Minimum wage set to increase 3% from July

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has announced that the nation’s lowest-paid workers will receive a 3% pay rise from July 1.

The national minimum wage will increase from $719.20 per week or $18.93 an hour to $740.80 per week or $19.49 an hour.

FWC president Iain Ross said conditions for Australia’s 2.2 million minimum wage workers had improved in recent years, but many were “experiencing significant disadvantage”.

“The current economic circumstances provide a further opportunity to improve the relative living standards of the low paid,” Ross said.

“We have decided to award a lower increase this year then that awarded last year having regard to the changes in the economic environment, in particular, the recent fall in GDP growth and the drop in inflation.”.

While this year’s increase is less than last year’s 3.5 per cent rise, it is close to the halfway point between what unions and employer groups were asking for.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions was seeking a 6 per cent increase this year and a 5.5 per cent boost next year, while the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and the Australian Retailers Association had called for a 1.8 per cent increase, in line with inflation.

Restaurant and Catering Australia wanted a wage freeze.

“Employers respect the independent decisions of the Fair Work Commission, but a third straight increase well in excess of inflation will be difficult for businesses, particularly small businesses, to absorb,” said ACCI chief executive James Pearson.

Sheridan Randall, 30^th May 2019