MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

* Australians earning minimum wage while working full-time will get an extra $33 per week from July

* The minimum wage will increase to $24.10 per hour, or $915.91 per week, based on a full-time 38 hour working week

* That translates to an annual salary of around $47,600

* Minimum award wages have also been lifted, meaning the pay increases will benefit around one in five workers – about 2.6 million people

* The minimum wage will increase by 3.75 per cent, consistent with the forecast return of inflation to below three per cent

* Unions wanted a five per cent increase, while business groups wanted between two and three per cent

* As wage rises can influence inflation, the FWC did not want to raise award wages “by an amount significantly above the inflation rate”, which was up 3.6 per cent in March

* Low-income earners will also benefit from tax-cuts in the 2024/25 budget that also come into effect in July

 

Bray Boland
(Australian Associated Press)