Strawberry Seed Update
Welcome to 2026! It’s been a hectic start to the year at Strawberry Seed, and from the calls we are getting, for a lot of employers, too.
Welcome
We would like to welcome Ruby Keating to the Strawberry Seed team. Ruby is a first-year graduate who is joining us as an HR Coordinator. Ruby completed her student placement with us in 2025, and we knew we didn’t want to let her go!
Changes to Our Booking System
From 1 February 2026, you may have noticed some changes to how our online booking system works.
You will no longer see booking links in our team email signatures, and previous links are no longer active. As our client base has grown, we have reviewed how we manage access to ensure availability is balanced with a sustainable workload for our team.
Our HR Partners and Essentials Plus clients now have exclusive booking pages. These have been shared directly with current clients and provide priority access to your HR Advisory team.
Returning clients also have access to a dedicated booking page for ad hoc advice and short pieces of HR work. You can book a 30 or 60 minute session and select your preferred HR Advisor or choose the first available appointment.
Immediate availability is not always possible. Booking an appointment ensures we can give your matter the time and focus it deserves.
If your needs are more structured, you can also book one of our Fixed Price HR Services, including the HR Coaching Call. These options may provide better value and clearer outcomes depending on your situation. You can download our brochure to explore the available services.
If something is genuinely urgent, please call our main office on (03) 4216 5200 or email info@strawberryseed.com.au. We will always do our best to assist, however same-day support cannot be guaranteed.
If you would like the link to the Returning Clients Booking Page to save for future use, just reach out to the team.
Price Update
We work with many small businesses and remain committed to keeping our services practical, flexible and accessible. At the same time, we regularly review our pricing to ensure we can continue delivering high-quality, sustainable support.
From 1 February, our hourly rate and some HR Services have increased.
If you have any questions about how this applies to you, please contact us. We are always happy to talk it through.
There is plenty happening in the regulatory space. Here is what employers should have on their radar.
What is happening in the world of HR for small businesses?
2026 looks like it is going to be another year of change in the HR world. Below, we have pulled together information on recent decisions you may have missed, updates on going reviews with Fair Work and what else is on the agenda for 2026.
Legislative and Fair Work Updates
NSW announces extra ANZAC Day public holiday
New South Wales has confirmed it will give workers an extra public holiday on the Monday after ANZAC Day for both 2026 and 2027 because April 25 falls on a weekend in those years.
This means NSW residents will get the following Mondays off: 27 April 2026 and 26 April 2027. The usual dawn services and commemorations on April 25 remain the focus of the day of remembrance.
It is being trialled for the next two years and will be reviewed along with the state’s broader public holiday framework to see whether something more permanent makes sense when ANZAC Day falls on a weekend again in future.
If you are an employer in NSW, now is the time to plan for what this may mean for your business.
Gender based undervaluation awards update
Last year, the Fair Work Commission kicked off a major review looking at whether historic gender assumptions had left certain female-dominated jobs underpaid or misclassified. The focus was on five “priority” modern awards:
- Health Professionals and Support Services Award 2020
- Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services Award 2020
- Children’s Services Award 2010
- Pharmacy Industry Award 2020
Where things stand
At the end of 2025 and into early 2026, we saw the first real movement on this. The Fair Work Commission made final determinations that will materially change classifications and pay rates in a couple of areas as part of this review process:
Health Professionals & Support Services Award
The first variations were published in late December 2025, with updates regarding Dental Assistants and Pathology Collectors.
Dental Assistants: From 1 April 2026, their classification levels and minimum wage rates will shift, with full implementation through to early 2027.
Pathology Collectors: From 1 April, pathology collectors will no longer sit under the previous generic support services levels. Instead, they will be placed into new, dedicated classification levels that better reflect the skill, responsibility and training required for the role. As a result of the reclassification, minimum wage rates for pathology collectors will increase.
What’s next?
The Health Professionals classifications are still under review and have not been finally determined in this decision.
For the broader Health Professionals classification structure, the Commission has:
- Expressed provisional views
- Identified concerns about whether current levels properly reflect skill and responsibility
- Flagged the need for further evidence and consultation
- Not yet issued final wage determinations for most Health Professional classifications
The Commission indicated it anticipated publishing a draft determination in January 2026. As of the date of this newsletter, this has not yet occurred. Interested parties will then have 28 days to make additional submissions.
Children’s Services Award
Changes have been finalised to simplify classifications and move wage rates up. New classification structures came into effect from 1 March 2026 with staged wage increases over the next few years. Employers will need to update roles and pay structures accordingly.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers Award
This award has also had classification and minimum pay rate updates take effect from 1 January 2026, including adjustments for dental assistants, therapists and oral health therapists under that award.
Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS)
For the SCHADS Award and some other classifications under the priority review, the process is still ongoing. The Commission has put forward provisional views on how classification structures might be simplified and wage rates adjusted, but these are not final yet and are subject to further consultation and hearings.
What employers need to know
These changes are not theoretical. Some are already in effect. If you employ any roles that will be affected, you will need to:
- review how roles are classified under the new structures, where they have been finalised
- check which wage increases have started or are coming soon
- update payroll and job documentation, so you’re ready as changes roll out over the next couple of years
The full review is still a work in progress, and more updates will come as remaining decisions are finalised. We’ll keep you in the loop as things firm up.
Get ready for an NES refresh
Australia’s core workplace entitlements, the National Employment Standards (NES), are in the spotlight again with a formal review kicking off in 2026. This is the first wide-ranging look at the NES since they were introduced in 2009 to check whether the basics like hours, leave and redundancy pay still fit the way we work today.
This isn’t about redoing everything or a scramble of immediate changes. At this stage, the federal parliamentary inquiry is gathering evidence and probing how well the NES works for both employees and employers in a changing labour market.
Two key areas already on the radar
Annual leave entitlements: There’s active discussion around lifting the minimum annual leave from four weeks to five weeks a year. That’s the idea floating around in early conversations as stakeholders assess whether the current benchmark meets modern expectations.
Redundancy provisions: Another area under consideration is whether redundancy pay rules should be expanded or strengthened, potentially affecting payout levels or removing some current exemptions, especially considering technological changes and workforce disruption.
Other parts of the NES, like flexible work, parental leave and casual employment, aren’t in the focus right now because they’ve been reviewed recently or are being considered separately.
Bottom line is this is an early phase of what could be meaningful reform. No changes yet, but we will be keeping an eye on where things might land. We’ll let you know when there is something concrete to action.
Baby Priya’s Law: Changes to requirements for employer-funded parental leave
A new change to the Fair Work Act called Baby Priya’s Law now gives extra legal protection for employer-funded paid parental leave when an employee’s child is stillborn or dies. This fills a gap that previously left some grieving parents without their paid entitlements just when they needed support most.
Why does this matter?
Before this law, Australian employees could lose employer-funded paid parental leave if their baby was stillborn or died. They still had unpaid parental leave rights under the Fair Work Act and access to government-paid parental leave, but there was no guarantee that employers couldn’t cancel their own paid parental leave. That meant some people were asked to return to work or use other leave just because of a tragedy.
So what has changed?
From November 2025, if an employer already provides paid parental leave, they cannot refuse or cancel that leave because a child is stillborn or dies. Employers can only cancel if:
- the employee asks for it, or
- a specific exception in the employment contract or policy applies.
This aligns employer-funded schemes with the protections that already apply to unpaid parental leave and government-paid parental leave, giving grieving families consistency and certainty at a really tough time.
What employers need to know
This change does not force employers to start offering paid parental leave if they don’t already do so. But if you have a paid scheme in place, you will need to make sure your policies and contracts respect these protections. It’s a good prompt to review how your parental leave entitlements handle sensitive situations like stillbirth or loss, so there’s no ambiguity or unintended outcomes.
Employment contracts: The future of restraint clauses
In 2025, the Federal Government announced proposed reforms that could significantly change how restraint clauses work in employment contracts. The focus is on increasing worker mobility and limiting arrangements that restrict competition.
The proposed reforms would:
- ban non-compete clauses for employees earning below the Fair Work Act high income threshold, currently $183,100 for 2025 to 2026
- ban no-poach agreements between businesses, where employers agree not to recruit each other’s staff
- ban wage fixing agreements between businesses that cap wages or employment conditions
So, where is this at now?
The consultation period closed in September 2025, and submissions were published in October. However, no legislation has been introduced yet, and there are no changes in force.
The reforms are expected to commence in 2027, subject to legislation being drafted and passed. Consultation is continuing alongside that drafting process.
For now, there is nothing employers need to change. But if you rely on non-compete clauses or other restraints in your agreements, this is one to keep on your radar.
We will keep you updated as soon as draft legislation is released or the timing becomes clearer. In the meantime, we have put some thoughts together below to give you something to start thinking about.
Beyond non-competes: What employers should be thinking about now
With potential reforms to restraint clauses on the horizon, this is a good moment to pause and ask a simple question: what are you really trying to protect?
