Award question remains unresolved

Family Day Care pay equity question remains unresolved following SCHADS decision

The Fair Work Commission has released its final decision in the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010, commonly known as the SCHADS Award, as part of the gender-based undervaluation priority awards review.

The decision finalises significant changes for many workers covered by SCHADS. However, for Family Day Care, the outcome is not yet settled.

In the decision, the Commission specifically refers to Schedule D — Classification Definitions — Family Day Care Employees. It notes that, in an earlier decision, the Commission had expressed a provisional view that the inclusion of family day care work in the SCHADS Award is an “anomaly”, and that this work should instead be covered by the Children’s Services Award 2010.

However, that change has not yet been made.

Instead, the Commission has stated that a new Expert Panel for pay equity in the Care and Community Sector will shortly be established to deal with the issue “to finality”. The Commission also expects this question to be determined before the new SCHADS classification structure is implemented.

For Family Day Care Queensland, this means the award position for Family Day Care remains an active and unresolved issue.

Recognition matters

The review is part of a broader process looking at gender-based undervaluation in care and community work.

In its SCHADS decision, the Commission confirmed that the review was initiated to consider whether identified classifications in several modern awards had been subject to gender-based undervaluation. It also found that parts of the SCHADS Award had been undervalued and that changes to pay rates were justified by work value reasons.

For many workers covered by SCHADS, this decision represents an important step towards fairer recognition of the skill, responsibility and value of their work.

For Family Day Care, the next step is still to come.

Why this matters for home-based early childhood education and care

Family Day Care is early childhood education and care.

It is regulated. It is professional. It is relationship-based. It supports children’s learning, development, safety and wellbeing in small group, home-based environments.

Family Day Care educators work under the National Quality Framework, deliver care and education aligned with the approved learning frameworks, and support children and families in ways that are deeply connected to their homes, routines, cultures and communities.

Family Day Care services also rely on skilled staff who support educators through coordination, compliance, administration, practice support, family engagement, risk management and quality improvement.

Yet the award question shows how easily home-based early childhood education and care can sit awkwardly within systems not designed with this model clearly in mind.

When early childhood education and care is viewed mainly through a centre-based lens, Family Day Care can too easily be treated as the exception, the technical detail or the difficult-to-place part of the system.

The Commission’s use of the word “anomaly” is important. It recognises that the current award placement of Family Day Care work does not sit neatly with the broader treatment of children’s services work. But recognition alone is not the same as resolution.

FDCQ will continue to monitor the process

Family Day Care Queensland welcomes the fact that the issue remains live and is expected to be considered further by a dedicated Expert Panel.

We also recognise that this is complex. Award coverage, classification structures and pay equity processes involve detailed legal, industrial and operational questions.

However, the core principle is simple: home-based early childhood education and care must be properly seen, understood and valued.

Family Day Care educators and the service staff who support them are part of the early childhood education and care workforce. Their work should not be overlooked because it happens in homes rather than centres.

FDCQ will continue to monitor the next stage of the Fair Work Commission process and advocate for Family Day Care to be recognised as a skilled, regulated and essential part of the early childhood education and care sector.

Further submissions in relation to the SCHADS matter are currently due on 29 June 2026, according to the Fair Work Commission’s timetable.

What happens next

At this stage, there is no final change to the award placement of Family Day Care.

The key point for services, educators and sector stakeholders is that the matter has not been closed. The Commission has indicated that the issue will be dealt with by a new Expert Panel for pay equity in the Care and Community Sector.

FDCQ will provide further updates as more information becomes available.

FDCQ  disclaimer

This article provides a general sector update only and should not be relied on as legal, employment or industrial relations advice. Services and employers should seek their own advice about award coverage, classification and pay obligations.

You can read the June 2, Decision from this url: Decision [2026] FWCFB 137

To make a submission visit the FWC Gender-based undervaluation review website.