Adelaide publican Simone Douglas of The Duke of Brunswick and The Port Admiral warns of price rises to combat minimum wage hike

Pub favourites such as a chicken schnitzel, a steak or a pint of beer could be on the rise to combat the latest minimum wage hike. Find out how much.

Antimo Iannella

@antimoiannella

2 min read

June 6, 2025 - 6:30PM

Minimum wage to increase to $24.94 an hour from July 1

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An Adelaide publican has revealed how much she will need to raise menu prices to compensate for the latest minimum wage hike.

Simone Douglas, owner of city pub The Duke of Brunswick and The Port Admiral in Port Adelaide, said she will consider lifting the price of dishes such a chicken schnitzel to maintain the same profit margin across her businesses.

This follows the 3.5 per cent wage increase delivered by the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday. About 2.6 million of Australia’s lowest-paid workers will receive the above-inflation boost to their pay packets from July 1.

Ms Douglas said she’s not against fair pay for her staff but said the flow-on costs to small businesses is “substantial”.

“It’s not even about maintaining profits, it’s about keeping people employed,” she said.

“If we can’t stay open, our staff will be out of a job.”

To retain the same profit she currently makes across her businesses, the longtime publican said the chicken schnitzel would have to go up $1.11 ($27.70 to $28.81), the porterhouse steak by $1.56 ($39 to $40.56) and the cheeseburger by $1.11 ($27.80 to $28.91).

Drinks will also be hit hard, with a Hahn Super Dry set to rise by 40 cents ($10.50 to $10.92), a caffe latte by 20 cents ($5.00 to $5.20) and a glass of prosecco by 44 cents ($11.00 to $11.44).

Duke of Brunswick owner Simone Douglas with a $33.50 chicken schnitzel with salad. Picture: Brenton Edwards

The Duke of Brunswick's cheeseburger. Pic: Supplied by Simone Douglas.

”The reality is a business has to be profitable to survive and additional costs are just that,” said Ms Douglas, who employs about 40 staff across both pubs.

“I think people are generally happy to pay a bit more but they only have so much in their hip pocket.”

Ms Douglas estimated that the mandated 3.5 per cent wage increase, plus 0.5 per cent superannuation, would add almost $1800 to her weekly payroll at the Duke of Brunswick and more than $1200 at The Port Admiral.

“When wages go up, everything tied to wages also rises, such as payroll tax and WorkCover. It’s all calculated on total payroll,” she said.

Ms Douglas called for payroll tax to be indexed as a minimum measure to help small business owners.

“We need new levers and solutions to support small business owners. If the profit margins aren’t there, we’ll have to make cuts,” she said.

Following this week’s changes, minimum wage will increase from $24.10 per hour to $24.94 an hour. A full-time worker’s annual salary will increase from $49,770 to $51,511.95 or a weekly pay increase of about $32 to $947.96.

Duke of Brunswick owner Simone Douglas. Picture: Brenton Edwards

The increase is above inflation, at 2.4 per cent and is the pay bump called for by the Albanese government.

SA Business Chamber chief executive Andrew Kay said the minimum wage increase was another impost for operators battling a series of rising costs.

“Electricity, gas, rent and pretty much every cost input a business incurs has hit record highs in recent years,” he said.

“There is only so much that can be passed on during a cost of living crisis, so it ends up hitting profitability. Unfortunately, the net result is the spike in business closures that we have seen over the past twelve months.”

Mr Kay said wage hikes had contributed to more small businesses incurring payroll tax.