Non-compete clauses can feel like a safety net. But in practice, they are often blunt instruments. They can be difficult and expensive to enforce, uncertain in outcome, and not always aligned with how you want to position your business in a competitive hiring market.
In Australia, restraints are only enforceable to the extent they are reasonable and genuinely necessary to protect a legitimate business interest. That usually means things like confidential information, intellectual property, or client relationships. If a clause goes further than necessary, a court may not uphold it. Which means you can end up spending time and money arguing about something that was never going to stick.
So before relying on a non-compete, it is worth getting clear on a few things:
- What is the specific risk you are trying to manage?
- Is it confidential information, client relationships, IP, or something else?
- Is a broad restraint the most proportionate way to deal with that risk?
Being clear on these questions matters, not just legally, but strategically.
We are operating in a competitive labour market. Strong, sweeping restraint clauses can raise eyebrows with potential hires, particularly senior or specialist candidates. The message you send at the offer stage matters. If the tone is overly restrictive, it can undermine the trust and partnership you are trying to build from day one.
There are also very practical limitations. Even where a clause might technically be enforceable, pursuing action is rarely quick, cheap, or guaranteed. Most employers do not want to spend months in litigation while trying to protect relationships and brand reputation.
That is why it makes sense to focus on protecting the business in smarter, more targeted ways:
- Tight and well-drafted confidentiality and IP clauses that clearly define what is protected
- Strong onboarding and offboarding processes, including access controls and handovers
- Relationship mapping so key clients are connected to more than one person
- Clear development pathways, competitive remuneration, and capable managers who make people want to stay
In other words, protect what genuinely needs protecting, and build a workplace people choose not to leave.
As the proposed reforms progress towards 2027, now is a good time to review your employment agreements and ask whether your restraint clauses are proportionate, defensible, and aligned with your broader employee value proposition.
If you are relying on them as your primary retention strategy, that is probably a sign that it is time for a rethink.
Upcoming Webinars and Training
Our 2026 public training calendar is well underway. Early bird discounts apply, so book early to save.
Worked with Strawberry Seed before? Discount codes are available for current and past package clients, as well as members of partner organisations (such as ESSA members). Discounts are also available for group bookings.
Contact our team for more details and to receive discount codes.
Free February Webinar: Understanding Assessment Tools for Better Hiring and Stronger Teams
7.30 pm, Wednesday 25th February 2026
Assessment tools can feel like alphabet soup until someone explains them properly. In this one-hour session, Mel Kearsey and Tania Hewlett O’Neill will break down the different types of tools, what they measure and how they can genuinely improve hiring, development and team communication. They will also walk through Facet5 and DISC so you can see how different tools work in real workplaces.
If you want clarity without the jargon, this session is for you.
Can’t make it live? Register anyway, and we’ll send you the recording after the session.
Melbourne Public Leadership Training Workshop – March 2026
Leadership Essentials: Practical Tools for Humans Managing Humans
Our first public Leadership Training Workshop for 2026 is coming up in Melbourne on the 23rd and 24th March 2026, in our new and improved two-half-day format, allowing for more content and deeper discussion.
Leading people is equal parts rewarding and chaotic. There is no magic formula, and no two humans are the same. This workshop is designed for small business leaders who want real-world tools, practical strategies, and a safe space to learn with others who get it.
Delivered in person over two half-day sessions, Leadership Essentials is hands-on, down-to-earth, and full of group discussions, scenario-based learning, and plenty of shared laughs. You will walk away feeling more equipped, more confident, and far less alone in the realities of people leadership.
For more information and details on how to book, click here.
Leadership Skills Deep Dive Series 2026
Conflict Management: Turning Conflict into Conversation – 11th March 2026
Our first 2026 Leadership Skills Deep Dive is almost here, and we are starting with a topic that every leader deals with, whether they like it or not.
This three-hour live online workshop is designed to help leaders move from avoiding conflict or reacting to it to handling it with clarity and confidence. Conflict itself is not the problem. How we respond is what shapes culture, trust and stress levels.
In this session, we focus on real situations and practical tools, not theory for theory’s sake. Participants will explore their natural conflict style, understand what tends to trigger escalation, and learn how to de-escalate in the moment so conversations stay constructive instead of combusting.
This workshop is suitable for small business owners, emerging leaders, supervisors, Practice Managers, and experienced leaders wanting sharper tools. In short, anyone responsible for humans and wanting to do it well.
It is delivered live via Zoom, fully interactive, and includes access to supporting resources through our online training portal, so the learning does not stop when the session ends.
All leaders are just humans managing humans. This deep dive gives them the tools and confidence to do that well.
For more information and details on how to book, click here.
