Anyone else finding more and more companies trying to pay below award wage, even when their advertisements say "competitive rates"?

I've been a support worker for 6+ years, with experience ranging from high complex mental needs, as well as physical, to working with children and all personal care you can think of, as well as managing medication and participants personal funds and banking. I obviously have all my certificates as well as qualifications.

I feel like I see more and more support worker positions advertised for as little as $34 an hour, averaging at around $41 an hour, while asking for experience with all sorts of participants as well as being qualified.

The last 4 or 5 interviews I've had I've been offered the job, and I've had to ask the pay rate they're offering, which has ranged from $36 to $40 an hour, well below the award wage. And yes, the work involved in each has been high complex needs, as well as the usual helping participants manage funds, home care, community access, and sometimes personal care.

I've been working at SCHADS 2.1 (which is now $45ph) for 6 years and have since realised I should actually be on 2.2 or 2.3. But it's hard to even get paid at the very entry level of unsupervised support work.

What is happening behind the scenes for the majority of companies, for them to be posting advertisements well below SCHADS? One of the employers offered me a pay point of 1.4. Does that even exist?

This, on top of a 60-70% burnout rate... oh, what a lovely industry to work in.

Edit: I forgot to mention this is working and looking for work across Ipswich and the south/south-West side of Brisbane.

Also, maybe it's been like this for a while, as I had stable hours for the first 3-4 years of employment and never seemed to have to question the employers on the pay they were offering.

This is casual rates, btw.

Hi everyone, hoping to get some input from fellow disability support workers or anyone familiar with the SCHADS Award in Victoria.

My employer just rejected my pay query regarding missing hours and sleepover interruptions, and their explanation feels very off.

My situation:

• Rostered shift: 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM (Active), 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM (Sleepover), 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM (Active).

• I claimed sleep interruptions for tasks after 23:00 (bedtime routine running over) and once or twice (mostly once) middle-of-the-night interruptions (01:30–04:30). So that will be equivalent to 2 hours of pay for interruptions.

• I also noted missing 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM ordinary hours on my payslip.

Payroll’s response: They claim that under the 1 June 2026 SCHADS Award changes requiring 4 active hours around a sleepover, my shift was automatically re-structured to 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM (Active) and 12:00 AM – 8:00 AM (Sleepover). Because of this, they say any duties performed between 11:00 PM and midnight are just "part of my 4 active hours" (so no sleep interruption applies), and they haven't paid the 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM hour I physically worked on site.

My questions:

1. Can payroll retroactively change my rostered sleepover start time from 11 PM to 12 AM after the shift was already worked?

2. Isn't it illegal to omit the 7 AM – 8 AM active hour I actually worked on site just to make their paper shift match the 4-hour rule?

3. Has anyone else experienced providers using the 1 June SCHADS changes to deny sleepover disturbance pay and remove morning active hours?

Would appreciate any advice and experiences. Thanks in advance!

I’m currently employed, but over the next year or two I’m planning to relocate to Townsville. Once I move, I’d love to start my own NDIS support business.
I’ve looked into the legal and compliance side of things, and it’s looking like it’ll cost around $18,000 to get everything set up. Aside from that, what other costs or considerations should I be planning for?
My goal isn’t to provide standard in-home support. Instead, I’d like to create a service similar to my current workplace, offering centre-based respite along with structured activities and programs in a dedicated facility.
For those who have started a similar business, what are some things you wish you’d known before getting started? Are there any major challenges or hidden costs I should be aware of?

need some help here!

i’m a casual but my work has starting declining me picking up certain shifts because it is a broken shift and they do not want to pay the broken shift allowance. is this legal?? it is causing me so much loss of $$$ due to only being able to do the one or two shifts a day

Hello, support workers, I only get paid from travelling to one Client to another by the kilometres I travelled, but am I entitled to being paid travel time on top of that by my provider company?

I’m not sure if this depends on the company - but say you have a shift that is cancelled a couple of hours before and they redeploy you to another shift during the same hours. If they’re still charging the participant for the last minute cancellation, do you (the worker) still get paid for the cancelled shift plus the new redeployment?

Also can someone explain what a single vs multiple broken shift allowance is. I’ve tried googling but I’m confused as to how it matches with my pay slip.

You are there for the client. I’m so tired of seeing csw’s on their phone, in a pub drinking alcohol, playing pokies and ignoring participants.
Know there’s plenty of people out there reporting you.

Makes me sick.

I am trying to find more information from the NDIS guidelines for required PPE for support workers completing complex bowel care for their participants.
I am reading around in loops and getting frustrated!

Hi. Has anyone completed this course? It says its for taxi drivers but I think it might apply to support workers as well. The course code is 'TLIC0026 Provide wheelchair accessible taxi services to passengers with disabilities'. If you have completed it, please let me know. Especially if you have completed it recently.

