The Fair Work Commission has awarded a 4.75 per cent increase to the National Minimum Wage and all modern award minimum wages, effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026.
The increase raises the National Minimum Wage from $948.00 to $1,004.90 per week, and the hourly rate from $24.95 to $26.44, an additional $1.49 per hour. Approximately 2.7 million Australian workers on award rates will benefit directly, representing 21.1 per cent of the total workforce.
The Commission's decision noted that inflation had 'substantially opened up' the real wages gap, with workers on minimum wages having lost purchasing power over the past three years despite previous annual increases.
The C13 classification rate, covering the lowest-paid workers in the award system, received an additional top-up to close a gap with the C12 rate that has persisted since 2022.
Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth welcomed the decision, describing it as fair recognition of low-paid workers who had absorbed cost-of-living pressures. 'No one working full-time in Australia should be going backwards,' she said.
The Coalition used the announcement as an opportunity to criticise Labor's economic management. 'There is little comfort in a wage increase if Labor's inflation simply eats it away,' said Senator Jane Hume, Shadow Minister for Employment. Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson added: 'Jim Chalmers stoked the inflation that means households are going backwards.'
The increase takes effect for most workers in their first pay period from 1 July.
