Aged Care Award pay guide 2026/2027

Casual rates for ordinary weekday hours for direct care and general employees, generated from the current Fair Work pay guide:

If you only skim one section, make it this one:

• The Aged Care Award 2010 [MA000018] covers two streams: direct care employees (personal care workers, Levels 1–6) and general employees (food services, cleaning, laundry, admin, Levels 1–7).
• Minimums are reviewed each July; recent work-value decisions also lifted direct-care rates significantly. The FY2026/27 pay guide took effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
• Example 2026/27 adult minimum pay:
  • Direct care level 2 (direct carer): full-time/part-time $34.42/hr, casual $43.03/hr.
  • General level 1: full-time/part-time $27.77/hr, casual $34.71/hr.
• Penalties: Saturday +50%, Sunday +75%, public holidays +150% (full-time/part-time); casual rates are higher again.
• Sleepovers, broken shifts and shift loadings apply on top.
• Get stream, level, employment type and shift type right for every employee.

The Aged Care Award — full name the Aged Care Award 2010 [MA000018] — is the modern award that sets the legal minimum pay and conditions for its industry. It covers residential aged care, home care and retirement-living employers and their staff. It splits into two streams that pay quite differently: direct care (personal care workers, assistants in nursing) and general services (catering, cleaning, laundry, administration, maintenance).

Pay is built from four things, in this order: the classification level the employee’s duties fall into (13 in this award), their employment type (full-time, part-time or casual — casuals receive a 25% loading instead of paid leave), when the shift was worked (weekend, public holiday, evening or overtime penalties), and any allowances that apply. Get one of the four wrong and the pay is wrong.

The Aged Care Award covers employees in residential and home aged care, in two streams:

• Direct care employees (Levels 1–6): personal care workers and assistants in nursing — from introductory through qualified (Certificate III/IV) to senior, specialist and team-leader roles.
• General employees (Levels 1–7): food services, cleaning, laundry, gardening, administration and cooks/chefs.

Important — who’s covered by other awards: registered and enrolled nurses in aged care → Nurses Award (aged-care rates); allied-health and health-support staff → Health Professionals & Support Services Award; home-care and disability support in some settings → SCHADS Award. Confirm coverage with Fair Work’s PACT tool.

A snapshot of the current FY2026/27 rates for both streams, generated from the same data that powers the calculator above.

Ordinary weekday rates for direct care (L1–6) and general (L1–7) employees:

Casuals receive the same base rate plus a 25% loading. Ordinary weekday casual rates:

The Aged Care Award has two streams: direct care (personal care workers, Levels 1–6) and general (food services, cleaning, laundry, administration, Levels 1–7). Here are the 2026/27 ordinary hourly rates (full-time and part-time), with the casual rate (base + 25% loading) in brackets. Weekend, public-holiday, shift and sleepover penalties apply on top. Registered and enrolled nurses are paid under the Nurses Award, not this award.

• Direct care Level 1 — $32.61/hour (casual $40.76): entry-level personal care, pre-qualification.
• Direct care Level 2 — $34.42/hour (casual $43.03): personal care worker / assistant in nursing (AIN).
• Direct care Level 3 — $36.23/hour (casual $45.29): Certificate III-qualified personal care worker.
• Direct care Level 4 — $37.68/hour (casual $47.10): senior / Certificate IV personal care worker.
• Direct care Level 5 — $39.13/hour (casual $48.91): specialist personal care worker.
• Direct care Level 6 — $40.58/hour (casual $50.73): personal care team leader / coordinator.

• General Level 1 — $27.77/hour (casual $34.71): entry-level food services, cleaning, laundry.
• General Level 2 — $28.87/hour (casual $36.09): general services with experience.
• General Level 3 — $29.98/hour (casual $37.48): qualified general services / trade assistant.
• General Level 4 — $30.34/hour (casual $37.93): cook / senior general services.
• General Level 5 — $31.36/hour (casual $39.20): qualified cook / administration.
• General Level 6 — $33.05/hour (casual $41.31): senior cook / supervisor.
• General Level 7 — $33.65/hour (casual $42.06): chef / senior supervisor / coordinator.

Classification follows the stream, duties, qualifications and responsibility:

• Direct care Levels 1–6 progress from introductory personal care, through Certificate III/IV qualified carers, to senior, specialist and team-leader roles.
• General Levels 1–7 cover food services, cleaning, laundry, gardening, administration and cooks/chefs.
• Aged-care nurses are paid under the Nurses Award — don’t apply this award’s rates to RNs/ENs.

Write each employee’s stream, level and employment type into your payroll/rostering system. If unsure, confirm the right level.

Here’s how the most common roles map to classifications and 2026/27 rates. Use these as a starting point, then confirm the level against the employee’s actual duties.

