Aged Care Award pay rates 2026, from 1 July 2026

14.1 Aged care employee: general

The following minimum wages apply to employees in the classifications listed in clause B.1, other than senior food services employees paid in accordance with clause 14.2.

Clause 14.1 of the award. Applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026.

14.2 Aged care employee: general: most senior food services employee

The following minimum wages apply to an employee in the classifications Aged care employee: general: levels 4 to 7 listed in clause B.1, if that employee is the single most senior food services employee engaged by any employer at the facility or site.

Clause 14.2 of the award. Applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026.

14.3 Aged care employee: direct care

The following minimum wages apply to employees in the classifications listed in clause B.2.

Clause 14.3 of the award. Applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026.

NOTE: See Schedule I: Classification Translation Arrangements for the minimum rate of pay applicable to employees who were classified as an Aged care employee: direct care under this award on or before 31 December 2024 and employees covered by the Nurses Award 2020 on 31 December 2024 who became covered by this award as a result of PR779152.

(b) An employee apprenticed in the gardening and landscaping trade on or after 1 January 2015 will be paid the percentage of the minimum wage for an aged care employee: general: level 4 in clause 14.1 set out in the following table:

14.6 Adult apprentices

(a) The minimum rate for an adult apprentice who commenced on or after 1 January 2014 and is in the first year of their apprenticeship must be 80% of the minimum wage for aged care employee: general: level 4 in clause 14.1, or the rate prescribed by clause 14.2 or 14.5 for the relevant year of the apprenticeship, whichever is the greater.

(b) The minimum rate for an adult apprentice who commenced on or after 1 January 2014 and is in the second and subsequent years of their apprenticeship must be the rate for the lowest adult classification in clause 14.1 or the rate prescribed by the relevant apprenticeship clause 14.2 or 14.5 for the relevant year of the apprenticeship, whichever is the greater.

(c) A person employed by an employer under this award immediately prior to entering into a training agreement as an adult apprentice with that employer must not suffer a reduction in their minimum wage by virtue of entering into the training agreement, provided that the person has been an employee in that enterprise for at least six months as a full-time employee or twelve months as a part-time or regular casual employee immediately prior to commencing the apprenticeship. For the purpose only of fixing a minimum wage, the adult apprentice must continue to receive the minimum wage that applies to the classification specified in clauses 14.1 to 14.3 in which the adult apprentice was engaged immediately prior to entering into the training agreement.

14.7 Apprentice conditions of employment

(a) Except as provided in this clause or where otherwise stated, all conditions of employment specified in this award apply to apprentices.

(b) Where an apprentice is required to attend block release training for training identified in or associated with their training contract, and such training requires an overnight stay, the employer must pay for the excess reasonable travel costs incurred by the apprentice in the course of travelling to and from such training. Provided that this clause will not apply where the apprentice could attend an alternative Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and the use of the more distant RTO is not agreed between the employer and the apprentice.

(c) For the purposes of clause 14.7(b) above, excess reasonable travel costs include the total costs of reasonable transportation (including transportation of tools where required), accommodation costs incurred while travelling (where necessary) and reasonable expenses incurred while travelling, including meals, which exceed those incurred in travelling to and from work. For the purposes of this subclause, excess travel costs do not include payment for travelling time or expenses incurred while not travelling to and from block release training.

(d) The amount payable by an employer under clause 14.7(b) may be reduced by an amount the apprentice is eligible to receive for travel costs to attend block release training under a Government apprentice assistance scheme. This will only apply if an apprentice has either received such assistance or their employer has advised them in writing of the availability of such assistance.

(e) All training fees charged by an RTO for prescribed courses and the cost of all prescribed textbooks (excluding those textbooks which are available in the employer’s technical library) for the apprenticeship, which are paid by an apprentice, shall be reimbursed by the employer within six months of the commencement of the apprenticeship or the relevant stage of the apprenticeship, or within three months of the commencement of the training provided by the RTO, whichever is the later, unless there is unsatisfactory progress.

(f) An employer may meet its obligations under 14.7(e) by paying any fees and/or cost of textbooks directly to the RTO.

(g) An apprentice is entitled to be released from work without loss of continuity of employment and to payment of the appropriate wages to attend any training and assessment specified in, or associated with, the training contract.

(h) Time spent by an apprentice in attending any training and/or assessment specified in, or associated with, the training contract is to be regarded as time worked for the employer for the purposes of calculating the apprentice’s wages and determining the apprentice’s employment conditions. This subclause operates subject to the provisions of Schedule E: School-based Apprentices.

(i) No apprentice will, except in an emergency, work or be required to work overtime or shiftwork at times which would prevent their attendance at training consistent with their training contract.