Finance Reads: SCHADS 4.75% Checklist, NDIS Claims Overhaul from July, and the Aged Care Audit You Might Not Know Is Coming
Finance Reads: SCHADS 4.75% Checklist, NDIS Claims Overhaul from July, and the Aged Care Audit You Might Not Know Is Coming
Four reads for finance managers in NFP, NDIS, and aged care heading into a busy July — plus the compliance timeline that's easy to miss in the noise around the wage increase.
With 1 July landing mid-week this year, there's a reasonable chance some of the changes below haven't made it onto a payroll checklist somewhere that they should have. Here's what I'm watching this week.
SCHADS Award 4.75%: What Actually Needs Updating Before You Run Your Next Pay Cycle
The 4.75% Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review increase applies to modern award minimum wages from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026. For providers covered by the SCHADS Award — which covers most NDIS, home care, and community care workers — this is not just a rate update. The increase affects base hourly rates, penalty rates, casual loadings, overtime, and higher duties calculations, all of which flow from the award base.
The common error I see: updating the base rate but not re-checking whether the derived rates (penalties, loadings, overtime at time-and-a-half or double-time) have all been recalculated off the new base. A small payroll setup error repeated across hundreds of shifts compounds quickly. Worth confirming with your payroll system vendor how their SCHADS Award tables update — some are automatic, some require manual intervention.
Additionally: some organisations employ workers whose duties may be covered by different awards depending on the nature of the work performed — SCHADS applies to most NDIS and home care support workers, but roles that cross into aged care facility or health service settings may attract different awards. The correct award is determined by actual duties performed, not job title, which can make mixed-role positions worth reviewing carefully and is worth checking before July if it hasn't been reviewed recently.
NDIS 2026–27 Pricing Schedule: What the Rate Increase Doesn't Cover
The NDIA released the 2026–27 NDIS Pricing Schedule on 22 June, effective 1 July 2026. Support worker rates rise 4.8% — the same FWC wage decision covered in the SCHADS card above, now flowing through to the NDIS price limits. That part is straightforward. What's harder to work with is everything else the Pricing Schedule does and doesn't include.
Support Coordination and Plan Management prices are unchanged — again. They've been effectively frozen for several years running, while compliance and administrative obligations have continued to grow. For organisations running these services, the cost of delivering them hasn't stood still even if the price limit has.
The Pricing Schedule landed without the full rules document. The NDIA published a Pricing Schedule but not the full Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL) or a new Support Catalogue. That means providers enter the new financial year with confirmed rates but incomplete claiming rules — particularly for DSW, Nursing and Support Coordination providers, where the rules for Non-Face-to-Face time, Provider Travel and Short Notice Cancellations have been removed without a confirmed replacement published yet. Software vendors are patching their systems as best they can.
On the systems side: From July 2026, the NDIA also begins rolling out upgrades to its claims and payments system — the start of a multi-year modernisation running to 2030. Confirm with your practice management or payroll software vendor whether any portal or API changes on their end are needed before July to stay compatible.
The broader reform context: the Securing the NDIS Bill (introduced 14 May 2026) includes expanded mandatory registration from July 2027 and a new plan management commissioning model from October 2027. If your organisation hasn't mapped its registration status against the forthcoming mandatory registration categories, that assessment is now genuinely time-sensitive.
The combination of a partial price increase, incomplete claiming rules, and mandatory system changes all landing simultaneously makes internal cost discipline and efficient management reporting more important heading into FY27, not less. When revenue headroom is constrained, the margin you can control is the one that comes from running your finance function efficiently.
Sources: NDIA — Pricing updates (22 June 2026) | Department of Health — Securing the NDIS reform timeline
Aged Care Pricing Risk Assessments: If You're Selected, You Need Your Payroll Records Ready
Starting from Q4 2025-26 (April to June 2026), the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing began introducing pricing risk assessments for a sample of residential aged care providers. These are not a compliance enforcement action — the Department has been clear about that — but they do require selected providers to submit payroll records and rosters on request.
The purpose is to help the Department understand the impact of potential misreporting on funding policy, and to give the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority reliable data for setting evidence-based prices. In practice, this means that any residential aged care provider operating in the current period could receive a request to provide payroll and roster data. If your payroll records, classification structures, and roster management are not in a state where you could produce clean, organised documentation quickly, it's worth assessing that readiness now rather than after a request arrives.
This is also part of a broader trend across health and care regulation toward greater use of structured data in oversight activities. Finance teams that maintain well-structured, readily accessible records are increasingly in a structurally different position from those that don't.
Source: Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission — Quality Bulletin #3-2026
30 June Is Tomorrow. Here's What NFP and NDIS Finance Teams Need to Close Before Then — and Start After.
With EOFY landing mid-week this year, there are a handful of items that deserve a specific call-out for NFP and NDIS finance teams, beyond the standard bookkeeping close.
Before 30 June (today/tomorrow):
- Super contributions clearing time. Super must be received by the fund before 30 June to be deductible in the current year — not just sent. Contributions paid in the last few days of June often don't clear in time. If this hasn't been actioned, check the clearing timeline with your clearing house today.
- Grant income recognition. For organisations receiving government grants or philanthropic funding, ensure income is correctly recognised under the applicable accounting standard (AASB 1058 or AASB 15 depending on the grant conditions). Incorrectly deferred or prematurely recognised grant income is a common source of audit adjustments in NFP financial reporting — worth a quick check before close.
- Instant asset write-off. Eligible businesses (under $10M turnover) can immediately deduct assets up to $20,000 — but only if the asset is installed ready for use by 30 June 2026. Delivery alone doesn't count. Note on 1 July: the 2026–27 Budget announced the $20,000 threshold will be made permanent from 1 July 2026, but as of the date of this post the enabling legislation has not yet passed. Until it does, the technically legislated default reverts to $1,000 — confirm the current status with your tax adviser or check the ATO website before assuming the $20,000 threshold continues automatically.
- Accruals and prepayments. Post all June accruals before you lock the period. Expenses incurred before 30 June but paid after still need to be recognised this financial year — but they need to be in the system before close.
From 1 July (new FY opens):
- Payday Super starts. From 1 July, superannuation must be paid at the same time as wages and received by the fund within 7 business days of payday. Quarterly batching ends. If your payroll process hasn't been reconfigured for this yet, it needs to happen before your first post-July pay run.
- SBSCH closes. The ATO's free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closes permanently — see Tuesday's post on the PFL Super Tool for what that means if you haven't found a replacement yet.
- STP finalisation. Single Touch Payroll finalisation is due by 14 July 2026. This generates income statements for employees so they can lodge their tax returns. Run this as soon as your last June payroll is processed and reconciled.
- Budget assumptions. The SCHADS 4.75% increase and, for childcare providers, the Children's Services Award movement both take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. Now is also the right moment to update FY27 budget templates for the wage increase before they're locked for board sign-off.
Sources: ATO — Finalise your STP payroll information | Accounting for Good — EOFY Checklist for Charities and NFPs 2026
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