Australia's Fair Work Commission Increases Minimum Wage by 3.5% to Benefit Millions, Mostly Women

By: WE staff | Tuesday, 3 June 2025

• The minimum wage will rise by 3.5% beginning in July, according to the Fair Work Commission
• The pay increase will benefit millions of workers throughout Australia
• The majority of the nation's minimum wage earners are women

Following the Fair Work Commission's announcement of a 3.5 percent increase in the minimum wage, millions of people—mostly women—will begin receiving pay increases in July. Both the majority of workers covered by awards linked to minimum wage decisions and the majority of minimum wage earners in Australia are women.

ACTU head Sally McManus referred to the 3.5 percent increase as a "great outcome," despite the fact that it is less than the 3.75 percent increase that was announced last year and less than the 4.5 percent that the peak union had demanded. The minimum wage will increase from $915.90 per week to $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week.

The ACTU's 4.5 percent demand and business groups' 2.5 percent or less demand is balanced by this 3.5 percent increase. Additionally, it surpasses the current yearly inflation rate of 2.5 percent. Approximately 100,000 people receive the minimum wage, according to federal data. However, since minimum wage award decisions determine their compensation, this decision affects about 3 million workers.

McManus claims that because this raise is greater than inflation, it will help minimum wage workers "catch up" after they had been falling behind. "A 3.5 percent increase indicates that they're starting to bounce back, which has a big impact on paying bills and meeting necessities," she said.

Women make up 56.7 percent of workers who depend on the federal minimum wage, according to data from the Fair Work Commission for 2024. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to make up to 10 percent more than the minimum wage.

McManus went on to say, "This decision delivers a 1.1 percent real wage increase, one of the largest the Fair Work Commission has granted." "By alleviating the burden on their weekly budgets and the stress that comes with having to make sacrifices in necessities, the wage increase will help award wage earners get ahead again."