Originally published on mrpurple.com.au.

By Dr Tom Hitchcock, founder of Mr Purple (LinkedIn)

Every NDIS provider owner knows the feeling. Wages go up, the NDIS maximum price moves by a different amount at a different time, and the margin you thought you had quietly disappears. Call it the SCHADS gap: the difference between what a shift really costs you under the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award and what the NDIS will pay for it. This article is about measuring that gap honestly and deciding what to do with it. It is written by a business coach, so it is about decisions, not payroll rules. For the award itself, the source is the Fair Work Ombudsman, and for prices it is the NDIS pricing arrangements page.

Where the SCHADS gap comes from

Two different systems set your income and your biggest cost.

• Your wage costs follow the award. The Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review lifted modern award minimum rates by 4.75 per cent from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026, and many providers pay above the award anyway.
• Your income for NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants is capped by the NDIS maximum prices, now set out in the 2026-27 pricing schedule under the Minister’s pricing determination.

The two rarely move on the same day or by the same amount. On top of the base rate sit the costs that never appear on a price list: superannuation at 12 per cent, penalty rates, broken shift and travel allowances, leave, training, supervision, rostering, and the time a support worker spends on things nobody can claim for. The gap is the sum of all of it.

How to measure your SCHADS gap, shift by shift

Averages hide the problem. Measure by shift type, because a weekday daytime shift and a Sunday shift behave very differently.

1. List your common shift types. Weekday daytime, evening, Saturday, Sunday, public holiday, sleepover, and any community access shifts with heavy travel.
2. Work out the true hourly cost of each. Base rate for the classification your workers are actually on, plus the penalty or loading, plus super, plus an allowance for leave, plus your share of supervision and rostering time. Your payroll provider or accountant can help you get this right.
3. Add the non-billable time. Handovers, notes, training, short cancellations you could not claim. Spread it across the billable hours.
4. Compare with what you can claim. Use the current maximum price for the support item, or the price you actually charge if it is lower.
5. Write the gap down for each shift type. Positive, negative or break even. One page. Your leadership team should see it every quarter.

Most owners who do this for the first time find one or two shift types carrying the rest, and one that loses money every time it runs.

What owners can do about the SCHADS gap

You cannot set the award and you cannot set the price limit. You can decide almost everything in between. The moves that tend to matter most:

• Fix the roster before the rate. Broken shifts, long travel between clients and short visits are where margin leaks. A tighter roster often closes more of the gap than any price conversation.
• Protect your coordinators’ time. Unclaimable admin grows quietly. Give it a number and a limit.
• Look hard at the service mix. If a service loses money on every shift, decide on purpose whether you keep it for good reasons, change how it runs, or stop it.
• Get cancellations and claims under control. Every claim that bounces is a shift you paid for twice.
• Get the founder out of the bottleneck. If every pricing, rostering and hiring decision waits for you, the gap grows while you are busy.

Paying people well and staying viable

None of this is an argument for paying people less. Good support workers are the business, and most owners want to pay them more, not less. The point of measuring the SCHADS gap is to make that possible: to know which parts of the business fund decent wages and which parts quietly drain them. Staff retention is cheaper than recruitment, and a business with a clear margin view can make better promises to its team.

Who to ask about what

• Award classifications, pay rates and entitlements: the Fair Work Ombudsman, your payroll provider or an employment adviser.
• Prices, support items and claiming: the NDIS pricing schedule and NDIA guidance.
• Tax and superannuation: your accountant and the ATO.
• What to do with the business once you know the numbers: that is where business coaching for NDIS providers earns its keep. Read more on our page about business coaching for NDIS providers, and our explainer on NDIS pricing 2026-27.

The short version

Measure the gap by shift type, show it to your leadership team, and make one decision a month that closes it. If you would like a second pair of eyes on the numbers and the decisions, book 15 minutes with Tom.

Common questions

What is the SCHADS gap?

It is the difference between what a shift really costs an NDIS provider under the SCHADS Award, including super, penalties, leave and non-billable time, and what the provider can claim under the NDIS maximum prices.

How much did award rates rise from 1 July 2026?

The Fair Work Commission's annual wage review increased modern award minimum rates by 4.75 per cent from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Check the exact rate for each classification with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

How often should a provider measure its SCHADS gap?

Every time wages or prices change, and at least once a quarter. A one page view by shift type is enough for a leadership team to act on.

Can a business coach advise on SCHADS Award pay rates?

No. Pay rates and entitlements belong to the Fair Work Ombudsman, your payroll provider or an employment adviser. Business coaching helps owners decide what to do once the numbers are clear: rosters, service mix, roles and cash flow.