Aged care wages are raised through a work value case

Five years and nine months from lodgement to the final increase. It is the slowest process in this database and it produced the most durable result in it, which is why it is here.

workforceThe Aged Care Work Value Case, from application to the final staged increase draft compare across jurisdictions

2185 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

6 discrete steps
across 2 bodies

8% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

0 days saved by concurrency
vs. 2185 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

assessment	1335d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.
statutory	580d	A legislated period that must elapse regardless of readiness.
scheduling	180d	Waiting for a person or committee to become available.
applicant	90d	Waiting on the applicant to supply or fix something.

180 of 2185 elapsed days are spent waiting for a person or a meeting rather than for a judgement to be formed. Removing that time changes no assessment standard and lowers no bar -- it is the cost of scheduling alone.

The process, step by step

Applies when: A union seeks to vary award minimum rates on the ground that work has been undervalued.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Application lodged application The Health Services Union applies to vary award rates, arguing the work has been undervalued on gender grounds.	Fair Work Commission	applicant	—	90 published	Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), work value provisions
2	Evidence, submissions and hearings assessment Lay and expert evidence on the nature of the work, its complexity, and historic undervaluation. after Application lodged 1365d slack	Fair Work Commission	assessment	—	730 estimate	—
3	Interim decision: 15 per cent decision An interim increase for direct care workers, ahead of the final determination. after Evidence, submissions and hearings 1125d slack	Fair Work Commission	assessment	—	240 published	—
4	Stage 3 decision decision Further increases of between 3 and 13 per cent for direct and non-direct care workers. after Interim decision: 15 per cent 760d slack	Fair Work Commission	assessment	—	365 published	—
5	Commonwealth funds the increase decision The Commonwealth commits funding so that providers can pay the new rates without recovering them from residents. after Stage 3 decision 580d slack	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	scheduling	—	180 published	—
6	Increases paid in stages registration Increases paid on 1 January 2025 and 1 October 2025, with the final nurses tranche on 1 August 2026. after Commonwealth funds the increase	—	statutory	—	580 published	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Sources

Fair Work Commission Aged Care Work Value Case: application lodged by the Health Services Union in November 2020 seeking a 25 per cent increase on the ground of gender-based undervaluation
Interim 15 per cent increase; further increases of 3 to 13 per cent paid 1 January 2025 and 1 October 2025; nurses increases of 4 to 25 per cent in three stages paid 1 March 2025, 1 October 2025 and 1 August 2026
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: $17.7 billion total Commonwealth commitment, including $11.3 billion for the initial 15 per cent, $3.8 billion for the Stage 3 decision and $2.6 billion for the nurses decision; about 400,000 workers affected

Something wrong here?

This page is wrong in some way -- every page like it is. If you have run this process, the most useful thing you can do is tell us which step took longer than we say and why. Edit data/processes/au-aged-care-wage-case.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.