The Fair Work Commission has announced the outcome of the 2026 Annual Wage Review. The full minimum wage decision can be viewed here.
We are currently preparing updated wage tables for services to reflect the new minimum wage rates. Members will be notified by email as soon as these are finalised.
Reminder: Employers must implement the new minimum wage rates from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
Below is a summary of the Annual Wage Review and how will interact with both the gender-based undervaluation changes and the Worker Retention Payment.
The Worker Retention Payment (WRP) is linked to eligible award rates, so changes arising from the Annual Wage Review and the gender-based undervaluation decision will impact WRP minimum rates for eligible employees under the Children’s Services Award.
Once the updated rates are available, services should review their payroll settings and wage tables to ensure employees are receiving the correct minimum rates, including any applicable WRP amount.
The WRP payment to services will also be indexed in recognition of the annual wage review.
The next staged increases under the gender-based undervaluation decision are due to take effect from 30 June 2026. This increase will be absorbed into the existing Worker Retention Payment amounts.
We expect updated gender-based undervaluation rates to be released soon by the Department of Education. Once available, these will need to be read together with the Annual Wage Review outcome to determine the correct minimum rates from 1 July 2026, which will be captured in our wage tables once published.
REMINDER: the gender-based undervaluation staged wage increases apply only to employees covered by the Children’s Services Award (2010).
The Worker Retention Payment (WRP) is linked to eligible award rates, so changes arising from the Annual Wage Review and the gender-based undervaluation decision will impact WRP minimum rates for eligible employees under the Children’s Services Award.
Once the updated rates are available, services should review their payroll settings and wage tables to ensure employees are receiving the correct minimum rates, including any applicable WRP amount.
The WRP payment to services will also be indexed in recognition of the annual wage review.
We recognise the annual wage review decision is higher than the current WRP fee constraint guideline. We acknowledge the Fairwork Commission’s decision to increase rates by 4.75% will be challenging.
However, it is important to note that the fee constraint guideline will be reset from 8 August 2026. The Federal Government's decision around what this new fee cap will be is critically important.
We will continue to advocate strongly on your behalf to government, to ensure that the new fee growth cap accurately reflects current operating conditions for the sector.
We understand services would like to prepare themselves for the impending changes appropriately. As soon as further resources are available, we will distribute them to members as soon as possible.
We will be holding a webinar on Friday 19 June to discuss these changes in more depth – please keep an eye out for the webinar registation link later this week.
