About 3 million workers on minimum wage to receive 4.75% pay rise in Fair Work Commission ruling

Unions had demanded a 6% pay increase for those on minimum wage after war in the Middle East pushed inflation higher

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Nearly 3 million workers will receive a 4.75% pay rise, while about 100,000 of the country’s lowest paid will receive a higher 6% increase, after the Fair Work Commission handed down its annual minimum wage decision.

Announcing the 4.75% decision this morning applicable to the roughly 2.8m workers on award wages, the Fair Work Commission’s president, Justice Adam Hatcher, announced the lowest ongoing wage rate for employees will climb from nearly $24.95 per hour, to $26.44 - a lift of just under 6%.