Fair Work Commission annual ruling lifts minimum wage by 6 per cent and award rate by 4.75 per cent   


Tue 2 Jun 2026
ABC News

The Fair Work Commission has increased the National Minimum Wage from $24.95 per hour to $26.44 per hour.   

In short:
The Fair Work Commission has increased the national minimum wage by 6 per cent and modern award wages by 4.75 per cent.

Australian unions are happy with the decision but businesses are disappointed.

What's next?
Some economists say the decision will not have a material impact on inflation, but others think it could increase price pressures and force the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates again.


Australia's minimum wage will increase by 5.97 per cent, and minimum award workers will get a 4.75 per cent pay boost, in the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) annual wage review.

The new national minimum wage will be $26.44 per hour (up from $24.95), and $1,004.90 per week (up from $948), based on a full-time 38-hour week.

The pay increase will begin on July 1 for millions of low-paid workers.

While the national minimum wage covers a very small proportion of the workforce, about 21 per cent of all employees in Australia are paid at a minimum award rate, amounting to almost 2.8 million people.

Disability support worker Lika Taufa described the wage rise as a "win" for workers like her in the community services sector.

Lika Taufa wears a purple union tshirt with a checked shirt on top
Lika Taufa says the wage rise will help pay for everyday living costs.

"It's not the easiest of jobs," she told ABC News at a union rally in Sydney.

"The cost of living has increased — rent, food, petrol.

"This will definitely assist with the everyday costs that a lot of people in the industry are facing.

"It'll give me an opportunity to be able to not only afford my daily living costs but to be able to spoil my kids, too."

According to the FWC, because of the part-time and low-paid characteristics of the modern award-reliant workforce, the wages paid to them constitute only about 11.2 per cent of the national "wage bill".

Workers reliant on award wages are disproportionately female, more than two-thirds work part-time hours, more than half are casual employees and more than a third are low-paid.

Government urges above-inflation minimum wage hike

In its submission to the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review, the government again calls for the lowest-paid workers to not go backwards.

Four industry sectors — accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, retail trade, and administrative and support services — account for more than two-thirds of all modern award-reliant employees.

Each year, the FWC takes submissions from government, business groups and unions before making its own wage determination.

The Albanese government had pushed for an above-inflation pay rise for the national minimum wage and modern award wages. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) asked for 3.5 per cent.

Peak union the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) asked for 5 per cent, but it later increased that to 6 per cent after the federal budget forecast higher inflation this year.

"This would lift the National Minimum Wage (NMW) by $1.50 an hour to be $26.45, and for the weekly rate to be $1004.88. This is a 1 percentage point increase on our earlier claim of 5 per cent," the ACTU's supplementary submission said.

Headline inflation is currently running at an annual pace of 4.2 per cent.

FWC wanted to stop real wages going backwards
The Fair Work Commission said its determination was "particularly challenging" this year due to the "wildcard" of the war in the Middle East, which has disrupted oil supplies and accelerated inflation in Australia.

It said most modern award-reliant employees were still in the position that their wage rates, in real terms, remained lower than what they were in July 2021, prior to the post-pandemic spike in inflation in 2022 and 2023.


The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has welcomed the decision, saying it broadly keeps up with the cost of living and provides some financial relief for 3 million working Australians.

"Australian unions work hard to secure wage increases, and we welcome the Fair Work Commission's decision to lift wages for around 3 million lower-paid workers by 4.75 per cent come 1 July," ACTU secretary Sally McManus said.

Sally McManus has welcomed the Fair Work Commission's decision to lift minimum award rates of pay by 4.75 per cent.

So that's now two fast pay rises for the lowest paid as defined by group now - and all others receiving one.... now that's interesting... one rule for all again, Albo and The Chipmunks Way..

Once upon a time in sort of socialised Australia, where all got the same deal in theory anyway ... the National Wage Case was one for all, all for one, and not every man for himself... now the divisions grow and grow with certain 'sectors' deemed more equal than others when it comes to goodies handouts.

Now the divisions just keep growing and growing - and let us never lose sight of the reality that the vast majority of these workplaces with the 'lowest paid' are peopled largely by women and other special interest groups (special needs) - so this is really another underhanded way of raising women's etc incomes overall... at a time when they are currently on average paid 6.3% more per actual working hour than men..

Now wonder the despair and anger among some is growing... with all these divisions as 'policies' - how anyone with a clear mind and not some serious psychiatric disability can think women are paid less for the same work is beyond me.

Workers urged to check pay slips as minimum wage rises start flowing
July 1, 2026 ACTU.
Wage rises for 3 million Australians who rely on minimum and award wages will start flowing through into workers’ bank accounts in the coming weeks – but many workers could still miss out unless they check their pay slips carefully.

From the first full pay period after today, award-reliant workers must be paid the 4.75% Annual Wage Review increase. A smaller group of around 100,000 workers at the very lowest award rates are entitled to a 6% pay boost to help with essential living costs.

The wage increases will add $56 a week to the wages of the lowest-paid full-time worker, lifting Australia’s minimum weekly wage above $1,000 for the first time. The 3 million other award-reliant workers will receive more than this.

Australian Unions fought for the above-inflation wage rises and are encouraging workers to check their pay slips closely over the coming weeks to ensure they receive the increases. Unions also fought for increased fines and criminal liability for employers who engage in wage theft, and those employers who withhold these increases risk these sanctions.

ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, urged workers to compare their final June pay slip with their first full pay slip after July 1, to confirm the new rate has been correctly applied by their employer.

Workers who are concerned they may not have received the wage rise should keep records of their pay slips, contact their union or call Australian Unions on 1300 486 466.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus:

“July is pay rise month for millions of Australian workers. It’s not just those on award wages, but many collective agreements have pay rises that also kick in on 1 July. It’s important that everyone who is affected checks their pay slips this month to ensure their employer is paying what unions fought for and so they can experience the cost-of-living relief that comes from extra pay.

“No one wants to be a victim of wage theft. The Albanese Labor Government brought in laws to crack down on those employers who withhold the pay rises they are legally required to pass on. This includes fines and possible criminal sanctions for the most serious cases. Most employers do the right thing, but there are always some who do not and hope their employees don’t notice.

“These pay rises are not automatic and are not because employers are volunteering them – they are because of the Australian union movement and the important institutions we have that ensure we are not like other parts of the world where workers rarely get regular pay rises.

“If something doesn’t add up on your payslip, keep it, call your union or Australian Unions on 1300 486 466 to get help to recover what you are owed.”

Carl D wrote on Jul 1^st, 2026 at 1:07pm:


Quote:


Every time the right claim that a pay rise will be the end of the world and everyone will be unemployed. Fact is that it has never ever happened.

Employers continue to employ the number of people needed to generate the profit they like to make. They are not going to cut off their noses to make a false political point and produce unneeded losses to their businesses.

With an untold number of wage increases business have always continued to increas their profits and maintain or even increase employment numbers when it is economically profitable to do so. Historically the doom and gloom outcome has never been the result.