Minimum wage regulation in Australia in the wake of the pandemic: the future of the five wage concepts?

ABSTRACT

The importance of Australia’s minimum wage has never been more significant for low-paid workers than during the concurrent crises of wage stagnation and the pandemic. But in this current regulatory paradigm will the minimum wage be able to continue its history of fulfiling its social, economic and industrial objectives? This article will examine this challenge by reviewing how Australia’s minimum wage has been calculated by an independent industrial tribunal through assessing the needs of workers, the capacity of employers to pay, and the function of the minimum wage as a safety net. Maintenance of the high level of the minimum and whether any groups of workers are left behind are key issues for the future of minimum wage regulation.

KEYWORDS:

• Wage fixation
• minimum wages
• employment law and regulation

Acknowledgment

This article is dedicated to the memory of Jack Hutson, whose ‘Six Wage Concepts’ in 1971 included chapters that explored both employer and trade union views on wage fixation problems of the time. We acknowledge Grant Ellis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. This federal tribunal has been known as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court 1905–1956; Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission 1956–1973; Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission 1973–1989; Australian Industrial Relations Commission 1989–2009; Fair Work Australia 2009–2012; Fair Work Commission 2013-present. From herein these regulators will collectively be referred to as ‘the tribunal’.