Australian minimum wage to rise by 3%

Australia’s National Minimum Wage is set to rise by 3%, the government has announced.

The Fair Work Commision (FWC), the tribunal in charge of minimum wage fixation, alongside other duties, made the decision which is to be effective from the 1st of July 2019.

Wages will increase from AU$18.93 (US$13.08) an hour to $19.49 an hour; $719.20 per week and $740.80 per week respectively. Workers on the minimum wage will consequently secure an increase of $21.60 per week.

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Australia’s Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, The Hon Christian Porter MP, gave some background to the news in a government press release, saying: "Under the Coalition Government, minimum wages have cumulatively increased by 6.9 per cent. The Morrison Government will continue to focus on implementing its agenda to keep our economy strong and to deliver 1.25 million new jobs over the next five years.”

Although the rise was not as substantial as last year’s increase of 3.5%, the government said that the decision still beat the average over the last 10 years, which has increased on average 2.8% a year in nominal terms and 0.8% a year in real terms. It hailed the FWC’s decision as a positive assessment of the economy, representing a real increase above the rate of inflation of 1.3% and higher than economy-wide wages growth of 2.3%.

"The real increase in minimum wages in today's Fair Work Commission decision, combined with the Government's plan to lower taxes for working families will ease cost of living pressures and lift the living standards of all low-paid workers in Australia,” said Porter.