Music from a loud brass band and union chants echoed through the top end of town as "forgotten" workers rallied for a pay boost.
Dozens of disability support workers marched through Melbourne's city streets on Thursday to draw attention to fears of a mass staff exodus unless their pay and conditions improve.
Their union wants a $5 per hour pay increase, claiming one in four National Disability Insurance Scheme workers are looking for a job elsewhere.
Residential house supervisor Peter Romer oversees a home for five people with intellectual disabilities at Bendigo in central Victoria, and knows many colleagues want jobs with less overtime.
"A lot of my time is spent filling shifts or doing it myself, doing overtime to cover gaps in the roster, gaps in support," Mr Romer told AAP.
"It's really important that we're not forgotten about."
He said aged care and early childhood sectors were attractive options after recently receiving pay boosts.
"A lot of people, I found, know what early childhood is, they know what aged care is but they don't really understand disability care or they don't really worry about it," Mr Romer said.
"But anyone is one silly mistake, or a recipient of someone else's silly mistake, from needing the NDIS or needing to live in a fully supported accommodation."
Health Services Union secretary Lloyd Williams said about 40 per cent of the workforce were casuals and 70 per cent women who cannot afford to be paid at the minimum wage.
The union says a $5 pay increase would successfully retain staff and cost the federal government about $1 billion over the forward estimates.
"That pales into insignificance in terms of the more than $15 billion that the government invested into workforce in aged care and more than $3.7 billion that the government has invested into early childhood education," Mr Williams said.
"People with a disability have to go somewhere and they will put stress on other services like our health system and other community services if they can't get the support that they need."
The Fair Work Commission is reviewing undervalued award wages in female-dominated industries such as health, social work, pharmacies, disability and early childhood care.
