A welcome pick-up in wages, but more work to be done

The Albanese Government welcomes new figures today showing wages growing at their fastest pace in more than 9 years.

The Wage Price Index rose 3.1 per cent in the year to September, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Getting wages growing again is a deliberate design feature of the Albanese Government’s economic policy.

The former government spent a decade deliberately attacking and undermining wages growth – contributing to real wages being lower today than they were a 
decade ago.

Wages are now growing faster than at any time during the former Coalition government’s time in office.

Australians now have a government with a 5-point plan to get wages moving again:

• Supporting wage rises for workers on minimum and award wages and for aged care workers, the majority of them women;
• Making it easier for parents to earn more with cheaper child care;
• Training more people for higher-wage work;
• Investing in the industries that create secure, well-paid jobs; and
• Fixing the broken bargaining system.

While it is pleasing to see wages finally start to move again, we know inflation is taking a big bite out of the pay packets of ordinary Australians.

That’s why our Budget was focused on addressing the inflation challenge and getting wages moving.

The Budget made vital investments in supporting more women in the workforce, giving more people the skills they need for the jobs of the future, and backing in 
the industries that create those jobs.

The next step in getting wages moving again is fixing Australia’s broken bargaining system.

With the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill, our Government aims to promote job security, help close the gender pay gap, and modernise workplace bargaining.

For too long Australian workers haven’t seen the wages growth they need and deserve - the Albanese Government is committed to turning that around.