From 1 July 2.67 million Australian workers will strata to see a boost to their pay packet thanks to minimum wage and award wage decision by the Fair Work Commission argued and campaigned for by unions. These increases apply from an employee’s first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2023.
The increase of 5.75% for award wage workers and 8.6% for minimum wage workers will be a welcome relief in the cost-of-living crisis.
The increase will for example mean $66.50 more per week in the pocket of an entry level disability support worker and $51.08 per week in the pocket of an entry level shop worker.
Age care workers will also see an additional 15 % lift to wages, following union campaigning.
A separate, but also significant boost to workers conditions, will see the amount paid by employers into workers’ superannuation increase from 10.5% – by 0.5% to 11% from today. This is the next step on the path to reaching 12% guaranteed superannuation payments on 1 July 2025. It will result in workers having thousands more dollars in their retirement savings.
Also from 1 July, parents can now access up to 20 weeks of flexible paid parental leave which can be shared across parents (with 2 weeks reserved for each parent, and single parents able to access the full 20 weeks). And the maximum childcare subsidy will rise to 90% for the first child in Early childhood education and care.
Quotes attributable to ACTU President Michele O’Neil:
“The union movement fought hard for these changes which will be critical to helping working people staying afloat. Big business, whilst posting record profits and receiving mammoth pay rises themselves, argued against this rise for our lower paid workers.
“Unions will always be in the corner of working people, whether its fighting for better pay to help workers cope with the cost-of-living crisis, or increases in super payments, to ensure workers can retire with dignity, or improved conditions such as paid parental leave and more affordable childcare, so that parents can better manage their parental responsibilities without losing out financially. We’re for workers”
