Category Archives: Wages growth

Australia’s productivity riddle – and what it might mean for interest rates

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Michele Bullock keeps telling us productivity is flatlining. How it changes may well determine if the Reserve Bank will tolerate wage rises beyond 3%

If the Reserve Bank’s GDP forecasts about the Australian economy are right, we should be close to a nadir with a sustainable upswing on the way – provided we can get more efficient at what we do.

Productivity growth – a concept that quickens the pulse of economists and almost nobody else – has slowed in Australia and most other developed nations for years.

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Australian CEOs made less in 2023-24 but still earned on average 50 times a typical worker’s wage

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Audit also finds CEOs are more likely to be sacked than not get their bonus

Chief executives across Australia’s largest companies are making slightly less money, but are still taking home on average 50 times the pay package of a typical worker.

In its annual audit of CEO pay, the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (Acsi) found chief executives at the 100 largest listed businesses averaged $5m in the 2023 financial year, down from $5.2m the previous year.

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Minimum wage workers in Australia to get a 3.75% pay rise over the next 12 months

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Annual increase compares with 4.1% pace of wage price index growth in year to March

Australia’s lowest-paid workers will collect a pay rise of 3.75% in the coming year, a result likely to please the Reserve Bank but dismay unions who sought a 5% rise.

The Fair Work Commission announced the 2024-25 decision for minimum and award wages on Monday. The increase affects about one in four employees from 1 July.

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Budget sneak-peek predicts higher wages and tax breaks – but no increase for Australians on jobseeker

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Government dampens hopes for an increase to jobseeker, despite pressure from economists, social justice groups and equality advocates

Australians are forecast to have more disposable income next year, according to budget predictions, with higher wages, tax cuts and lowering inflation.

But those on unemployment payments are unlikely to see any major change to their financial situations, with the government dampening expectations the base jobseeker rate will increase, despite growing pressure from economists, social justice groups and equality advocates.

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Youth curfew ‘not the long-term solution’, MP says – as it happened

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Anthony Albanese has called a snap press conference in Canberra at 8.30am. We’ll have coverage of this for you soon.

A man has died in Melbourne’s south after being struck by a truck on a major highway near Frankston.

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Australia politics live: Catherine King takes aim at Liberals over preselection of women at end of heated question time

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Chalmers: we can have cost-of-living relief and wage growth

Here is how Jim Chalmers was selling the wage submission (at least on ABC TV this morning). The treasurer said it wasn’t a binary choice between cost of living relief and wages growth:

We don’t see cost of living relief as ‘instead of’ decent wages growth. We want to see wages growth on top of the billions of dollars of cost of living relief that the Albanese government is rolling out.

… The tax cuts we’re rolling out for everyone, or cheaper childhood education or cheaper medicines - none of those are a substitute for getting wages growing in the economy once again.

I think if you’ve followed Tasmanian laws, and they’ve worked very well down there and actually your bill is based on that, you might have … a good good bit of airing out there and actually be able to settle this once and for all.

I think there’s a very fine line between having choices … and running … a business or a school or anything else.

People send their kids to faith based schools with expectations and I think we’ve got a walk a very, very fine line with all of that.

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Australian workers’ productivity drops 3.7% as employment surges and investment slows

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Wage growth from higher employment and hours worked without output gains could fan inflation, Productivity Commission warns

A surge in employment combined with scant investment by firms to improve output triggered a sharp drop in worker productivity, limiting prospects for income growth without fanning inflation, the Productivity Commission said in its annual report.

Across the economy, productivity fell 3.7% in 2022-23, as output growth failed to keep pace with a record 6.9% increase in hours worked, the commission said. A rush by employers to hire new staff was much higher than in previous bursts – the nearest comparison was the 4.3% rise in hours worked in 1988-89.

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Stage set for national cabinet clash over GST – as it happened

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The NSW Australian Paramedics Association will take part in a 12-hour strike today, from 7am to 7pm, despite the threat of legal action.

Members will still attend emergency “lights and sirens” jobs as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

We want to assure the public that emergencies will still be attended to, with our focus intensifying on life-threatening cases.

Our decision to limit responses to non-emergency jobs enhances our capacity to manage critical cases.

