Research by the UTS Centre for Indigenous People and Work has helped secure a pay rise for Indigenous care workers, as part of the federal government's $630 investment in fairer pay in the health, disability and community sectors.

The funding, announced Tuesday by federal Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, will help providers pay for wage increases flowing from the Fair Work Commission's 2025 finding that work in these sectors has been historically undervalued because it is done mostly by women.

CIPW noted on Wednesday this "includes dental assistants, dental therapists and oral health therapists covered by the Commission's first ever ruling that Indigenous cultural skills have been undervalued, and must be reflected in their award settings, with pay rises ranging from 10.7 per cent to 35 per cent".

That ruling came after the Commission engaged the CIPW to investigate the intersection of cultural skills and gendered caring skills in Aboriginal community-controlled health services, the history of the sector, and the domestic and caring work performed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

CIPW Director Professor Nareen Young said the federal government announcement was an important step towards fair pay that includes cultural work.

"This investment will see these first pay rises ordered by the Fair Work Commission on the basis of undervaluation at the intersection of gender and cultural skills flow through to Indigenous workers. It will provide relief for women who have never been paid properly for the work they do," she said.

"The Fair Work Commission's ruling on cultural skills has set an important precedent that we hope will spread to other sectors.

"We are gratified that our research has helped materially improve this vital part of the Aboriginal workforce."