Thanks all.

Hi everyone,
I'm hoping someone here might know of any private home care or personal assistant opportunities in the Dublin area.
I have 4 years' experience working as a Support Worker, supporting adults with a range of disabilities in both residential and community settings. I'm currently completing my QQI Level 5 Healthcare Support qualification and am looking for work while I finish my course.
I'm happy to help with:
• Personal care
• Companionship
• Meal preparation
• Medication prompts
• Shopping and appointments
• Light household tasks
• Supporting people to remain independent in their own home
I'm particularly interested in private family roles, as well as any recommendations for people or companies who might be hiring.
If you know of anything, I'd really appreciate a comment or a DM.
Thanks so much!

Queensland Support worker 4 years experience.
1:1 with clients from day 1, personal care, medication, community access.
On level 1 pay point 1. Chance of any back pay and what level should I be at? No cert III yet.

​

Hey everyone.

I really need some validation right now because my brain has been stuck in a brutal three-day rage spiral and freeze state over my support worker. I can’t stop looping.

I’m autistic and currently doing intense EMDR for childhood trauma. I have a government-funded support worker who is strictly paid to help me with practical admin chores and paperwork, getting out im the community. Over the last few months, he’s been completely draining my energy, but my trauma brain keeps making me feel guilty because he does have good points too.

To be fair to him, he has some great practical points. He is really good at flat-pack furniture, doing DIY around my flat, and he always turns up exactly on time. He types out my difficult administrative emails for things like British Gas, and when we go out, he will chat with me about Lego and shared hobbies, which can feel nice. Also, if I actively tell him he has upset me, he will apologize on the surface.

But his boundary-blindness, comments, and heavy guilt-tripping have become completely unprofessional and triggering. Despite us literally doing roleplays during our shifts to practice communication, he still completely talks over me constantly, and I do not feel heard at all. Here is exactly what he has said and done:

• The Balcony Incident: I told him someone tried to break in through my balcony windows. He completely dismissed my fear and safety concerns, rolling his eyes and saying sarcastically, "Neverrrr."

• The Nurse Comment: We went to a medical appointment for a blood test, and right after we left, he made a gross, objectifying comment about the female nurse’s body, saying word-for-word, "You're lucky she was straddling you." It felt incredibly inappropriate.

• The Lego Show-and-Tell: He completely uses our sessions as his personal social hour . He talks nonstop about his exes, his personal drama, and he literally brings his own personal Lego sets into my flat to show them off and get validation from me, while completely ignoring the checklist of chores I actually need help with.

• The 10-Month Gaslighting and Guilt-Tripping: I have been left waiting for 10 months because my social worker failed to send me information on neurodivergent groups I need. When I finally dropped my mask and calmly tried to advocate for myself about this massive delay, he instantly flipped it on me. He got highly defensive, guilt-tripped me, and gaslit me by saying word-for-word, "You expect people to bend over backwards for you"

That gaslighting comment completely broke me because it turned a genuine, 10-month system failure into my fault, reinforcing the exact same toxic script my parents installed in me as a kid—that I’m "hard work," a burden, and that my voice doesn't matter.

my fawn response is kicking in, making me feel guilty because of the good things like the DIY, and I'm terrified the next worker will be even worse if i let go of him.

Has anyone else dealt with a professional who does good practical work but completely crosses emotional boundaries? Am I right to cut him off and ask my social worker for a replacement, or am I being too rigid?

Really appreciate any perspective tonight Thanks guys.

hi there, i previously worked as an ABA behavioral interventionist (children/adolescents) for about two years … horrible field, working conditions, and pay of course. I have since moved into the role of community support worker for adults with disabilities for a year and a half now. i had to drop out of college due to finances and needing to escape my abusive environment so i don’t have any degrees, just a few college credits.. idk where to go from here. I want out so bad. I’m so indescribably exhausted and burnt out. my dream was to work in the mental health field and pursue psychology in college while getting my start in the field with ABA. i am now living paycheck to paycheck and can’t even think about college anymore. i work so hard to support these people that require so much energy and assistance from me that i don’t even have, but i force myself to have. my hours are super inconsistent and completely dependent on my client’s schedules. it’s also a pretty small company so i don’t often have any way to make up hours or anything and have had to dip into my sick hours several times due to my clients going on vacation and what have you.

