MyCareFinders — My Care Finders, Australia's NDIS provider directory

SCHADS Award & payroll for NDIS providers

Money & compliance

Payroll is where most NDIS providers carry the most compliance risk. The SCHADS Award has to price the messy reality of disability support — broken shifts, sleepovers, penalties and minimum engagements — and small errors compound fast. Here is what to watch and how to run it cleanly.

The award that shapes your biggest cost

Wages are usually the largest line in a care business, and the SCHADS Award decides what those wages must be. Because support work happens across mornings, evenings, weekends and overnight, the award is unusually complex — and it is administered by the Fair Work Commission, entirely separately from the NDIS price limits that cap what you can charge. The gap between the two is your margin, so getting payroll right is both a compliance and a survival issue.

The SCHADS rules that most often go wrong

  • Broken shifts — the correct allowance and minimum engagement for each period
  • Sleepovers and active overnight care — the allowance plus any active work on top
  • Weekend, evening and public-holiday penalty rates
  • Minimum engagement periods — the shortest shift you can legally pay for
  • Travel time and travel allowances between participants
  • Correct classification and pay point for each worker

How to reduce the risk

  • • Use payroll software with SCHADS award interpretation built in, not a spreadsheet.
  • • Have someone who knows the award review pay runs — especially broken shifts and overnights.
  • • Keep rostering and payroll connected so hours flow through without re-keying.
  • • Re-check allowance and penalty amounts whenever the award is updated.
  • • Model your wage cost against the relevant NDIS price limit before you take on work.
Associated business — Local Knowledge group

Want this handled for you?

Sydney Bookkeeping by Local Knowledge — Done-for-you bookkeeping, BAS & payroll

A CPA-reviewed, done-for-you bookkeeping service: bank feeds reconciled monthly, BAS prepared and lodged on time, payroll processed and super lodged — with pricing agreed before any work begins.

“Every reconciliation, every BAS, every payslip — completely handled.”

Book a 15-minute Fit Call

Sydney Bookkeeping by Local Knowledge is an associated business within the Local Knowledge group. Engaging them is entirely optional and has no effect on your MyCareFinders listing. This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice.

This guide is general business information for NDIS providers, not financial, tax, legal or compliance advice — always check what applies to your own circumstances and the current NDIS, Fair Work and ATO requirements. It sits in our provider Business & Growth section and is separate from the MyCareFinders participant directory, which remains independent and free for families. We never rank providers or sell priority placement to families.

Grow your NDIS business with MyCareFinders

List your service free and let participants who are actively looking for support come to you through Care Match™ — no cold calls, no lock-in.

List your service free More business & growth guides

Frequently asked questions

Plain-English answers on the award that governs disability support pay.

What is the SCHADS Award?

SCHADS is the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award — the modern award that sets minimum pay and conditions for most disability support workers in Australia. It is administered by the Fair Work Commission and covers classifications, penalty rates, allowances and rules for the way shifts can be worked.

Why is SCHADS payroll so hard to get right?

Because disability support does not run nine-to-five. The award has to price broken shifts, sleepovers and active overnight care, weekend and public-holiday penalties, minimum engagement periods, and various allowances — and they interact. A single worker’s week can touch several of these rules at once, which is exactly where manual payroll makes expensive mistakes.

What is a broken shift under SCHADS?

A broken shift is a single day’s work split into separate periods with an unpaid gap in between — common in home care where a worker does a morning and an evening visit. The award sets rules and allowances for how broken shifts are paid, and getting the allowance and the minimum engagement wrong is one of the most common underpayment errors.

How are sleepovers paid?

A sleepover (where a worker stays overnight and is available if needed) attracts a specific allowance under the award, and any active work performed during the night is generally paid on top at the applicable rate. Active overnight care is treated differently again. Confirm the current allowance amounts against the award or with a payroll specialist — they are updated periodically.

What happens if we underpay staff?

Underpayments have to be back-paid, and the Fair Work Ombudsman can take enforcement action for systemic non-compliance. Beyond the legal risk, underpayment damages trust with the workforce you rely on. The practical safeguard is award-interpretation built into your payroll system and reviewed by someone who knows SCHADS — not a spreadsheet.

More business & growth guides for providers