Home care worker recruitment for regional employers

Home care workers support older people and people with disability to live at home. Depending on the plan, a visit can include personal care, help with meals and medication prompts, cleaning and laundry, shopping, transport to appointments and social support. When a worker visits on their own, judgement, reliability and clear notes matter.

For aged care, the new Support at Home program replaced the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Programme on 1 November 2025.¹ Tell us whether your workers will also deliver the Commonwealth Home Support Program or NDIS supports.

Where the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 covers the role, home care workers in aged care are paid under its home care stream. From 1 July 2026 the minimum is $1,239.00 a week at level 1, $1,307.80 at level 2 and $1,376.70 at level 3, rising to $1,541.90 at level 6.² Workers supporting people with disability at home are paid under the disability home care classifications, from $1,119.10 a week at level 3, pay point 1.²

Travel and broken shifts carry their own conditions. Where the employer requires and authorises a worker to use their own vehicle, the award pays $1.05 a kilometre from 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027, and $1.01 a kilometre outside that period. A broken shift with one unpaid break attracts $21.81 per shift; two unpaid breaks need the worker's agreement and attract $28.87. A broken shift spans up to 12 hours, and part-time and casual home care workers are paid at least 2 hours for each shift or period of work in a broken shift.²

The closest earnings figure is for Aged and Disabled Carers (ANZSCO 4231), the wider group that includes home care, residential and disability support workers: a national median of $1,761 a week, or $46 an hour, for full-time employees in May 2025.⁵ Only 40% of the group work full-time hours, so tell us the hours you can offer.

Start with the programs and the clients: Support at Home, the Commonwealth Home Support Program, NDIS supports or private care, and whether the work is personal care, domestic help, social support or a mix. Then the area the worker will cover, the usual distance between visits, and whether you supply a car or pay the vehicle allowance.

Then the practical details: the hours you can offer each week, broken shifts, weekend and evening work, the qualification you require, and how the worker gets support and supervision when they are on their own in a client's home.

We start with workers who already live in the area you cover, and then widen the search.

Tell us early about the vehicle, the hours you can offer, any minimum weekly hours, and how far apart your clients are. We raise them in the first conversation.

If the right person needs a visa or sponsorship, our sister business Australian Immigration Agency can advise.

Register with Hire Australia and tell us your qualification, your screening, your driver licence and car, the care you have given and where you would like to work. We will talk with you about roles that fit.