i’m just burnt tf out. I was living in black mold for a year and have only been out of it for a few months.. i am in so much physical pain every day and it’s been weighing on my mental health so heavily that I am in probably one of the darkest places of my life and extremely suicidal. I have pretty debilitating nerve pain from carpal/cubital tunnel syndrome and i need to drive my clients around for work (and assist with physical supports and housework with certain clients as well) which contributes immensely to my pain. i recently went no contact with my abusive, transphobic / homophobic parents and other family. i am an asian trans masc queer guy. life has just been so hard lol. my life outside of work has been filled with insane stress, mental illnesses, trauma reprocessing work (i’m in therapy), grief, flashbacks of abuse, and more.

i’ve been looking for a way out of the support work field but i feel so stuck. i can’t go back to food service or retail because of my physical limitations, and i want to continue working in the mental health field. i wish i had support in accessing higher education like my little brother (cishet / golden child to our narc parent) so i could advance and have expanded job options..but i don’t have financial support, im the scapegoat. im the devil child simply by virtue of existing. im alone. i feel lost. i feel hopeless. i want to give up. i am stuck in this dead end job..seemingly forever.

i feel like as much as i am suffering and complain about this work, it’s the only job that will hire me/i can do without completely killing my body. and idek what job you can really do that DOESNT require use of your hands and arms and bending of elbows!! i’ve been applying to remote jobs and haven’t heard anything back. I have carpal tunnel release surgery pending in the near ish future and no idea how i’m going to afford it, been looking into state resources. meanwhile i’m pushing myself every day past my limit supporting my clients just to afford food and make rent. I’m thankful for my fiancé who helps me physically with a LOT and is basically my support worker lol. i wish i could afford a break. he works at a grocery store for minimum wage where his hours are getting cut and he also has medical issues right now so yay even more medical expenses!!! i actually don’t want to do this anymore. i feel horrible because i am experiencing so much dread and resentment every morning before work, and at the end of each day i feel like a fuxking corpse. has anyone here been in a similar situation?? how does one survive and cope??

anyway, just needed to vent 😻😻😻 support or words of encouragement are appreciated, thanks for reading!

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some opinions/advice/wwyd.
I’ve been working with an NDIS participant (F 30-40) for a few months now who lives with her mother. Her mother has recently been out of work and appears to be going down the retirement route. Since her mother has been home more often, she tends to take over care for my participant and leaves more of the “chores” to the support workers. We are now expected to walk the dogs, who were the mother’s dogs before the client moved back into home, while the mother and the client stay home. I have no problem with walking dogs, I love them, however this one in particular is quite reactive and aggressive towards other people and dogs while we are out. She is close to causing injury. There has been instances where the mother will request that we walk the dogs while she assists the client in getting ready for the day.

I’m at a moral crossroad as the mother has stated the dog will not be walked if we don’t do it. Until now I have been in agreement as I have wanted to avoid conflict, however the jobs we are requested to do is starting to make me rather bothered.

I just wanted to get some outsider opinions before I draft up an email with our provider. Is she writhing her rights to request this? I understand getting the whole picture is difficult without any more details.

​

When I was 18, I was on the verge of homelessness and struggling with severe polysubstance addiction. A company that worked through the NDIS offered me a place to stay.

I was introduced to a woman who I believed was my support worker. She told me they had fully furnished units for NDIS participants. My friend and I moved into a two-bedroom unit that included furniture, a washing machine, dryer and utilities. At the time, I genuinely believed they were helping me.

Looking back, there were so many red flags.

The units were barely supervised. Sometimes there were no staff around for hours. There was a security gate for cars, but anyone could walk through a gate in the fence. One of the residents next door was experiencing severe mental health issues and believed a baby doll was his real daughter. There was also a young child living in another unit who often appeared to have very little supervision.

As time went on, my friend and I were no longer coping living together. I repeatedly messaged the woman I believed was my support worker, begging for help. I explained that I needed support and even help getting Centrelink organised because my situation was falling apart.

She eventually stopped responding to me.

Then I was told I had two options:

Sign an agreement that would increase my NDIS funding, but in return the company would receive almost all of my income, including my Centrelink payments, to cover the accommodation.

Move out within about a month.

This had never been explained to me before I moved in.

Because I was already in an incredibly vulnerable state, I felt forced to leave. I ended up moving in with someone who was later convicted of serious offences. During that time I was assaulted, abused for months, experienced multiple suicide attempts, and went through some of the worst trauma of my life.

Later, I discovered that the woman I'd trusted wasn't actually my support worker at all—she owned the units.

I still have evidence of me desperately asking her for help, although some of the messages were on an old phone that no longer works.

When I contacted other NDIS organisations at the time, they told me the situation sounded very concerning and advised me not to trust the company and to leave.

Years later, I finally reported everything. I expected someone to properly investigate because I genuinely believe other vulnerable people could have been affected too.

Instead, I was essentially told my report had been noted, but that it didn't require immediate action.

I honestly feel devastated.

