News
Disability and NDIS Minister Mark Butler is facing calls to address a age system that can see some Australians with disability legally paid as little as $3.31 an hour.
Becky Wood, managing director of Western Australian disability service provider Workpower, has called on the Federal Government to pursue wage reform for people with disability. Wood highlighted the experience of one worker who received just $38 for a day’s work.
The calls have renewed attention on Australia’s Supported Wage System, which allows some employees whose disability affects their capacity to perform a job to be paid according to an assessment of their productive Capacity.
Under the Supported Employment Services Award, an eligible worker assessed under the system must receive the higher of either a percentage of the minimum hourly rate for their classification based on their assessed productive capacity, or $3.31 an hour.
The $3.31 figure is therefore not the standard wage for all workers with disability. Many receive considerably more, and workers whose disability does not affect their capacity to perform their job are not covered by the Supported Wage System.
However, the fact that $3.31 remains a legal minimum has prompted renewed scrutiny of whether the system provides fair wages and meaningful economic participation.
For comparison, the lowest ongoing minimum award rate increased to at least $26.44 an hour from July 1, 2026.
The issue extends beyond wages. A recent Grattan Institute report found just 34 per cent of Australians with profound disability are employed, compared with 82 per cent of people without disability. Grattan has called for broader reform to create better pathways into mainstream employment and fairer wages for people with disability who require workplace support. The latest calls put pressure on the Federal Government to consider whether a system designed to increase employment opportunities for people with disability is also delivering adequate financial outcomes for the people working within it