Real wages in Australia have grown more in the last twelve months than under the entire nine years of the previous Coalition government.
Wage Price Index figures reveal that wages grew at an annual rate of 3.2 per cent in the year to December 2024.
The Wage Price Index data shows that real wages have grown by 0.8 per cent in the last year, more than the entire real wages growth under nine years of Coalition governments.
The ACTU says wage growth has been driven by boosts in minimum and award wages, the care economy and workers exercising their new collective bargaining rights to negotiate higher wages.
Annual wage growth now sits at 3.2 per cent, compared to average annual wage growth of 2.2 per cent under Coalition governments from 2013 to 2022.
The Coalition has committed to abolishing Same Job Same Pay rights, better collective bargaining rights, and the Right to Disconnect – all of which are delivering significant pay rises for workers.
ACTU President Michele O’Neil says the Coalition has refused to rule out penalty rate cuts if it wins government.
“Now that people have more work rights and wages are moving, Peter Dutton and his big business mates like Gina Rinehart want to undo that progress,” she said.
“Peter Dutton has voted eight times in Parliament to slash Australians’ penalty rates.”