The FWC's annual wage review expert panel has today granted a below-inflation 4.75% rise in all award rates, after "regrettably" concluding it would not be "practicable or responsible" to order a larger increase in the current "uncertain" economic conditions.
New ACTU pitch for vehicle allowances; Delayed CPI move for expense-related allowances; Further reporting extension for WFH inquiry; and Labour law conference seeking papers.
The Ai Group is asking the FWC's expert panel to restrict pay rises for minimum wage and award-reliant workers to an inflation-lagging 3.9%, branding the ACTU's revised claim for a 6% increase "reckless".
The ACTU has upped the pay rise it is seeking in the annual wage review from 5% to 6% in response to inflationary pressures flowing from the Middle East war.
The Australia Institute is urging the FWC to increase award and minimum wages by 7.5% to 11.1%, to "undo the damage" to real wages inflicted since the COVID-19 pandemic, and to compensate for the forthcoming cost of living increases caused by the Middle East conflict.
FWC-ordered minimum wage increases play a "critical role" in "reducing entrenched, intersectional wage inequality" for Aboriginal workers, who are more likely to be award-reliant, the Centre for Indigenous People and Work says in what is likely the first annual wage review submission to focus solely on First Nations workers.
The Albanese Government has again kept its election promise to urge the FWC's Annual Wage Review bench to order real wage increases for award-reliant and minimum wage workers that keep pace with the cost of living.
Peak employer body ACCI will seek a 3.5% rise in the Annual Wage Review 2026 after chief executive Andrew McKellar described the ACTU's 5% claim as "self-defeating".
The ACTU is seeking a 5% rise in award rates and the federal minimum wage to keep pace with cost-of-living pressures "that have gotten a lot tougher" with the fuel price rises from the Middle East war and interest rate hikes.
The FWC's annual wage review expert panel has today granted a "sustainable" CPI-beating 3.5% rise in all award rates and the national minimum wage, emphasising that now the inflation genie is back in the bottle, it will no longer "defer" taking action to reverse the pandemic-driven reduction in real wages.
