A ReachTEL poll commissioned by the ACTU reveals low wage growth is an increasingly important issue for Australians.

Of the 2,453 people polled, almost half the respondents (47.6 per cent) said they had had “no pay rise at all” in the past year.

A further 32.9 per cent said they had “a pay rise but not enough to cover my cost of living”, and 19.5 per cent said they had “a pay rise that covered my costs of living”.

When asked how significant low wage growth was to how they would vote 28.2 per cent said it was “the top issue”, 54 per cent said it was “important but not the top issue”, while 17.9 per cent said it was not important.

Meanwhile, GDP figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that big business and employers are continuing to enjoy significant growth in their profit margins, while working people watch their wages go backwards.

Working people’s share of overall income has fallen 0.3 per cent in the last year, and more than two per cent over the last couple of years.

“Massive profits for the big end of town will never generate pay rises if working people don’t have the tools and rights to win them,” said ACTU secretary Sally McManus.

This article was originally posted in the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association publication, Lamp.