SCHADS Award Pay Rates for NDIS Support Workers: FY 2026 & FY 2027

Paying support workers correctly is one of the biggest administrative challenges NDIS providers face. Most support workers are covered by the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (SCHADS Award). With Fair Work ramping up compliance audits and wages indexation taking effect for FY 2026 and FY 2027, getting payroll right is non-negotiable. This guide details the core SCHADS Award rules and rates you must implement to stay compliant.

1. Minimum Engagement Rules

Under the SCHADS Award, there is a mandatory minimum engagement period for casual and part-time support workers. In the NDIS sector, this minimum is 2 hours per shift. If a worker goes to a participant's home for a 1.5-hour support service, you must still pay them for 2 hours. However, you can only charge the participant's NDIS plan for the actual 1.5 hours of support delivered. This gap represents a direct cost that providers must manage.

2. Broken Shift Allowances

A broken shift is a shift that has one or more breaks (other than meal breaks) within a day. For example, a worker might support a participant from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM, and then support another participant from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Under the SCHADS Award, this is classified as a broken shift and triggers a mandatory broken shift allowance. In FY 2026 and FY 2027, the allowance rates are:

• Single Break: Paid at a specific flat rate per day (confirm latest Fair Work updates).
• Two Breaks: A higher flat rate per day applies if the shift is split into three parts.

Failing to pay this allowance is one of the most common reasons NDIS employers face Fair Work compliance actions.

3. Sleepover and 24-Hour Care Rules

If your support workers perform sleepover shifts (typically an 8-hour period where the employee is allowed to sleep, plus a requirement to be on-call), you must pay a specific Sleepover Allowance. Additionally, if the worker is woken up to perform work during the sleepover, that active time must be paid at overtime rates (minimum 1 hour payment). These complex calculations are prone to manual error and must be automated using award-interpretation software.

4. Travel Time vs. Travel Mileage

The SCHADS Award distinguishes between travel time and travel mileage. If a worker is traveling between two participants during a broken shift, that travel time is classified as paid work time. Furthermore, if the worker uses their private motor vehicle for work purposes, they are entitled to a per-kilometer vehicle allowance (e.g., ~$0.99 per km under recent ATO/Award adjustments). This cost is separate from what you bill the client and must be tracked carefully in payroll.

5. Integrating Payroll with Xero and Award Interpretation Engines

Manually calculating base rates, overtime, night penalties, weekend penalties, public holiday rates, and allowances in Xero Payroll is slow and prone to errors. Best-practice NDIS providers use specialized scheduling and award interpretation software (like Tanda, Deputy, or ShiftCare) that interfaces directly with Xero. When a support worker logs their hours on the mobile app, the software automatically applies the SCHADS Award rules and exports clean, pre-calculated timesheets to Xero Payroll.