feminised industries - Lamp Online

One in four Australian employees – 2.6 million workers – will benefit from this year’s minimum wage increase.

The increase will raise the minimum weekly wage to $915.90 (up from $882.80). Hourly wages will increase to $24.10 (from $23.23), the Fair Work Commission said.

While jobs in the Retail, Accommodation and Food sectors fell in the year to December, jobs in the Healthcare sector rose 9.2 per cent and hours worked jumped by the same amount.

The ACTU said it was disappointed the commission did not act immediately to provide interim pay rises to workers in key feminised work, but it did welcome the commission’s acknowledgement that workers in feminised industries and occupations have been undervalued.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said the pay rise was a win for workers, their families, and the broader Australian economy.

“We welcome the commission again rejecting the employer groups’ argument that modest real wage rises would somehow be unaffordable or would fuel inflation.

“In the last couple of years, workers on minimum and award wages saw historic pay rises, while inflation dropped from

7.8 per cent to now 3.6 per cent. Australians are smart enough to see through the employer groups’ spin, especially when corporate profits have grown nearly three times faster than wages since the pandemic,” she said.

Workers in key feminised industries should get at least a 9 per cent pay rise in the Annual Wage Review, according to the ACTU.

The ACTU said this rise would be a critical step in achieving equal pay for workers in occupations that historically have been undervalued based on gender. This includes care and degree-qualified occupations in early childhood education, education and health support services, veterinary care and disability home care, among others.

The 9 per cent pay rise call is based on the 5 per cent increase the ACTU is advocating across all awards, supplemented by at least an additional 4 per cent in key low- paid feminised industries.

If accepted, a full-time care worker could see their pay boosted by $90 a week – a step towards equal pay – pending a full assessment. A similar assessment in aged care recently found that workers required up to 23 per cent pay increases to achieve pay equity.

The ACTU is also calling for a process to provide interim increases quickly, while a proper valuation of underpayment is done in retail, pharmacy, administrative services, cabin crew, and legal services, among others.

This year’s Annual Wage Review is working to address equal pay, in line with the Albanese government’s 2022 changes to the Fair Work Act to achieve gender equality.

ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, said a 9 per cent increase would be a vital first step to properly valuing the work of working women doing critical work for our community.

“Achieving equal pay for women requires systemic change and targeted pay rises in industries traditionally dominated by women and historically very low-paid,” she said.

3.75 per cent pay rise for the low-paid

ACTU calls for 9 per cent pay increase in key feminised industries