An aged care worker or personal care assistant holding a Certificate III sits at direct care level 3 — $36.23/hr (casual $45.29/hr). An unqualified new starter begins at level 1 — $32.61/hr (casual $40.76/hr) and moves up on qualifying.

A senior or Certificate IV carer sits at direct care level 4 — $37.68/hr, and an aged care shift coordinator or care team leader at level 6 — $40.58/hr (casual $50.73/hr).

General services staff are paid from the general stream, which is materially lower than direct care: entry-level food services, cleaning and laundry sit at general level 1 — $27.77/hr, a qualified cook at level 5 — $31.36/hr and a chef or senior supervisor at level 7 — $33.65/hr.

Aged Care Award penalties (on the ordinary rate, both streams):

• Saturday: 150% (full-time/part-time), 175% (casual)
• Sunday: 175% (full-time/part-time), 200% (casual)
• Public holiday: 250% (full-time/part-time), 275% (casual)
• Afternoon/night shift loadings: afternoon and night shifts attract loadings on the ordinary rate (separate from the calculator above).
• Sleepover: about $65.31 per night, plus pay for any work performed during the sleepover.
• Broken shift and overtime have their own rules.

The calculator above covers ordinary, Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday rates. For shift loadings, sleepovers, broken shifts and overtime, use Fair Work’s PACT tool or award-interpreting software.

• Full-time is around 38 hours per week, ongoing; part-time has a regular agreed pattern.
• Both receive paid annual and personal/carer’s leave (pro-rata for part-time) and other NES entitlements. Part-time hours should be agreed in writing.

• Paid a 25% casual loading instead of paid leave, with a minimum engagement per shift.
• Casual weekend and public-holiday rates are higher than the permanent rates because the loading is added to the penalty (for example, casual Sunday is 200% of the base rate).

Common allowances under this award include:

• Sleepover – about $65.31 per night.
• Leading hand – from about $0.88/hr (2–5 employees) up by team size.
• Uniform – about $1.26 per shift (max $6.41/week); laundry – about $0.33 per shift.
• Meal (overtime) – about $17.30, with a further $15.60 after more than 4 hours of overtime.
• Vehicle – about $1.01 per km; nauseous work – about $0.63/hr.

Exact amounts update each pay guide — see the Fair Work pay guide.

Leave comes from the National Employment Standards (NES), which apply on top of the award and cannot be reduced by it. Casual employees receive the loading instead of paid leave, but still get unpaid carer’s and compassionate leave, and paid family and domestic violence leave.

Four weeks per year for full-time employees, pro-rata for part-time, accruing progressively from the first day. Employees the award defines as shiftworkers receive a fifth week. Most awards also add annual leave loading — check the leave clause of this award for the rate that applies. See our annual leave guide for how accrual, cash-out and payout on termination work.

• Personal/carer’s leave: 10 days per year for full-time employees, pro-rata for part-time. It accrues and carries over year to year.
• Compassionate leave: 2 days per occasion.
• Family and domestic violence leave: 10 days per year, available to casuals as well, renewing each year rather than accruing.
• Parental leave: 12 months unpaid with a right to request a further 12, alongside the government paid parental leave scheme.
• Public holidays: employees are entitled to be absent on a public holiday; if they work it, the award’s public-holiday penalty applies.

Tracking accruals across mixed full-time, part-time and casual teams is where spreadsheets break down — leave management software keeps balances, requests and approvals in one place.

• Confirm the award and stream (direct care vs general; nurses are under the Nurses Award).
• Download the latest pay guide (FY2026/27).
• Classify each employee by stream and level.
• Set base rates and apply weekend/public-holiday penalties, shift loadings, sleepovers, broken shifts and overtime.
• Use award-interpreting software so sleepovers and shift loadings are calculated automatically, and keep records for 7 years.

These are the errors that show up most often when employers audit their own Aged Care Award payroll.

Awards classify on what the employee actually does, their qualifications and their level of responsibility. Two people with the same title can sit on different levels, and someone doing higher duties is owed the higher rate for those hours.

Casual weekend and public-holiday rates are not the permanent penalty plus 25% bolted on afterwards. The award publishes a single casual figure for each penalty — use the rate sheet or the calculator above rather than stacking percentages by hand.

This award carries 8 common allowances. They are easy to overlook because they are not part of the hourly rate, but they are still legally owed — the rate sheet above lists every one.

The two streams differ by several dollars an hour at every level. A carer who also does laundry is still a direct care employee — the stream follows the substantive role, not the task in front of them.

• Two streams: direct care (personal care, L1–6) and general (food/cleaning/admin, L1–7).
• Aged-care nurses are paid under the Nurses Award — not this award.
• Saturday +50%, Sunday +75%, public holidays +150%.
• Sleepovers and shift loadings are easy to miss.
• Update every July and keep good records.

For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website.