Aged Care Workers Pay Rates

Direct-care pay under the Aged Care Award — current rates, penalties & allowances

Award / Agreement

Aged Care Award 2010 [MA000018]

Current

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Roles & Wages

Role	Pay Point	July 2026
Aged Care Worker Direct Care AINs, personal care assistants and other direct-care workers in residential aged care.	Level 1 — Introductory (first 3 months)	$64,634.5
	Level 2 — Direct Carer (3+ months)	$68,223.57
	Level 3 — Qualified (Cert III Individual Support)	$71,817.85
	Level 4 — Senior (Cert III + 4 years at Level 3)	$74,692.23
	Level 5 — Specialist (Cert IV Ageing Support)	$77,561.4
	Level 6 — Team Leader (Cert IV, supervises carers)	$80,435.78

Showing annual salary rates (calculated from weekly × 52.167)

Allowances

Allowance	Unit	Amount
Leading hand — 2–5 employees In charge of 2–5 employees; all-purpose, 2.67% of the standard rate (auto-adjusts). Clause 15.3(b).	per week	$33.54
Leading hand — 6–10 employees In charge of 6–10 employees; all-purpose, 3.81% of the standard rate. Clause 15.3(b).	per week	$47.85
Leading hand — 11–15 employees In charge of 11–15 employees; all-purpose, 4.81% of the standard rate. Clause 15.3(b).	per week	$60.41
Leading hand — 16+ employees In charge of 16 or more employees; all-purpose, 5.88% of the standard rate. Clause 15.3(b).	per week	$73.85
Nauseous work $0.63 per hour or part thereof, minimum $3.39 per week. Clause 15.5(a).	per hour	$0.63
Sleepover 8–10 hour sleepover span, plus free board and lodging. The award has no on-call provisions — sleepovers are the closest equivalent. Clause 22.9(d).	per night	$65.31
Uniform allowance $1.26 per shift, or $6.41 per week — whichever is the lesser. Clause 15.2(b).	per week (max)	$6.41
Laundry allowance $0.33 per shift, or $1.53 per week — whichever is the lesser. Clause 15.2(b).	per week (max)	$1.53
Meal allowance — overtime When overtime exceeds 1 hour and no adequate meal is supplied. Clause 15.4(a).	per occasion	$17.30
Meal allowance — additional A further amount where overtime exceeds a further 4 hours. Clause 15.4(a)(ii).	per occasion	$15.60
Tool allowance Chefs and cooks not provided with all necessary tools (general stream). Clause 15.6.	per week	$13.41
Vehicle allowance Authorised use of own vehicle on duty. Clause 15.7(a).	per km	$1.01

Penalty Rates

Saturday150%

Ordinary hours worked on a Saturday. Casual: 175% absolute — replaces the 25% loading, not on top of it.

Sunday175%

Ordinary hours worked on a Sunday. Casual: 200% absolute.

Public Holiday250%

Ordinary hours worked on a public holiday (casual: 275% absolute). Permanent staff may instead elect equivalent time added to annual leave.

Shift starts 10:00am–12:59pm+10%

Whole-of-shift loading chosen by the shift’s start time (casuals: added to the 25% loading).

Shift starts 1:00pm–3:59pm+12.5%

Afternoon shift — whole-of-shift loading.

Shift starts 4:00pm–3:59am+15%

Night shift — whole-of-shift loading.

Shift starts 4:00am–5:59am+10%

Early-morning night shift — whole-of-shift loading.

Overtime — first 2 hrs (Mon–Fri)150%

Casual: 187.5% — the 25% loading is compounded into casual overtime.

Overtime — after 2 hrs (Mon–Fri)200%

Casual: 250%.

Overtime — Saturday & Sunday200%

All weekend overtime (casual: 250%).

Overtime — Public Holiday250%

Overtime worked on a public holiday (casual: 312.5%).

Broken shift — beyond 12h span200%

Part-time/casual broken shifts worked beyond the maximum 12-hour daily span (casual: 225%).

Casual Loading+25%

On ordinary hours. Weekend, public-holiday and overtime casual rates above are absolute substitutes; shift loadings are additive.

Notes

•Aged Care Award 2010 [MA000018] direct-care classifications (levels 1–6), effective the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 (Annual Wage Review 2026). The next change is expected 1 July 2027.
•Covers AINs, personal care assistants and other direct-care workers in residential aged care. Since 1 January 2025, nursing assistants in residential aged care are classified under this award — ENs, RNs and NPs in aged care remain on the Nurses Award 2020 aged-care scales (see the Federal page).
•Home-care employees are covered by the SCHADS Award, not this award. The award’s general stream (food services, cleaning, maintenance and administration, levels 1–7) is not shown here — see the FWO pay guide.
•Shift allowances are a whole-of-shift loading chosen by the shift’s start time. Employees working fewer than 38 hours per week only qualify when the shift starts before 6am or finishes after 6pm.
•This award has no on-call provisions, so MyRoster shows no on-call entry for it — that’s the award, not a gap. Sleepovers (allowance above) are the closest equivalent.
•Weekly rates shown are the ordinary (base) rate; hourly and annual figures are derived from a 38-hour week. Verified against the FWO Pay Guide and the FWC consolidated award, current as at July 2026.
•Schedule I preserved rates for some employees classified before 1 January 2025 are not shown — use the FWO Pay & Conditions Tool.