Australia’s lowest-paid workers have the Albanese government’s backing for a wage boost that will stop rising living costs from eating into their pay packets.
The government is expected to flesh out its case for the lowest-paid workers in a submission to the industrial umpire’s yearly update to the minimum wage on Friday.
Few are arguing against an increase in light of painfully high inflation, which clocked in at 6.8 percent annual growth at the last official count, but the opposition and business groups have called for moderation or risk inflation staying higher for longer.
Last year, Labor supported the case for a lift in the minimum wage roughly in line with inflation, which at that point had already started to track upwards sharply.
The Fair Work Commission ultimately landed on a 5.2 percent pay increase, bolstering low-wage worker wages by $40 a week.
The government’s submission will not include a specific figure but will recommend the “real wages of Australia’s low-paid workers do not go backwards”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Employment Minister Tony Burke said high inflation has seen wages fall when accounting for inflation.
“This is having the greatest impact on Australia’s low-paid workers and their families - many of whom don’t have the savings to fall back on or wages that cover the rise in living costs,” they said ahead of the submission’s release.
But Labor will not suggest automatic across-the-board wage increases in line with inflation, nor that inflation should be the only factor the commission factors in.
For the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the cost pressures weighing on small businesses should also be considered.
The business group is backing a 3.5 per cent boost plus the 0.5 percent lift in the superannuation guarantee starting from July 1—its highest proposal ever in a submission to the annual wage review.
The chamber’s chief executive Andrew McKellar warned a wage blowout would take a toll on small businesses and potentially prompt employers to cut hours or headcount.
He also said matching the minimum wage to inflation would keep inflation stubbornly high.
“Our concern is if we end up with a wage increase, which is going to be in line with inflation, then in reality, that’s only going to end up eroding living standards,” he said.
“It puts more pressure on small business, it’s feeding back into higher costs. In the end, we’re not going anywhere.
“We’ve got to get things back on track, we’ve got to get inflation under control, we’ve got to take the pressure off interest rates.”
Peak union group the ACTU is pushing for a seven per cent rise to a minimum and award wages.
