Skip to main content
FairWorkMate
FWCFair Work Commission · 30 January 2025

Stage 3 decision [2024] FWCFB 150

Citation: [2024] FWCFB 150

At a glance

Awards cited
MA000018, MA000034, MA000100

What happened

The Health Services Union (HSU) and Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) applied to vary three modern awards: Aged Care Award 2010, Nurses Award 2020, and Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010. The applications sought increases in minimum wage rates for aged care sector employees. Previous stages of the proceedings involved assessing legal principles, determining interim pay increases (15% from June 30, 2023), and considering work value reasons. Stage 3 focuses on further wage adjustments based on work value for direct care employees, assessments for indirect care employees, and detailed review of classification structures within the awards.

What was decided

The Fair Work Commission Full Bench (President Hatcher, Vice President Asbury, Deputy President O’Neill) is proceeding with Stage 3 of the proceedings. This stage will assess further wage adjustments based on work value for direct care employees and indirect care employees. It also involves a detailed review of classification structures within the Aged Care Award, Nurses Award, and SCHADS Award, including consideration of aligning Registered Nurse classifications with the C10 Metals Framework.

What it means for employers

Employers in the aged care sector should be prepared for further potential wage adjustments based on work value assessments. They need to review their classification structures and consider how they align with industry standards and frameworks like the C10 Metals Framework, particularly regarding roles such as Personal Care Workers (PCWs) and Registered Nurses.

What it means for employees

Employees in the aged care sector, especially direct care employees, may be eligible for further wage adjustments. It's important to understand how their role is classified and whether it aligns with industry standards or frameworks used to determine pay rates.

Want this applied to your situation?

Reading the decision is free. FairWork Mate goes further — it reads the full case library and applies precedents like this one to your specific facts, citing the cases as it reasons. General information, not a guaranteed outcome or legal advice.

underpaymentpenalty-ratesmodern-award-variationgeneral-protectionscasual-conversionwage-theft

Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:

https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/decisionssigned/pdf/2024fwcfb150.pdf

Want more cases like this?

FairWork Mate tracks Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission and Federal Court decisions across Australia. The AI advisor answers plain-English questions grounded on the full corpus — awards cited, industry, penalty amounts and affected employee counts — with a citation to the underlying decision on every answer.

Individual case summaries on this site are free. Full-corpus advisor access is a paid product — Business Solo from $99/mo, 50% off your first 3 months for the first 100 signups.

Get notified on new Fair Work cases

Free email alerts when we publish new underpayment decisions, penalty orders, and workplace law updates.

Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

This summary was drafted from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections →

← All cases