Hatcher lifts Minimum Wage Australia 4.75% for 2.8 million
minimum wage australia rose 4.75% on Tuesday morning, after the Fair Work Commission handed down its annual decision and set the new rate to take effect from 1 July. About 2.8 million workers on award wages will receive the increase, while roughly 100,000 of the lowest paid will get 6%.
The lowest ongoing wage rate will move from nearly $24.95 an hour to $26.44. For workers at the bottom of the scale, the decision is the first clear pay change from this ruling, and it arrives in a labour market where inflation is still running at 4.2% in the year to April.
Hatcher sets 4.75% from 1 July
Justice Adam Hatcher said the case was "particularly challenging" because surging fuel prices were adding to already existing inflationary pressures. He said falling living standards had hit the lowest paid the hardest, which is why the commission granted the larger 6% rise to about 100,000 workers at the bottom of the pay ladder.
That split matters in practical terms: most award workers get the same 4.75% adjustment, but the lowest paid receive a bigger lift because the commission treated their pay as needing "additional measures". The result is not a flat across-the-board reset, but a two-track increase that leaves the smallest pay packets moving faster than the standard award rate.
2.8 million award workers
Nearly 3 million workers will see pay rise under the ruling, with the 4.75% increase applying to roughly 2.8 million people on award wages. The previous minimum wage increase was 3.5% for 2025-26, so this year's decision lifts the floor by a larger margin than last year's settlement.
The gap between the 3.5% call from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the unions' demand for 6% shows how tightly the decision was framed. Jim Chalmers had called for a real wage increase, but said it also needed to be "sustainable", leaving the commission to balance pay pressure against the inflation backdrop already hitting households.
Inflation and the lowest paid
4.2% inflation in the year to April sat below the 4.75% rise, while last month's budget projected inflation reaching 5% in the year to June. The budget also warned consumer price growth could push beyond 5% if the Middle East conflict extended and oil prices climbed higher for longer, a reminder that the wage decision landed inside a narrower cost-of-living squeeze.
1 July is the date that changes the numbers on pay slips, not the date the debate ends. For award-covered workers, the immediate question is whether their current rate sits at the standard 4.75% uplift or in the smaller group set for the 6% adjustment; either way, the commission has already set the floor they will be paid from the start of the new financial year.
