Minimum wage rise to be announced next Tuesday

The decision for the 2024–25 Annual Wage Review is set to be announced next Tuesday (3 June) after varying submissions from workplace stakeholders.

The 2024–25 Annual Wage Review decision will be live-streamed next Tuesday after months of debate over what the next minimum wage increase should be. During its election campaign, the Labor government filed a submission in support of an “economically sustainable real wage increase” but wouldn’t confirm an exact figure.

The Australian Council for Trade Unions (ACTU) submission pushed for a 4.5 per cent wage – an increase from the 3.75 per cent increase that was introduced last year for minimum wage earners.

“Australia’s lowest-paid workers need and deserve a decent real wage increase,” said ACTU secretary Sally McManus.

“We must remember that our minimum wage for a full-time adult worker is only $47,626 a year. It is not enough and needs to increase. We are not America, and no one should be left without a livable wage after working full-time hours.

“A 4.5 per cent rise for 2.6 million award-reliant workers is what they need to get ahead of inflation caused by global supply problems and price gouging by the likes of supermarkets and insurance companies.”

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) filed a submission calling for an increase of 2.5 per cent increase, arguing that the wage increase must be linked to productivity.

“An increase in minimum and modern award wages of no more than 2.5 per cent is fair and reasonably responsible in the current economic environment,” said ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar.

“To be sustainable, any increase in wages must be linked to productivity. Yet, labour productivity has been contracting, down 1.2 per cent in 2024 and averaging near zero over the past five years.

“Failure to align wages growth with genuine productivity improvements risks exacerbating economic challenges and will rekindle inflationary pressure.”

Innes Willox, Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) chief executive, said that “a proposal higher than 2.6 per cent is completely unjustified”.

In its reply submission to the FWC, Ai Group claimed that the ACTU’s push for a 4.5 per cent increase in minimum and award wages is “reckless”.

“It will exceed business capacity to pay, risking disemployment in a private sector labour market, which is already showing signs of weakness. When considered in the broader context of the deteriorating and highly uncertain global economic environment that will drag on growth, it is unsustainable to award an increase of such a quantum,” Ai Group said in a statement.

The live stream of the decision is set to begin at 10am on Tuesday, 3 June.