Facing potential legal repercussions and a substantial fine of up to $20,000 per day, our commitment remains firm.

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Politics live: James Paterson calls for security vetting of Australian parliament staff in wake of UK espionage scandal

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Shadow home affairs minister calls for extra checks ‘at the very least for MPs who work on sensitive committees’. Follow today’s live news updates

Ley defends pharmacists’ opposition to 60-day dispensing rule for prescriptions

The interview then gets to the issue of pharmacists and the change the government made to allow for 60-day dispensing (two-for-one prescriptions) which will save chronically ill patients up to $180 a year (as well as money on less trips to the doctor, travel etc.) but will cost pharmacists up to $150,000 a year (from the fourth year of the change) in lost dispensing fees (plus people buying fewer ‘incidentals’ such as jelly beans).

I’ve been in contact with many pharmacists over recent weeks, including those who left their businesses and assembled here a couple of weeks ago and I really am concerned about the impact this policy change is going to have.

I’m hearing [about] pharmacies who are already laying off staff. They’re already letting people go and most importantly, they can’t continue to provide the previously free support services that they used to …

Because they’ve told me.

Because if the government has changed the contract it has with pharmacy and is paying them less, they have to change their business in response. It’s as simple as that.

I would like to absolutely recognise the contribution she has made. She has been a trailblazer for our party. She has changed national politics and I have seen the work that she’s done over many years, much of it very modest, very behind the scenes, very in community.

So people often think of her as a defence and foreign affairs minister. I’ve seen her as a local champion for Western Sydney, and disadvantaged people across this country, and I have yeah, I mean, I’ll be really sad to see her go.

Always standing up for Australia’s national interest and a safer, stronger region. It’s as simple as that.

I think we did extremely good work with the Solomon Islands and, indeed, with the Pacific and people are looking at this through the lens of Covid and suggesting that we could have done more when, in fact, travel was an impossibility. I think that issue is well and truly being put to bed.

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Interest rate pain felt ‘unevenly’ but that’s not a reason to avoid rises, Philip Lowe says

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The Reserve Bank governor says rates will keep being lifted if necessary, despite 'significant financial pressure’ for some

Philip Lowe concedes interest rate pain is being felt “unevenly” across Australia but he says that is not a reason to avoid using the one tool the Reserve Bank has to tame inflation and raise rates further.

The RBA governor has also warned against the idea that all workers should be compensated for inflation, saying “we have to make sure that higher inflation doesn’t translate into higher wages for everybody”.

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NSW politicians and public service executives hit with wage freeze to fund payrise for frontline workers

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Legislation will be introduced to state parliament on Tuesday freezing the salaries of MPs and executives from July

Promised pay rises for New South Wales frontline workers will be funded by a two-year freeze on the wages of state politicians and public service senior executives.

Legislation will be introduced to state parliament on Tuesday freezing the salaries of MPs and executives from July and redirecting the millions of dollars in savings to nurses, paramedics, teachers and other frontline workers.

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Australia news live: seizure of $270m worth of heroin is Queensland’s biggest; RBA interest rates decision due

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Australians will find out at 2.30pm AEST whether the Reserve Bank will pause its interest rates hikes after 10 consecutive rises. Follow the day’s news live

Australia’s new high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, says becoming a republic is “inevitable” even if Australians are proud to have the British monarch as their head of state.

In his first interview since taking up the post, Smith told the Times newspaper that most British people would be “indifferent” to Australia getting rid of the monarchy and it would not damage the countries’ relationship.

There is a lot of affection and respect for the monarchy in Australia.

That affection and respect hasn’t gone away because of Australia contemplating from time to time what it should do about its constitutional arrangements.

My personal view is it’s inevitable. But how that’s progressed is entirely a matter for the Australian government of the day.

Our public-sector workers do a great job serving their fellow Victorians and we’re proud to support them. In addition to wage increases, workers will be able to obtain a sign-on bonus while productivity improvements will bring the potential for further advancement of conditions.

The policy provides fair outcomes for employees while being responsible as we deal with the types of budget challenges faced by families, businesses and governments across the world.

