Summary of upcoming changes to the Health Professionals and Support Services Award

On Christmas Eve the Fair Work Commission published their next decision relating to changes to classifications and increases to minimum wages for Health Professionals such as Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Dieticians, Remedial Massage Therapists and other allied health professions.

The short version….

Classifications are changing and rates for Dental Assistants and Pathology Collectors are increasing from 1^st April 2026, with the final rates to take effect from 1^st January 2027.

Due to the complexity of changes to the Health Professionals classifications and pay rates:

• FWC will issue a draft determination in January
• Parties will have 28 days to make comments
• FWC will issue the final determination after this (perhaps March)
• First increase will take effect 30^th June 2026
• Pay increases will be phased in over 5 years

What classification and level will my practitioner now be?

The FWC has recommended that employees will be classified according to the standard qualification required for their profession, rather than the employee’s actual qualification. For example this could mean a Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist will likely be considered an AQF7 profession while a Chiropractor will likely be a AQF8.

The FWC viewed that it would undesirable for employees practicing the same profession to be paid differently depending upon the university course which they happened to undertake.

If there is no standard qualification identifiable, the proposal is employees would likely be classified by their actual qualification – this is up for consideration still.

The proposal for standard qualifications will be published in the draft in January.

How much will pay rates be increasing for clinicians?

Increases from current rates to the final rates will be phased in over 5 years. So the below are NOT the rates that will commence 30^th June 2026.

Classification	AQF 5 (Diploma)	AQF 6 (Advanced Diploma)	AQF 7 (Bachelor)	AQF 8 (Masters)	AQF 9 (Doctorate)
Entry Level – 1st Year	$1,188	$1,283	$1,499	$1,545	$1,649
2nd – 3rd Year	$1,250	$1,350	$1,5790	$1,626	$1,736
4th – 6th Year	$1,361	$1,471	$1,719	$1,771	$1,822
7th Year +	$1,471	$1,589	$1,859	$1,960	$1,969

While increases at the AQF5 and AQF6 levels are lower; for those at AQF7 and above graduates will see around a 30% increase in minimum wages and experienced practitioners generally around 20-25%.

Due to rates being phased in over 5 years, this could for example look like a 5% increase each year for example plus whatever the minimum wage increase for that year.

Depending on how your wages are structured, this could result in big changes to your structures.

The three main categories I see with clients are:

• Salaries that already far exceed the Award – likely little impact to you
• Base salaries that are close to the Award with no incentives

What are the new pay rates for Senior Clinicians and Clinical Leads?

Similar to the current system, there are higher levels for clinicians. It doesn’t appear a clinician would automatically progress from Level 1 to Level 2 as happens presently, unless they meet the new definition.

Below is a summery of the Level descriptors and the proposed rates:

Level	Description	Rate
Level 2.1	Senior Clinician·       requires specialist knowledge or depth of experience·       may have obtained a post graduate qualification and/or perform advanced practice work·       may supervise or provide clinical guidance and direction to less experienced employees	$1,993.30
Level 2.2	5yrs + experience at Level 2	$2,121.90
Level 3	Advanced Clinician / Clinical Lead·       advanced clinician who is a specialist in clinical area of their profession and has extensive levels of specialist knowledge·       may be responsible for leading a team or managing a section, department or service including accountability for ensuring budgets are met	$2,282.00
Level 4 Manager	Manager·       capacity to allocate resources, set priorities and ensure budgets are met within a large and complex organisation·       may be responsible for providing effective services and ensuring budget/strategic targets are met·       develops, implements and deliver strategic business plans	$2,588.20

How much do we need to pay Dental Assistants in 2026?

The Fair Work Commission determined that Dental Assistants and Pathology Collectors need to be reclassified within the Support Services level structure to better reflect the qualifications and responsibilities for their roles.

First stage are increases to Dental Assistants and Pathology Collectors effective 1^st April 2026. There are transitional provisions with the change in classifications and initial updated hourly rates taking effect 1^st April 2026.  

From 1^st April to 31^st December 2026 the following rates will apply for Dental Assistants:

Previous Classification	New Classification	Description	Hourly Rate
Level 1 or 2	Level 3	No qual, <1yrs experience	$27.79
Level 2	Level 5	No qual, 1-4yrs experience	$27.83
Level 2Level 4	Level 6	Cert III or equivalent experienceNo qual >4yrs experience	$29.24
Level 5	Level 7	Cert IV or equivalent experience	$30.23

How much are wages increasing for Pathology Collectors in 2026?

From 1^st April to 31^st December 2026 the following rates will apply for Pathology Collectors:

Previous Classification	New Classification	Description	Hourly Rate
Level 4	Level 5	No qual, <1yrs experience	$29.07
Level 4	Level 6	Cert III, <1yrs experienceNo qual 1-2yrs experience	$29.24
Level 5	Level 7	No qual, 2+yrs experience	$30.23
Level 5Level 6	Level 7	Cert III, >1yrs experienceOr previously classified as a Level 6	$31.19

The golden question, will NDIS Pricing be Increasing?

I have clients who operate businesses with private paying clients, NDIS clients or mixed billing.

The common question from those operating in the NDIS space is will NDIS be increasing its pricing and funding given the Fair Work Commission is implementing around a 25% increase for minimum wages for most Allied Health professions over the next 5 years.

Well…

The NDIA released its 3-Year Pricing Workplan (2025–2028) this month.

The workplan confirms no major therapy pricing reform before 2027, with evidence-building underway and pricing design to follow. It also reinforces momentum toward differentiated pricing and increased scrutiny of billing and indirect time.

I’d highly recommend getting in touch with your Professional Association to ask them about what advocacy they are providing to the NDIA in light of increased wage costs.

You can also ask whether they will be making submissions to the FWC after the next draft decision is released.

When the FWC increased wages for nursing staff in Aged Care the government committed $17.7b to fund the increases.

The question I encourage you to ask is, will they be doing the same for NDIS funding?

What actions should I take to get ready for changes to the HPSS Award?

We recommend that if you don’t already have this, you should make a list of all of your employees that includes:

• Position Title
• Year Qualification was Obtained
• What their Qualification is
• How much experience they have
• Their current classification
• Their current pay
• If they are paid bonuses or commissions, how much they have been paid in the last 12 months
• How much revenue they have generated in the last 12 months

All of this is the information I use with clients to work out revenue and wage cost projections and design a structure, including key performance metrics, for your team.

You also need to make sure your position descriptions are clear so you can determine whether your employees are Level 1, 2, 3 or 4.

I often see clinics over inflating their classifications so they can pay more than the Award, but you should always classify employees according to the Award and simply pay above the Award.

Can you help with working out wages under the new structure?

Absolutely!

As soon as the final decision is released around March, we’ll be busy helping clients reclassify their employees, advise on how much they need to be paying now and redesigning their bonuses.

Book a call to get your wage structures updated.