<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About three million </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national" rel="" target="_blank" title="Australians "><span>Australians</span></a><span> could earn $2465 more each year under a new proposal floated ahead of the annual wage review.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has called for a 5 per cent increase to the minimum wage when the Fair Work Commission reviews and renews rates for July 1.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This would lift the full-time minimum wage hourly rate from $24.95 to $26.19 and the annual rate from $49,296 to $51,761.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/cost-of-living-crisis-australia-families-struggling-instagram-video/cd6f6f2c-2b9f-4750-b83f-bb0fc4b65a83" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Brutal truth in Sydney mum's video as cost of living bites</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The increase would put more into the pockets of an estimated three million </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/work" rel="" target="_blank" title="workers"><span>workers</span></a><span>, particularly those in the hospitality and retail, disability and health care sectors.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>ACTU Secretary Sally McManus has pointed to </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="_blank" title="the war in Iran"><span>the war in Iran</span></a><span> and the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) interest rate hikes as one of the reasons to raise minimum wages.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Everyone knows the lowest paid workers in Australia are doing it tough because they have borne the brunt of cost-of-living increases as landlords put up rent and supermarkets and fuel companies pumped up prices to inflate their profits," she said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/minimum-wage-annual-review-millions-of-aussies-could-get-2465-more-each-year/c2197abc-c62f-4368-b857-6474b43a8485" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We will not accept the lowest-paid workers in Australia going backwards because of the Reserve Bank and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Workers were the ones who felt it the most last time inflation spiked; we cannot let this happen again. This is why low-paid workers need and deserve a decent pay rise."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-europe-free-trade-deal/97d5db5c-e8bd-4003-94ee-0c3b9df37ba0" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Australia gets $10 billion-a-year boost after almost a decade of waiting</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/aussies-pockets-to-suffer-as-treasuer-warns-inflation-to-near-5-per-cent/d9d0398e-1c1a-4787-960f-793b158e9780" rel="" target="_blank" title="The latest Treasury modelling"><span>The latest Treasury modelling</span></a><span> found </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/inflation" rel="" target="_blank" title="inflation "><span>inflation</span></a><span> could hit 5.5 per cent if global oil prices reach $US120 per barrel under a scenario of a prolonged war in Iran.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Inflation had already been rising before the conflict abroad and surpassed the target range at </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/finance/inflation-australia-january-2026-cpi-interest-rates-implications/6b382a95-929e-4fda-9d88-1df3ed7cc0b0" rel="" target="_blank" title="3.8 per cent in the 12 months to January"><span>3.8 per cent in the 12 months to January</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The RBA attributed </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-interest-rates-rba-banks-response/e91beb9a-3be4-491a-9b0c-10869b6878d0" rel="" target="_blank" title="the 0.25 per cent interest rate hike this month"><span>the 0.25 per cent interest rate hike this month</span></a><span> to rising inflation but warned of a global recession.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The best contribution we can make to full employment and in fact to things like investment and productivity and so on, is to have low and stable inflation," RBA Governor Michele Bullock said at the time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The ACTU said housing costs and power prices are driving inflation, while a minimum wage increase would only make up an estimated 0.6 per cent of the national wage bill.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/anzac-day-public-holiday-act-2026-announced-to-align-with-nsw/5ab9b03e-b3c1-4b40-a940-bb3c3d3e8d00" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>New territory announces extra public holiday for Anzac Day 2026</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Of course, employer groups will say that any wage rise will put pressure on inflation, like they do every year, and every time they have been wrong," McManus said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The peak body made the submission to the Fair Work Commission ahead of its annual review into minimum wage and minimum pay rates under awards.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The commission holds hearings in May and implements any changes on the first full pay period on or after July 1.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></strong></em><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all 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