Millions of people, most of them women, will receive a pay increase from July after the Fair Work Commission announced a 3.5 per cent increase in the minimum wage.
Women make up the majority of those on the minimum wage in Australia, and the majority of those on awards that set pay according to the minimum wage decisions.
Today’s decision falls short of the 3.75 per cent increase announced last year and short of the 4.5 per cent demanded by the peak union. But ACTU head Sally McManus still described it as a “great outcome.”
The minimum wage will rise to $24.95 an hour, or $948 a week, up from $915.90 a week.
The 3.5 per cent decided by the FWC falls between the 2.5 per cent or lower requested by business groups and the 4.5 per cent the ACTU campaigned for. It is also higher than the latest recorded inflation figure, currently 2.5 per cent annually.
An estimated 100,000 people are on the minimum wage, according to federal government figures. However, this decision goes further, with 3 million employees affected by minimum wage decisions, given their pay is set by an award.
McManus said those on the minimum wage have been going backwards, and the decided figure, being above inflation, will help workers ” catch up.”
“3.5 per cent means they’re starting to catch up again, and that makes an enormous amount of difference in terms of people’s bills, people’s ability to pay for the basics.”
According to 2024 data by the FWC, more than half (56.7 per cent) of national minimum wage-reliant employees are women. In comparison, those earning up to 10 per cent more than the minimum wage are more likely to be men.
“This decision delivers a 1.1 per cent real wage increase, one of the largest real wage increases the Fair Work Commission has awarded,” McManus said.
“This wage increase means those who are paid award wages will start to get ahead again, easing pressure on their weekly budgets and part of the stress that comes from having to cut back on the basics.”
