27 September 2023

Public sector heading up on wages

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Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this week show that wages in the Australian public sector grew by 2.5 per cent in the 12 months to September.

The Bureau’s seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.5 per cent in the September quarter 2019 and 2.2 per cent through the remainder of the year.

Chief Economist at ABS, Bruce Hockman said the rate of annual wage growth eased slightly in September after being stable over the past year, continuing to grow at a slightly faster rate than consumer prices.

“The largest contribution to wage growth over the quarter was jobs in the health care and social assistance industry,” Mr Hockman said.

“In original terms, quarterly wage growth was driven by enterprise agreements and annual financial year salary reviews, and to a lesser extent the Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review decision.”

He said annual wage growth to the September quarter across industries ranged from 1.7 per cent for information media and telecommunication services, to 3.2 per cent for health care and social assistance.

“Victoria recorded the highest through-the-year growth of 2.8 per cent while Western Australia recorded the lowest of 1.6 per cent for the fifth consecutive quarter,” Mr Hockman said.

More information is available on the ABS website at this PS News link or in the Bureau catalogue 6345.0.

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