Goodwin Aged Care Paid Back $1.39 Million to 335 Staff: How 'Flexibility Agreements' Went Wrong

Goodwin Aged Care Services Limited, a registered charity providing retirement living, residential aged care, home care and allied health in the ACT and New South Wales, has signed an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman after underpaying 335 employees. Back-payments of more than $1.39 million, including interest and superannuation, have been completed. Individual amounts ran from $38,760 down to $2, with an average of $4,165. More than 75% of the underpaid workers were from a non-English speaking background and 10% held visas (Fair Work Ombudsman media release, 22 September 2026).

Goodwin self-reported in July 2024 after an internal audit. The audit found that individual flexibility arrangements (IFAs) covering 313 employees did not meet the better-off-overall test and were over-reliant on non-monetary benefits. Separately, a payroll configuration error meant 22 residential care employees who were not on IFAs were not paid the penalty rates owed for early-afternoon shifts, a problem that got worse during the pandemic when staff worked that shift more often. The underpayments ran from July 2018 to March 2025 and hit personal care workers, nurses, care managers, catering assistants, cleaners, laundry attendants, chefs, allied health professionals, planning officers and administrators, across casual, part-time and full-time engagements.

Every modern award and most enterprise agreements contain a flexibility term that lets an employer and an individual employee agree to vary certain conditions, typically when work is performed, overtime and penalty rates, allowances and leave loading. The catch is the better off overall test: the arrangement must leave the employee better off overall than they would be under the award or agreement as it stands. It must be in writing, signed by both sides, and genuinely agreed; it cannot be a condition of getting the job. Either party can end it by written agreement, or by giving written notice under the flexibility term. The Fair Work Ombudsman's IFA page covers the rules and has a best-practice guide.

Goodwin's problem was the trade. Penalty rates and allowances have a dollar value that is easy to measure; "non-monetary benefits" such as preferred rosters or flexibility do not, and an arrangement that swaps real money for soft benefits will struggle to pass the test. Three hundred and thirteen employees on arrangements that failed it is a systems failure, not 313 individual mistakes, which is why the undertaking requires an independent auditor, board-level accountability, ongoing communication with staff through the workplace consultative committee and a public notice on Goodwin's website.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth used the case to repeat a warning to the whole sector: check IFAs and enterprise agreements, fix payroll configuration, and train staff. The Ombudsman's recent investigations of 22 residential and home care providers recovered more than $5.3 million for nearly 3,600 direct care workers, and it is now auditing 30 providers on the pay of cleaning and catering employees. Migrant workers and visa holders are a stated priority, with the Ombudsman noting they "have the same rights as any other employees in Australia and have protections for their visa if they call out for help". The wider context is in our summary of the Ombudsman's $453 million year.

• Find the document. If you signed anything called a flexibility arrangement, an individual agreement or a "roster flexibility" agreement, ask payroll for a copy.
• Price the give and the get. List every award entitlement the IFA changes, put the award dollar value on each for a typical fortnight, and compare it with what you actually receive. Our Aged Care Award pay rates page has the current minimums and penalties, and the payslip checker tests a real payslip against them.
• If you are worse off, you can end it. Give written notice under the flexibility term, and use the back-pay calculator to work out what you have been short-changed. Underpayments can be recovered for up to six years.
• Early-afternoon and evening shifts carry penalties under the Aged Care Award and most care awards. If your payslip shows the same rate for every shift, that alone is worth a check.