classified at Level 2 when they should be Level 3 is underpaid on every hour worked, every penalty rate, and every overtime hour — and it compounds over years. The most common misclassification: experienced support workers performing team leadership or program coordination duties while still being paid at the base support worker level. If the work matches a higher level descriptor in the award, the higher level applies regardless of what the employment contract says.

Other recurring errors:

Applying the public holiday rate to an entire shift that spans midnight, when only the hours actually falling on the public holiday attract 250%.
Only triggering overtime after 38 weekly hours, missing the daily 10-hour threshold that applies to part-time and casual employees (cl.28.1(b)(ii)) — a casual doing a 12-hour Monday shift is owed 2 hours of overtime even if their weekly total is just 12 hours.
Adding the night shift loading to the Saturday penalty (the non-stacking rule above).

Fair Work can audit 7 years of records. A classification error affecting 20 workers over 3 years can produce a six-figure back-pay bill before penalties.

Official Sources

The rates on this page come from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide for MA000100 effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. If this page and an official source differ, the official source governs.

Fair Work Ombudsman pay guide for MA000100 (PDF download)
Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 [MA000100] — award text (Fair Work Ombudsman)
Fair Work Commission decision [2026] FWCFB 232, 11 September 2026 (PDF) — Schedule E increase from 1 December 2026

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What level is a Disability Support Worker under SCHADS?: Most entry-level Disability Support Workers are classified as Social and Community Services Employee Level 2. Workers with a Certificate III or IV, or significant experience performing complex tasks, may be classified at Level 3.
Do support workers get paid for travel time?: Yes. Under the SCHADS Award, time spent traveling between clients is considered working time and must be paid. You are also entitled to a vehicle allowance of $1.05/km (cl.20.7(a); temporary rate from the first full pay period on or after 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027; $1.01 otherwise) if using your own car.
Do SCHADS penalty rates stack on top of each other?: No. Penalty rates do not compound. When multiple penalties could apply (e.g. Saturday plus overtime, or a public holiday plus a night shift loading), the higher single rate applies. Allowances such as broken shift and travel do stack on top of penalty rates.
When does overtime kick in for a disability support worker?: It depends on employment type. For full-time employees, overtime applies to all work beyond their rostered ordinary hours (cl.28.1(a)) — there is no fixed 10-hour daily cap. For part-time and casual employees, overtime is triggered by work beyond 10 hours in a day or shift, or beyond 38 ordinary hours in a week (cl.28.1(b)(ii)). Note that DSWs are paid on the SACS classification scale, but for overtime purposes they fall in the disability services stream: the first 2 overtime hours are paid at time-and-a-half, then double time (cl.28.1(a)(i)) — a shorter band than the 3 hours that applies to SACS employees (cl.28.1(a)(ii)).
What is the casual loading under SCHADS?: The casual loading is 25%, added on top of the applicable rate. Casuals receive 125% on weekdays, 175% on Saturdays, 225% on Sundays, and 275% on public holidays.

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