Aged Care Award Wages - Historical Leave Liabilities Increases – 1 March and 1 October 2025

The purpose of this grant opportunity is to provide $41.92 million in 2025-26 in one-off funding to eligible providers to pay eligible aged care workers to take their leave entitlements at the increased wage rates effective from 1 March 2025 and/or 1 October 2025 as a result of Fair Work Commission (FWC) decisions under the Aged Care Work Value Case (ACWVC) only. 

This grant opportunity will only cover:

• 1 March 2025 and 1 October 2025 award wage increases for eligible aged care nurses, and 
• 1 October 2025 award wage increases for other eligible aged care workers, such as home care and personal care workers.

This grant opportunity recognises that accumulated leave liabilities for eligible aged care workers will have increased as a result of the FWC ACWVC decisions that apply on these dates, and the associated cost to aged care providers when workers take this leave will have increased. 

Eligibility:

To be eligible you must be one of the following entity types:

• Indigenous Corporation (registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006)
• Company 
• Corporate Commonwealth Entity
• Non-Corporate Commonwealth Statutory Authority 
• Corporate State or Territory Entity 
• Non-corporate State or Territory Entity 
• Non-corporate State or Territory Statutory Authority
• Local Government
• Cooperative
• Incorporated Association
• Statutory Entity 
• Partnership, or
• Unincorporated Association.

If you are applying as a Trustee on behalf of a Trust, the Trustee must have an eligible entity type as listed above.

Applications can only be accepted from eligible aged care providers that:

• have increased aged care worker wages as a result of the FWC’s ACWVC award wage increase decisions effective from 1 March 2025 and/or 1 October 2025, and:
• are an approved aged care provider of one or more of the programs listed below: 
  • residential aged care and / or 
  • Home Care Packages Program (until 31 October 2025) and / or 
  • Commonwealth Home Support Programme and / or 
  • Transition Care Programme and / or 
  • Short-Term Restorative Programme (until 31 October 2025), and / or 
  • National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program, and 
• have eligible aged care workers whose wages have been increased as a result of the FWC ACWVC decisions effective from 1 March 2025 and/or 1 October 2025 and are employed under the following awards (or under an enterprise agreement that is underpinned by these awards):
  • Aged Care Award 2010
  • Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS Award) (Schedule F)
  • Nurses Award 2020 

Please note: If you employ workers through the Indigenous Employment Initiative and those workers have eligible accumulated leave liabilities as of 28 February 2025 and/or 30 September 2025, include those workers in your claim.