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‘Simply about survival’: ACTU calls for 7% pay rise for lowest-paid workers to keep pace with inflation

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Minimum hourly rate would rise to $22.88 – or $45,337 a year – if the Fair Work Commission grants the increase

Australian unions have called for a pay rise of 7% for the lowest-paid workers, a raise in the national minimum wage of $1.50 an hour to keep pace with inflation.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions made that submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review, which sets the pay of more than 2.6 million employees on the national minimum or award wages.

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Wage growth surprise: slower-than-expected gain eases RBA rate rise fears

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December quarter wage index rose from 3.1% to 3.3%, but 7.8% inflation indicates a 4.5% decrease in real wages

Australian salaries increased at a faster pace in the December quarter in a tight labour market, but not enough to prevent the gap with inflation widening to a record level.

The wage price index (WPI) for the final three months of 2022 came in at 3.3%, an increase on the 3.1% pace in the September quarter and the highest since the end of 2012. Economists had forecast a 3.5% increase.

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Australia politics live: Dodson ‘taken aback’ by Nationals’ call on Indigenous voice but doesn’t see it as a setback

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Coalition is alienating young voters, PM says

Over on ABC radio Melbourne, Anthony Albanese has been asked what he thinks about the Victorian election and the lessons for the Liberal party.

One of the things that we’re seeing, I believe is an alienation from younger voters from the Coalition.

When you have a position where you have senior members of the Coalition [who] can’t say that climate change is real in spite of the floods and bushfires and all of the evidence of the heating of the planet that we’re seeing, let alone any time something is put up to take action on climate change. They dismiss it.

[It] depends where you work. There will be some businesses, for example, which refuse to bargain with their staff where they used to and their staff where they used to and the better-off-overall test became too complex. Getting rid of the red tape we got there will bring some of the businesses back to the table straight away.

Also, any businesses that are concerned, like ... that actually don’t want to be involved in multi-employer bargaining, the simple fix for them is for them to negotiate with their staff now.

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Australia politics live: Albanese accuses Dutton of ‘dog-whistling’ over Cop27 climate damage fund

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Buy now, pay later review has been coming for a while

The last time the issue was examined, under the previous government, it was decided the industry could regulate itself.

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Labor to relax work tests for pensioners following jobs and skills summit – as it happened

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the policy change will cost around $55m, and the government will do further costs. This blog is now closed

Tasmanian Tafe needs to be fit for purpose before additional places can make a difference, Lambie says

The government yesterday kicked off the jobs and skills summit with the announcement of 180,000 more free Tafe places.

We certainly would like to do more, but some of these issues, of course, are within the budget constraints, which are there … we have inherited $1tn of debt. Yes, it is a worthy idea and worthy of consideration.

No, that’s not on the agenda. But it is a good thing that people are able to put forward ideas.

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Labor pledges ‘immediate’ workplace changes at jobs summit – as it happened

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The first day of the jobs and skills summit is under way in Canberra. This blog is now closed

Every Australian ‘holds a stake’ in outcome of jobs and skills summit, PM says

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, finishes his opening address at the jobs and skills summit on a note of wanting to promote unity. He says:

Australians have conflict fatigue.

Every Australian holds a stake in the outcome of our discussion.

The work of building a stronger economy should include everyone, should lift everyone up.

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Australia’s jobs and skills summit: who’s going and what’s on the agenda?

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Labor hopes together business, unions and the community sector will be able to find ways to lift wages, spur productivity and ease skills shortages

Lifting wages, productivity and easing skills shortages are top of the agenda at Thursday and Friday’s jobs and skills summit.

Here’s everything you need to know about the event.

Maintaining full employment and growing productivity

Equal opportunities and pay for women

Sustainable wage growth and the future of bargaining

Mega-trends driving our current and future skills needs

Workforce opportunities from clean energy and tackling climate change

Skills and training

Migration

Workforce participation

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Growers and immigration experts slam proposal to allow workers to be part-paid in fruit and veg

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National Farmers’ Federation wants ‘non-monetary benefits’ such as food and board to be considered in pay deals

The National Farmers’ Federation proposal to take “non-monetary benefits” into account when negotiating pay deals has attracted strong criticism from farmers and immigration experts who claim it could erode workers’ rights.

Chris Kelly, a Victorian grain grower, said the proposal was “appalling” and called it an attempt to “stretch the boundaries” of what was reasonable and fair.

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