Australian minimum wage to increase by 3.5 percent

CANBERRA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Australia's minimum wage will increase by 3.5 percent following an annual review by the industrial relations tribunal.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) on Tuesday announced that, from July 1, the national minimum wage will rise from 24.1 Australian dollars (15.6 U.S. dollars) per hour to 24.95 AUD (16.1 USD) per hour or 948 AUD (614 USD) per week based on a full-time 38-hour work week.

The FWC said the decision, which was made based on consultations with the government, employers and unions, would affect more than 2.6 million Australian workers.

Handing down the decision, FWC president Adam Hartcher said that the increase would go "some of the way" towards correcting a decline in the real value of the minimum wage since 2021 due to inflation.

"We are concerned that if this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, a loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded in the modern award system and the national minimum wage, and a reduction of living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched," he said.

Australia's headline rate of inflation in the year to April was 2.4 percent.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the decision, telling reporters in Western Australia that it would help people with cost-of-living pressures.

"This decision today will be welcomed by people who keep our economy going," he said.

Business groups had called for the FWC to hand down a minimum wage increase of 2-2.6 percent, citing high operating costs.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the peak body representing unions, had lobbied for an increase of up to 4.5 percent.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said on Tuesday that the 3.5 percent would ease pressure on weekly budgets. Enditem