Fair Work Commission Implements 3.5% Minimum Wage Rise, Helping Millions of Women in Australia

• The minimum wage will increase by 3.5% from July under the Fair Work Commission
• Millions of employees across Australia will be helped by the pay rise
• Most of the country's minimum wage earners are women

After the 3.5 percent hike in minimum wage was announced by the Fair Work Commission, millions of individuals—primarily women—will start receiving their pay raises in July. The majority of employees covered by awards based on minimum wage rulings and the majority of Australia's minimum wage earners are women.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus described the 3.5 percent rise as a "great result," even though it is short of the 3.75 percent rise announced last year and short of the 4.5 percent demanded by the highest union. The minimum rate will rise from $915.90 per week to $24.95 an hour, or $948 a week.

The ACTU's 4.5 percent and business groups' 2.5 percent or less demand is matched by this 3.5 percent hike. Furthermore, it beats the existing annual inflation rate of 2.5 percent. The minimum wage is paid to around 100,000 individuals, as per federal statistics. Yet, as the decisions of minimum wage awards dictate their pay, this decision impacts nearly 3 million workers.

McManus asserts that since this raise exceeds inflation, it will enable minimum wage earners to "catch up" after they had been lagging behind. "A 3.5 percent raise means they're beginning to recover, which makes a huge difference in being able to pay the bills and cover necessities," she said.

They constitute 56.7 percent of employees who rely on the federal minimum wage, based on statistics provided by the Fair Work Commission for 2024. Men, however, tend to earn up to 10 percent over the minimum wage.

McManus continued to remark, "This decision brings a 1.1 percent real wage rise, one of the biggest the Fair Work Commission has awarded." "By easing the pressure on their weekly budgets and the anxiety that comes with needing to make cutbacks in essentials, the wage rise will assist in rewarding wage earners to get ahead once more."