Fair Work Commission SCHADS Award Wage Increase

In this submission to the Fair Work Commission, QAMH responds to the Commission’s decision to award Schedule E workers under the SCHADS Award a 15 per cent interim wage increase from 1 October 2026. QAMH welcomes the increase as an overdue correction to the gender-based undervaluation of a predominantly female workforce, but stresses that it cannot be delivered sustainably without matching funding from government.

Unless funding is adjusted at the same time as the wage increase, the additional costs will fall directly on providers already facing financial strain, risking service cuts and reduced access for people living with psychosocial disability.

To ensure the wage increase can be implemented without reducing services, QAMH calls for:

• matched Commonwealth and state government funding across all affected funding streams, including the NDIS, Primary Health Network-commissioned services and state-funded programs

• Confirmation that the 1 October 2026 operative date proceeds only once matched funding is secured, drawing on the precedent set by the Commonwealth’s funding response to aged care wage reform

• a coordinated funding response across all programs to prevent workforce shortages and inequities between services funded through different government sources.

Read the Full Submission Here>