Tuesday, 29 September 2026
Health Professionals and Support Services Award changes
Changes are coming to the Health Professionals and Support Services Award that will affect how private practice sonographers are classified and paid. The changes follow the Fair Work Commission's review into gender-based undervaluation, which found that health professionals had not been paid in line with the value of their work.
Who this applies to
These changes apply to sonographers whose pay and conditions are governed by the Health Professionals and Support Services Award. This is a federal award and generally applies to private sector employers by default. It does not cover employees in the state public sector. The award establishes minimum pay and conditions.
Some employers instead operate under an enterprise agreement. This is a separate instrument negotiated between the employer and employees and approved by the Fair Work Commission. Where an enterprise agreement applies it takes the place of the award so the award's changes would not automatically extend to those employees.
When it starts
The Commission handed down its final decision on 26 May 2026. The changes take effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2026. Further pay increases follow on 30 June each year from 2027 through to 2030. These increases apply in addition to the normal annual wage review.
Fair Work Commision final decision 26 May 2026
How pay is worked out
The award has four classification levels for health professionals.
- Level 1 covers an employee who meets the requirements to practise in their profession.
- Level 2 covers a Senior Clinician, Specialist, Supervisor or Educator. This includes staff with specialist clinical knowledge, staff working in a defined area of expertise such as research, staff who supervise other health professionals or students day to day, or staff responsible for education and staff development programs.
- Level 3 covers an Advanced Clinician, Senior Specialist or Section Manager. This includes staff with extensive specialist clinical knowledge, staff with broader accountability for research or education who may lead a team, or staff managing a section or team including its budget.
- Level 4 covers a Manager. This is a senior management role with responsibility for budgets, resourcing and strategic planning, and may involve reporting to an organisation's executive.
Under the new system, Level 1 pay depends on two things: qualification and years of experience in the profession. For sonographers, the qualification level set in the award is AQF Level 8, equivalent to a postgrad diploma. Experience counts regardless of which employer it was gained with. Within Level 1 there are four pay points: 1st year, 2nd to 3rd year, 4th to 6th year, and 7th year or more.
The minimum weekly rates for a Level 1 employee at AQF Level 8, applying from 1 October 2026, are:
|
Pay point |
Minimum weekly rate |
Minimum hourly rate |
|
1st year |
$1,337.10 |
$35.19 |
|
2nd to 3rd year |
$1,444.90 |
$38.02 |
|
4th to 6th year |
$1,584.90 |
$41.71 |
|
7th year or more |
$1,721.40 |
$45.30 |
Level 2 has two pay points, 2.1 and 2.2, based on under or over five years' experience performing Level 2 duties. Level 3 and Level 4 each have a single rate.
|
Classification |
Minimum weekly rate |
Minimum hourly rate |
|
Level 2.1 |
$1,945.40 |
$51.19 |
|
Level 2.2 |
$1,983.20 |
$52.19 |
|
Level 3 |
$1,983.20 |
$52.19 |
|
Level 4 |
$2,499.10 |
$65.77 |
The full Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (MA000027) sets out the classification and pay details in full.
Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020 (MA000027)
Other changes
- The requirement for part-time and casual staff to work 1,824 hours before progressing to the next pay point has been removed. The Commission noted this requirement disproportionately affected part-time health professionals, most of whom are women.
- Allowances linked to the standard rate, such as on-call allowances, will change because the standard rate has been updated.
For more information see the Fair Work Ombudsman's summary of the changes, as well as HR Advice Online’s one page summary of changes for sonographer employees. If you have specific questions about how these changes affect you, please contact HR Advice Online (free for ASA members) on 1300 720 004.