Amid a year of vaccination rollouts, new worker screening processes and operational guideline changes, providers will need to add the results of a four-yearly review of the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (SCHADS Award) to their to-do list.

While changes to the SCHADS Award will inevitably be forthcoming, these look likely to include several changes that employers and advocates sought in the earlier 2017 SCHADS consent package. The latest provisional decision handed down by the Fair Work Commission follows a lengthy review of multiple claims and submissions.

Some major areas targeted for change include minimum engagement periods as well as remote responses which will include after-work-hours responses such as phone calls or roster adjustments which will be reimbursed with a yet-to-be-determined appropriate rate of pay. Other areas include overtime for part-time workers and casuals, travel time changes, and broken shifts provisions.

NDS is seeking feedback on the likely impacts of the changes. Queensland providers wanting feedback should contact Ian Montague.

A deeper dive into the changes will be offered by Industrial Relations and Human Resources adviser Michael Pegg when he presents later this month at the 'Cultivating Your Disability Workforce' online event.  More than 700 delegates are expected to attend the event which will highlight Professor Anne Kavanagh research on the ‘The Forgotten Workforce’ detailing the significant financial and psychological hardship experienced by disability support workers. Learn more about the program of this event on our website. 

The next FWC hearing on the SCHADS award is scheduled for 30 June.