Almost 3 million Australian workers will benefit from minimum pay rise increases set to come into effect on Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has outlined roughly 2.8 million Australian workers - including almost 40,000 Canberrans - will get pay increases resulting from a Fair Work Commission ruling that gave a 5.2 per cent pay increase to people earning the minimum wage.
According to Treasury figures, 39,400 ACT workers receiving on minimum awards would get the 5.2 per cent increase on July 1, with the health care, accommodation and retail sectors likely to receive the biggest benefit.
Full-time workers on the minimum wage could get a pay rise of more than $40 a week, while part-time workers on 20 hours are likely to get increases of about $20.
Dr Chalmers said the change was a win for workers facing increasing cost pressures due to soaring inflation, which is running double the speed of the Reserve Bank's 2 to 3 per cent target.
"This is a win for all of the hardworking Australians who've kept our communities and our economies going during the worst of the pandemic," he said.
"With inflation at 21-year highs and real wages falling, many Australians are experiencing acute cost-of-living pressures.
READ MORE:
"We don't want to see Australians go backwards, particularly low-paid workers who are most vulnerable to the skyrocketing cost of essentials."
Labor promised during the election campaign to lift living conditions and spur on growth, and the now Prime Minister agreed a 5.1 per cent pay rise was needed to keep up with inflation.
The federal government walked back those remarks in the past week, supporting only pay rises for those earning the minimum wage.
Economists warn pushing up wages to the rate of inflation would add further inflationary pressure to the economy and not help curb rising price costs for goods and services.
The RBA believes inflation could reach 7 per cent by the end of the year.
ACT award rate workers represent about 1.5 per cent of all award earning employees on existing enterprise agreements nationally.
The majority of workers who benefit are in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. They make up 77.5 per cent of the pool of people set to have a bump in take home pay.
About 59 per cent of workers getting the pay rise are women.
Employment Minister Tony Burke said wages were artificially being kept low by the previous government.
"That era is over for cleaners, for carers, for shop assistants - and for the other heroes of the pandemic who put themselves on the line to keep Australia functioning over the last two and a half years," he said.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
