Fair work commission 2025 Minimum Wage Review
Fair work commission 2025 Minimum Wage Review
Minimum Wage increases
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has yesterday, Tuesday 3 June 2025, handed down the 2025 minimum wage review increasing the national minimum wage and all award wages by 3.5%.
The decision will take the national minimum wage from $24.10 to $24.95 per hour, and from $915.90 to $948 per week. This change will operate from 1 July 2025, and will take effect in relation to a particular employee from the start of the employee’s first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025.
It comes as the federal government had lobbied for an “economically sustainable real wage increase” to support a wage rise above inflation. Likewise, the Australian Council for Trade Unions had argued for a rise of up to 4.5 per cent. However, business groups such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had called for no more than 2.5 per cent, arguing that anymore would put too much strain on employers and businesses.
The FWC stated that its principal consideration guiding its decision was the fact that, since July 2021, the real value of modern award wages has declined by 4.55 percentage points relative to inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. This is despite the Reserve Bank of Australia’s assessment being that inflation has sustainably returned to its target range of 2 to 3 per cent.
It also stated that approximately 20.7 per cent of all employees in Australia are paid at the applicable minimum wage rates under modern awards, and are primarily concentrated in the accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, retail trade, and administrative and support services sectors.
They also took into account national economic and business considerations, gender equality, workforce participation, relative living standards and the needs of the low paid, and fair minimum wages for junior employees, trainees and employees with a disability.
Record female representation on the panel
Yesterday’s wage decision also saw an unprecedented amount of female representation on the wage bench: a staggering five out of seven. This is up from four last year, three in 2023, and two in 2022 and 2021. It seems the bench has come a long way from forty years ago, where trailblazer Justice Judith Cohen was the only woman to sit on panel in 1985.
Implications for employers
In light of yesterday’s decision, employers must ensure that employees whose rates of pay are at or around the national minimum wage or minimum award rates are increased accordingly to avoid significant fines or backpay obligations.
Accordingly, employers should seek legal advice from O’Reilly Workplace Law to ensure they are paying employees in accordance with their underlying award, and any relevant flexibility agreements and/or enterprise agreements that are in place.
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