KEEPING UP TO DATE

National Minimum Wage to Increase by 3.5 Percent from July 1

AUSTRALIA’S lowest paid workers will receive a 3.5 per cent pay increase.

From July 1, the national minimum wage will increase by $24.30 per week to $719.20, or $18.93 an hour, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in its 2017-18 Annual Wage Review. The current national minimum wage is $18.29 per hour or $694.90 per 38-hour week.

The casual loading will remain at 25 per cent. An estimated 2.3 million workers are on the minimum wage, or about 22.7 per cent of all employees.

The 3.5 percent increase is well above the 1.9 percent rate of inflation, meaning a real rise in wages of 1.6 percent for Australia’s lowest paid workers. Minimum Wages in Australia averaged 615.17 AUD/week from 2007 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 719.20 AUD/week in 2018 and a record low of 522.12 AUD/week in 2007.

Don’t get caught out on 1 July. Contact us to find out more and ensure you are paying your staff correctly.