Australian Unions have welcomed the Fair Work Commission’s decision to award a wage rise of 3.5% for the three million Australian workers who rely on minimum and award wages.

From 1 July, Australia's mostly part-time and lower-paid workers will receive a minimum weekly wage increase of $32, or an annual pay boost of $1,666 if working on a full-time basis.

It will mean increases of around $44 per week for a full-time disability support worker and $43 per week for a full-time aged care worker. 

The pay boost will help workers catch up on some of what they’ve lost over the past five years of the inflation fight and keeps real wages moving in the ongoing effort to rebuild living standards.

The decision delivered a 1.1% real wage increase, one of the largest real wage increases the Fair Work Commission had awarded, said Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus.

“Achieving this 3.5% increase was only possible because the Albanese Labor Government delivered on their election promise and joined unions in arguing for a real wage increase.

“This wage increase means those who are paid award wages will start to get ahead again, easing pressure on their weekly budgets and part of the stress that comes from having to cut back on the basics.

“With unions delivering strong real wage growth in collective agreements and now with real award wages growing, working people have turned the corner and are seeing decent real wage growth for the first time in more than a decade.”