Disabled people employed in specialist disability workplaces – what used to be called sheltered workshops but today are more often called Australian disability enterprises – can be paid sub-minimum wages as low as $8.32 under the relevant award, the Supported Employment Services Award.

Disabled people’s wages can be further reduced to a fraction of the award wage – as low as $3.31 per hour– by a mechanism called the Supported Wage System, if their productivity is assessed to be lower than that of other workers. This mechanism can be applied to disabled workers in any workplace.

That compares with the national minimum wage, which was increased to $26.44 an hour on July 1.

Main employment destinations

Australian disability enterprises employ about 17,000 people with significant disability in jobs such as packaging, manufacturing, cleaning, gardening, laundry and recycling. Most workers are part-time. Many have been in these workplaces for years.

For people in the NDIS with intellectual disability and Down syndrome, these firms are the main employment destination.

Many people with disability and their families value the routine and social connection offered by specialist disability workplaces.

But there are serious problems with these work environments too. The Disability Royal Commission in 2019-2023 identified concerns about power imbalances, poor working conditions........

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