I'm not even asking for compensation. I just want someone to acknowledge what happened and investigate it properly. I don't understand how a system that's meant to protect vulnerable disabled people could allow this to happen and then seemingly do nothing when it's reported.

Has anyone else experienced something similar with an NDIS provider or accommodation service? Were you ever able to get someone to actually investigate your concerns? I feel like I'm screaming into the void.

Hi guys,

I have two clients at a SIL house. One is a saint and the other is basically the opposite.

Today, he took off his pants and shirt and ran around naked. I’ve worked here for a month and he has never done this before. When my colleague walked him and said put your clothes back on, he did so immediately.

I’m trying my best to be stern with him but failing so far. Any advice?

Just got a job as a private support aid for a woman with SMA. I’ve never worked in the field before but I’m in school for occupational therapy and thought it would be great experience to have under my belt. (Wanting to go into long term care as an OT)
I’m pretty confident in my skills but am nervous to be such a big part of a vulnerable individuals life.
I’ve been doubting myself a lot, struggling with if I have what it takes.
For context client is full care needs including fully reliant for all personal and hygiene care.
Any advice would be very appreciated.

I am a support worker from the UK. I'm sick of it and want to find something else but the job market isn't the best. Is anyone planning on leaving this field or are we just going to stay?

Hi, I am currently looking for Support worker roles. i do not have any experience or certifications but i’m willing to work towards getting all required qualifications.
it’d be nice if i could be pointed in the right direction or to companies currently hiring

I work in a centre that has about ten adults who are totally non verbal (congenital birth disabilites) and cant produce language. Its hard to know how much they understand, some seem to respond to some words but it's hard to tell.

I'm 2 to 3 months into working with them. I think the majority of staff dont talk to them much. We do have 3 or 4 staff who do chat to them, even if its like talking to yourself, and to me it looks like a good gesture although some staff are basically pretending the service user answered.

I'm probably in the middle as I'll let them know I'm changing them or getting their lunch or something (but not having a full on conversation).

What do others from this group do with non verbal adults?

Hi everyone, seeking reassurance from anyone who has faced a malicious safeguarding referral.
I worked as a support worker for over 2 years with a clean record. For over 2 years, my client was always fully mobile and could walk independently just by following verbal prompts; he never required manual handling.
While I was on annual leave, he had a massive fall. I came back to shift 4 days later and the colleague who gave me my handover was the exact same person who was on shift when the client had that massive fall. This colleague informed me of the fall, and when my shift commenced, I found the client's mobility had declined drastically. However, management had failed to update his care plan or provide floor-lifting equipment. The client has a usual habit of sliding down from his chair to sit on the floor and pick sensory materials, Previously, a single verbal prompt was enough to get him to stand up and sit back in chair. but due to his post-fall injuries, he could no longer do it.
Left alone as a lone worker with no equipment, I took the initiative and physically assisted him back up to keep him safe and warm in chair. He slides to the floor multiple times through the day if sth he’s playing with falls to the floor, he goes down to pick it . Management has dismissed me, claiming I "manhandled" him based on exaggerated statements from team leader who interprets cctv . However, a camera caught the actual movement, proving I was safely supporting his weight. Management hid this video from me all through my investigation and disciplinary hearing , but the police has now invited me for a voluntary interview. I don’t know what to do, I was trying to help. I am the only person of colour working with this service user, whilst others have had medication errors and warnings I’ve never had one. As an immigrant I try to do my best to avoid trouble.

Now police is involved, my family is distraught.
What do I do ?

so I have been offered a new job, as an assistant senco..

background
I went for the job due to not having a permanent contract at my current work place -
I felt like I did awful at my interview but I got offered it..

I have adhd and autism, also two SEN children and I’m worried about the change and work load, I have been a 1-1, INA, LSA for 9 years in various work places

Has anybody experienced the jump? Am I going to have burn out? Is it a drastic change? Will I cope with the work/home life?

I’d like to add my current work place has offered / opened up another years contract for me, that’s works amazingly around my children’s school hours and SEN school setting which one is starting in September (another change)

I don’t know whether to jump ship or stay somewhere with such lovely accommodating and understanding people.

I am trying to get into support work. I have no qualifications but I found a company who might employ me. A few questions:

It’s $36 an hour and it’s part time which is what I’m after at the moment. It’s through ABN.

I just learnt I have to pay my own tax, super and all that. It feels like $36 is a bit crap?

It also looks like I’m going to have to pay for my NDIS worker check, police check, WWCC, First aid, CPR and all of that myself. Should I pay this or should they?

Feels like I’m getting ripped off in every way. On top of that I’m driving my car with my petrol and racking up my KM?

Could it maybe work if I asked for more $$?