A four-member FWC expert panel led by President Adam Hatcher has launched a review of degree-qualified classifications in modern awards on work value grounds and has given interested parties a month to provide their views on its proposed scope and terms.

Degree Qualified Review

Workplace Express on July 25 2025 reported that a four-member FWC expert panel led by President Adam Hatcher has launched a review of degree-qualified classifications in modern awards on work value grounds and has given interested parties a month to provide their views on its proposed scope and terms.

In a statement issued on the afternoon of July 25 2025 the Commission said they have started the new major case to consider variations that might remedy potential undervaluation, including gender-based undervaluation.

The Annual Wage Review foreshadowed in this year's ruling that it would initiate the case to examine modern award classifications that require at least an undergraduate university degree and have pay rates that are not been aligned with the C1(a) benchmark.

The C1(a) benchmark refers to a specific wage rate established by the Fair Work Commission for employees with a Bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification, particularly within the Health Professionals and Support Services (HPSS) Award and the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services (SCHADS) Award. It represents a minimum pay rate that is considered to adequately reflect the value of work performed by these employees. 

Examples of professional jobs within the proposed scope of the review include Level 5 Law Graduates under the Legal Services Award, Trainee Book Editors under the Book Industry Award, Graduate Architects under the Architects Award and Mud Loggers and Data Engineers under the Hydrocarbons Field Geologists Award.