Minimum wage

June 2, 2026

The Fair Work Commission has raised the minimum wage. It will now be $26.44 per hour.

The minimum wage will increase by 5.97 percent. Award workers will get a 4.75 percent pay boost.

The new minimum wage is $26.44 per hour. This is up from $24.95 per hour.

The pay increase starts on July 1. It will help low-paid workers.

The government asked for low-paid workers to not get paid less.

About 21 percent of workers are paid the minimum award rate. This is almost 2.8 million people.

The Fair Work Commission says these workers' wages are only 11.2 percent of the total wages paid.

Most workers who get award wages are women. Many work part-time or are casual employees.

Some industries have more award-reliant workers than others.

The Fair Work Commission makes its own wage decision each year.

The government and unions asked for a pay rise. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry asked for 3.5 percent.

Inflation is currently 4.2 percent.

The Fair Work Commission wanted to stop real wages from going down.

The war in the Middle East has caused problems with oil supplies and inflation.

Most modern award-reliant employees still have lower wages than in 2021.

The Fair Work Commission decided not to give big wage increases.

It decided to increase wages so workers are not worse off.

June 2, 2026

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