Aged Care Nurses Got Their Final Pay Rise on 1 August 2026 — Here's Exactly What Changed

The Fair Work Commission's aged care work value case reached its finish line. From the first full pay period on or after 1 August 2026, minimum rates for nurses working in aged care rose by 1.45% to 4.43% depending on classification (determination PR812118). This is the third and final tranche of the case — the earlier steps landed on 1 March 2025 and 1 October 2025.

The biggest single winner is the supervising enrolled nurse, whose minimum moved from $38.86 to $40.58 an hour ($1,542.00 a week) — a 4.43% step worth about $3,400 a year full-time. You can check your own classification in our Aged Care Pay Rise Calculator.

Post-1-August full-time weekly minimums under the Nurses Award aged-care tables: RN Level 1 starts at $1,571.60 (first year), rising to $1,801.10 with more than 4 years' experience. RN Level 2 tops out at $2,046.00, Level 3 at $2,094.20, Level 4 at $2,390.30 and Level 5 at $2,711.30. The supervising EN rate is $1,542.00.

Not every nursing classification moved: nurse practitioners and student ENs got 0% in this tranche — their last rise was the 1 July 2026 Annual Wage Review (+4.75%). And because the rise recalculated on top of that AWR increase, nurses got both, compounded — the work value rises stack on annual rises, they don't absorb them.

If you're an assistant in nursing, personal care worker or home care worker wondering where your 1 August rise is: your part of the case already finished. Direct care workers under the Aged Care Award and home care workers under the SCHADS Award completed their work value increases on 1 October 2025, then picked up the +4.75% Annual Wage Review on 1 July 2026.

Across the whole case, aged care classifications rose 4.2% to 25.5% on top of the 15% interim increase from mid-2023 — around 400,000 workers benefited. Current direct-care minimums run from $1,239.00 a week (Level 1) to $1,541.90 (Level 6 team leader). Check your exact rate on our Aged Care Award pay rates page or the Nurses Award page.

The rise applies from your first full pay period on or after 1 August 2026 — so depending on your pay cycle, the first affected payslip may land mid-August. If it still doesn't move: these are award minimums. If you're on an enterprise agreement or paid above award, your employer can lawfully leave your rate unchanged until the minimum catches up — our Above-Award Absorption Checker explains how that works.

If you're on award rates and the new minimum isn't being paid, raise it in writing with payroll first. If that goes nowhere, you can recover up to 6 years of underpayments — our AI advisor can walk through your specific numbers, or start with the calculator and take the result to your employer.