AU
USA
UK
ES
FR
BR
TH
INSCHADS Award Pay Calculator
Work out what a week under the SCHADS Award actually pays — the right SACS classification, weekend and shift penalties, casual loading and super, calculated the way the award says.
How the SCHADS Award is applied
- Minimum rates are the ERO-adjusted SACS rates (clause 15 × the Equal Remuneration Order percentage), current from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
- Casuals get a 25% loading, and the weekend percentages below already include it. Minimum engagement is 2 hours — 3 hours for most SACS roles.
- Saturday ordinary hours pay 150% (175% casual) and Sunday 200% (225%) — weekend penalties replace shift loadings, they don’t stack.
- Overtime beyond 38 weekly hours: 150% for the first 3 hours Monday–Saturday, then 200% — but part-timers, casuals and disability/home-care staff hit double time after just 2 hours.
- Superannuation (12%) applies to ordinary-time earnings, including penalty rates — but not to overtime.
- Broken shifts and sleepovers carry their own allowances ($21.81–$28.87 per broken shift, $62.87 a sleepover night) — the SCHADS costs employers most often miss.
- In Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT, community services staff may accrue long service leave through a portable scheme instead of the standard state Act — check registration before assuming your usual LSL rules apply.
Who the award covers
- Social and community services — social work, welfare work, youth work, community development and advocacy
- Disability services, including group homes and day programs
- Crisis assistance and supported housing services
- Home care — personal care, domestic assistance and home maintenance for aged people and people with disability
- Family day care schemes
- Labour hire staff placed into these sectors
Residential aged care facilities sit under the Aged Care Award, and nurses, health professionals, fitness and recreation staff have their own awards — check before you classify.
Which level is your team member?
The SCHADS Award runs five classification streams; this calculator uses the social and community services (SACS) stream — the one most employers apply. Each level holds three or four pay points (the calculator shows pay point 1), and for Levels 2–8 the operative rate is the Equal Remuneration Order figure, not the smaller number printed in the award’s wage tables. Classify by qualifications and the level of responsibility actually exercised.
| Level | Per hour | Per week (38h) | Typical roles | The test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | $27.55 | $1046.90 | Entry-level support worker · Admin/reception assistant · Personal care worker (under supervision) | The entry level: routine activities under close direction — reception, filing, data entry, or personal care and domestic support under supervision. |
| Level 2 | $36.22 | $1376.49 | Disability support worker · Community support worker · Personal care worker (limited supervision) | Works within clearly defined guidelines with limited supervision — delivering client programs, personal care, assisting with care plans. Certificate-qualified staff typically start here. |
| Level 3 | $40.49 | $1538.59 | Case worker · Program coordinator · Group-home senior support worker | Works under general direction with scope for initiative — may supervise others, coordinate a program or run the day-to-day of a group residential facility. Three-year degree graduates start no lower than this level. |
| Level 4 | $46.70 | $1774.74 | Qualified social/welfare/youth worker · Team supervisor · Specialist support worker | Applies degree-level skills or supervises a work area, and is expected to set outcomes where procedures aren’t defined. Sole employees commence at this level. |
| Level 5 | $53.43 | $2030.20 | Program manager · Senior practitioner | A high level of skill across a range of functions — establishes programs and procedures, may supervise staff and prepare budgets. |
| Level 6 | $58.37 | $2218.02 | Operations manager · Senior specialist | Operates under limited direction, shaping operational policy — controls and coordinates a program, project or significant work area. |
| Level 7 | $63.13 | $2398.95 | Section manager · Senior professional | Managerial responsibility for functions within the organisation, or deep specialist work — managing staff is normally a feature. |
| Level 8 | $68.49 | $2602.75 | Senior manager · Director of services | The top level: broad direction only — formulates extensive programs, advises the board, manages the organisation’s key activity. |
- The rates shown are the ERO-adjusted operative rates: Levels 2–8 carry an Equal Remuneration Order uplift of 23–45% over the printed clause 15 minimums, and that higher figure is the legal base for penalties, overtime and percentage allowances.
