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Wage growth

Yesterday

NSW nurses demonstrating for a pay rise in November.

Wage rises to blow out ‘unrealistic’ state budgets: S&P

Psychiatrists in NSW and teachers, nurses and police in Queensland are the latest essential workers to demand significant wage rises from state governments.

  • Michael Read and James Hall

This Month

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

With a $7.4b black hole, Gallagher tries to explain the unexplainable

Budgeting no money for public servant wage rises may have made sense under a stingy Coalition, but it makes no sense under a Labor government hiring like mad.

  • Michael Read

December 2024

ACTU secretary Sally McManus on Monday called for interest rate cuts outside the Reserve Bank.

Union growth is back under Labor after a decade of decline

The ACTU says a return to collective bargaining under the Albanese government has helped unions increase their membership to 13 per cent of the workforce.

  • David Marin-Guzman and Michael Read
Ansa Finance manager Joshua Fuoco is also facing charges for allegedly managing a company while banned by ASIC.

Accounting, audit and finance roles added to fast-track visa list

Jobs and Skills Australia has added a range of accounting, audit and finance roles to its list of occupations eligible to apply for new fast-track visas.

  • Edmund Tadros
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and BCA chief Bran Black.

Push for McDonald’s pay rise shows danger of Labor’s laws, says BCA

Multi-employer bargaining has extended far beyond original intentions, according to the business lobby, including east coast miners and the fast food sector.

  • David Marin-Guzman
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House prices

The PM no longer says Australians are better off. These charts show why

While some economic metrics have improved during the government’s first term, the one that really matters to voters – their purchasing power – has gone backwards.

  • Michael Read

November 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is requiring providers to have a workplace agreement before receiving grants for wage rises.

Union demands could delay pay rise for childcare workers

Childcare providers are scrambling to meet a government funding condition to have a workplace agreement in place, warning a push to have a union deal could delay pay rises for months.

  • David Marin-Guzman
The nurses’ union argues enrolled nurses in aged care could see their pay drop below direct carers.

Labor seeks to delay pay rise for nurses, warning of budget blowout

The Albanese government is urging the workplace umpire to drag out pay rises of up to 25 per cent for aged care nurses until as far back as 2027.

  • David Marin-Guzman
Amelia Gasparotto

‘They can afford to pay’: Strike to hit private hospital giant

Nurses and midwives at Ramsay Health Care will strike at 17 hospitals in NSW for 24 hours on Tuesday demanding a 20 per cent pay increase.

  • David Marin-Guzman
Labor governments are under pressure to give large pay rises to essential workers. Economist Shane Oliver says the situation is reminiscent of the Whitlam government’s early days.

NSW train standoff emblematic of new public sector wage war

Labor governments face pressure to give large pay rises to essential workers. An economist says the situation is reminiscent of the Whitlam government’s early days.

  • David Marin-Guzman and Michael Read
Nurses at private hospitals are pushing for similar pay rises as public sector workers.

First private nurses strikes, as ‘Pied Piper’ effect hits

The first strikes by medical staff at private hospitals follow mass walkouts at public medical centres by nurses as wages pressure bleeds from one sector to another.

  • David Marin-Guzman
Public sector hiring has proven more resilient to the economic slowdown, fuelled by a surge in spending and generous state and federal government pay deals.

Public servant wages outpace private for the first time since 2020

Annual wage growth fell to 3.5 per cent in September from 4.1 per cent in June, as pay growth slowed on the back of a cooling economy.

  • Updated
  • Michael Read
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the nurses union was refusing to make a choice between lower wages and staff-patient ratios.

NSW nurses strike heaps wage pressure on Minns government

NSW Premier Minns has refused to budge on his pay offer for nurses as the state government faces wage pressure off the back of its landmark deal with police.

  • David Marin-Guzman

October 2024

People who work with a non-compete clause in their employment contract end up with lower wages, new research shows.

Wages hurt by non-compete work contracts

The government has seized on new research showing workers locked in jobs via non-compete clauses are paid 4 per cent less on average than staff who can switch jobs easier.

  • John Kehoe

September 2024

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said pay rises would help retain staff.

Fee increase for retirees to cover extra $3.8b in aged care wages

The government will spend another $3.8 billion on aged care sector wages, taking the total cost of the pay increase to almost $18 billion. 

  • Phillip Coorey
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Higher than most: Construction enterprise agreement wages in NSW and Victoria have outstripped inflation over the past 24 years.

Pay deals keep tradies in line with Big Mac index, but teachers lag

Annual wage growth close to 5 per cent for the past two decades has put CFMEU construction workers ahead of other employees, new earnings analysis shows.

  • Michael Bleby

August 2024

People think our job is boring: accountants lament image problem

Almost half of surveyed accountants and bookkeepers believe their industry has an image problem, and most say the sector is seen as boring.

  • Edmund Tadros
Real wages have fallen for two quarters in a row and are back at 2010 levels, undercutting Labor’s claims that wage gains are finally outstripping inflation.

Real wages fall to near 14-year low, bucking Chalmers’ pay claims

Consumer prices increased by 2 per cent over the six months to June on a seasonally adjusted basis, while wages grew by just 1.7 per cent.

  • Michael Read
Economists expect nominal wage growth to slow as the job market cools.

Public servant pay rises push wage growth to 14-year high

Experts say the data probably marks the peak in wage growth, and the gradual slowdown in the job market is expected to bring smaller pay rises in the coming year.

  • Updated
  • Michael Read
The RBA has warned that wage growth is making it harder to control inflation.

Public servant pay growth to outstrip private sector wages

A slowdown in the jobs market is forcing private sector workers to rein in their pay demands while state premiers abandon public servant salary caps.

  • Michael Read

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/wage-growth-1mo4