Millions of Australia’s lowest-paid workers could soon see a pay rise, as a union pushes for a 5 per cent increase to the minimum wage as households buckle under soaring petrol prices, rents and interest rates.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions will lodge its claim with the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday as part of the Annual Wage Review, seeking to lift the minimum wage from $24.95 to $26.19 an hour.
If approved, the increase would raise the full-time annual minimum wage by about $2,465 to $51,761.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said even before the Middle East conflict pushed petrol prices up, rising rents and power bills were straining household budgets, while energy companies, banks and supermarkets continued to post mega‑profits.
She said the current national minimum wage is not enough to get by on and now falls $262 a week short of what a full-time worker living alone needs to make a ‘healthy living’.
‘Everyone knows the lowest paid workers in Australia are doing it tough because they have borne the brunt of cost-of-living increases as landlords put up rent and supermarkets and fuel companies pumped up prices,’ she said.
‘We will not accept the lowest-paid workers in Australia going backwards because of the Reserve Bank and Donald Trump.
‘What has been driving inflation is the cost of housing and petrol companies’ price gouging.’
ACTU secretary Sally McManus (pictured) said that even before the Middle East conflict, rising rents and power bills were already putting heavy pressure on workers’ household budgets
She said the current national minimum wage is no longer enough to live on and now leaves a full-time worker living alone about $262 a week short of what is needed to maintain a ‘healthy standard of living’
McManus said workers on award wages are also still behind from the last spike in inflation after Covid and despite progress over the last few years, they have yet to catch up.
‘A 5 per cent wages boost for the lower paid will add about 0.6 per cent to the national wage bill,’ she said.
‘That’s because we are talking about a pay rise for hospo and retail workers, disability workers, health care workers and baristas – not for high earners with large numbers of investment properties.’
She also called for a new tax on gas exports to help ease pressure on household energy bills and boost government revenue.
‘We could also put downward pressure on our power prices by putting in place a 25 per cent levy on gas exports to replace the failed petroleum resource rent tax,’ she said.
‘This would also bring in more revenue by ending the extreme windfall profiteering by major oil and gas companies.
‘A levy like this would have raised an estimated $17bn last year – or more than twice the amount needed to fund a 5 per cent annual wage boost for lower-paid Australian workers who need and deserve it.’