- Each level has 3–4 pay points; the calculator uses pay point 1. Employees progress a pay point after each 12 months of satisfactory service — moving up a level only happens by promotion or re-classification.
- Qualifications set the entry point: a three-year degree graduate starts at Level 3 pay point 3, a four-year graduate at pay point 4, and a sole employee commences at Level 4.
- The award’s other streams — disability and aged home care, and family day care — have their own, lower rate tables. If your staff work in clients’ homes, check the home care tables before relying on SACS figures.
Allowances that can apply on top
Base rates and penalties aren’t the whole pay picture. The SCHADS Award adds allowances for particular duties and situations — being the designated first aid officer, working overtime without notice, using your own car. They’re small lines individually, but they’re legal entitlements and they add up. The common ones (1 July 2026 amounts):
The calculator below doesn’t include allowances — add the ones that apply to your team on top of the result. The full list lives in the award’s allowances clause.
Break entitlements under the SCHADS Award
Breaks are part of the award too — and missed or worked-through breaks usually carry a penalty rate, so they belong in the roster, not just the tea room. Here’s what the SCHADS Award requires:
An unpaid meal break doesn’t split a shift into a broken shift, and the paid tea break is separate from (not instead of) the meal break. The full rules live in clause 27 of the award.
Calculate a week under the SCHADS Award
Enter the week as it’s actually rostered. Weekend, evening and public-holiday hours are paid at the award’s penalty rates; anything beyond 38 hours is priced as overtime; super is applied to ordinary-time earnings only.
Rates current as of 1 July 2026 (adult minimums, MA000100) — first full pay period on or after that date.
This week’s numbers
Nothing is stored or sent — the maths runs on this page.
Are these the exact legal rates?
They’re the adult SACS-stream rates at pay point 1 of each level, ERO-adjusted, current at 1 July 2026. Employees at higher pay points earn more, and the home care and family day care streams use different tables. Treat the result as a planning number and confirm against the award or your payroll adviser.
Why are these rates higher than the award’s wage tables?
The Equal Remuneration Order. For SACS Levels 2–8 the legally payable rate is the clause 15 minimum multiplied by an ERO percentage (123% at Level 2 rising to 145% at Level 8) — and every penalty and overtime calculation uses that higher base. Paying the printed minimum is underpayment.
My staff do home care visits — do these rates apply?
Not exactly. Home care employees (disability and aged) have their own classification streams with lower rates, a 2-hour overtime step and specific broken-shift rules. The SACS figures here suit community services, disability programs and crisis accommodation staff — check the home care tables for in-home rosters.
Does super apply to penalty rates?
Yes — weekend, shift and public-holiday penalties on ordinary hours are ordinary-time earnings, so the 12% super guarantee applies. True overtime is excluded. The calculator applies exactly that split.
What about portable long service leave?
Community services is one of the sectors states have carved out its own scheme for, precisely because people move between providers so often. Queensland (QLeave), NSW (Community Services Sector (Portable Long Service Leave) Act 2024), Victoria (Long Service Benefits Portability Act 2018), South Australia (Portable Long Service Leave Act 2024, live from 1 October 2025) and the ACT (via ACT Leave) all run a portable scheme for this sector — a registered worker accrues leave across employers, not just with one. If you employ in any of these, check whether your workers are registered before applying your usual state long service leave rules.
Why does the calculator add a long service leave levy?
In Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT, registered employers pay a quarterly levy into the portable scheme on top of wages — it’s a real, ongoing cost, the same way super is, and it eventually funds the worker’s long service leave payout even if they change employer. The calculator adds it automatically when you select one of those states; untick the box if your workers aren’t registered.
This is a general calculator, not legal advice. It applies the award’s published adult minimums to the hours you enter — it can’t see your enterprise agreement, allowances or individual arrangements, and junior, apprentice and shiftwork rates differ. Always confirm pay against the award, your agreement or your adviser. If you believe something here is materially wrong or out of date, please contact us — we’ll review it promptly.
Get started
Tommy applies the right award rates to every shift as you roster — penalties, loading and super included. Start with your email and your numbers come along.
