Jobs covered by agreements contributed to over half of all quarterly growth, for first time since September 2020: report
Wages across Australia went up 3.4% in the year to March 2025, largely driven by enterprise agreements in the public sector, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
"Annual wage growth ticked up for the first time since the June quarter 2024," said Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, in a statement.
"The 3.4% increase in wages for the year to the March quarter 2025 was higher than the 3.2% recorded in the December quarter 2024, but lower than the four per cent recorded at the same time last year."
According to the ABS, enterprise agreements were the main contributor to wage growth in March, with new state-based deals in the public sector fuelling the growth.
"Jobs covered by enterprise agreements contributed to over half of all quarterly growth, for the first time since September 2020," Marquardt said.
By states and territories, the Australian Capital Territory logged the highest annual wage growth at 3.9%. The others recorded:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers attributed average annualised nominal wages to the government's policies.
"Since we've come to Government, average annualised nominal wages have been growing at 3.7%, much higher than the 2.2% under our predecessors," he said in a statement. "The Government's policies are driving strong and sustainable wage growth for workers."
Australia's real wages also rose by one percent over the year to March 2025, according to Australia's Treasury.
"This is the strongest rate of annual real wage growth in five years," Chalmers said. "Annual real wages have grown by more than 0.8% for three quarters in a row, which is the longest consistent run of real wage growth in almost ten years above that rate."
Michele O'Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, also noted that the latest wage data is an indication that employees are "getting ahead."
"Improved collective bargaining rights and fair pay won by union members under the Albanese Government are delivering real results for nurses, teachers, early childhood educators and aged care workers," O'Neil said in a statement.
"There's still a way to go, but today's data shows the importance of having more working people able to bargain over their wages and conditions."
Meanwhile, Australia's employers are calling out the impact of the government's wage agreements on the labour market.
ABS data showed that the public sector's annual wage growth hit 3.6% in the March quarter, higher than the private sector's 3.3%.
"Wages growth in the public sector was impacted by new state-based enterprise agreements, and to a lesser degree, increases paid to aged care workers," Marquardt said.
The private sector wage growth was also influenced by the changes stemming from the Stage 3 Aged Care Work Value Case, and the Early Childhood Education and Care Worker Retention Payment, according to the ABS head.
"It was also impacted by regular March quarter wage and salary reviews," she added.
But the Ai Group, Australia's national employer association, said the wage agreements in the public sector have become "increasingly out of touch."
"Pressure from excessive state government wage deals puts further pressure on Australian private sector employers, who are already struggling with weak market conditions and declining profitability," said Innes Willox, chief executive of the Ai Group, in a statement.
"With the fiscal position of the federal and many state government budgets already in serious question, these on-going taxpayer-funded agreements are simply not sustainable."
The latest Wage Price Index comes ahead of the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review decision that is expected in June 2025.
ACTU is calling for a 4.5% minimum wage hike, but the Ai Group said the increase should not be higher than 2.6%.
