An employee with disability can be covered by any Modern Award.
Award coverage depends on:
- the industry or industries their employer operates in
- the specific duties and qualifications of the employee.
Industry award coverage
An industry award covers an employee if:
- their employer operates in the industry defined in the award
- there's a classification which matches the employee's duties and qualifications.
For example, some employees with disability work for a supported employment service.
Supported employment services are services that support the paid employment of people with disabilities who:
- are unlikely to find or keep competitive employment at or above the relevant award wage
- need substantial ongoing support to find or keep paid employment because of their disabilities.
The Supported Employment Services Award covers employees with and without disability working in this industry.
No industry award coverage
Employees not covered by an industry award might be covered by:
- an occupational award, such as the Clerks Award, or
- the Miscellaneous Award.
No award coverage
Employees who aren't covered by an industry or occupational award, or the Miscellaneous Award are award free.
Award and agreement free employees with disability are entitled to the national minimum wage and the National Employment Standards.
For more information on employing people with disability, see Employees with disability.
References
What to do next
- Find out more about industry and occupation awards at About awards
- Our Award classifications page covers how to read and apply classification descriptions in awards
- We also have Award summaries of who is and isn’t covered by awards
- Ask our virtual assistant, Frankie, a question from our Contact us page.

