From 1 July 2023 the national minimum wage will increase to $882.80 per week based on a 38-hour week for a full-time employee (or $23.23 per hour).

Additionally, minimum wages in modern awards will increase by 5.75%. This increase will operate from 1 July 2023 for all modern award minimum wages, modern enterprise award wages and State reference public sector awards.

In addition to the above increase in the minimum wage, 1 July 2023 also sees an increase in the minimum superannuation guarantee contribution to 11%.

When applying minimum wage increases, employers should also check if there are any additional costs to any piece rates or allowances that use the base rate of pay in the modern award for calculation from 1 July 2023.

For employers utilising annualised wage provisions that exist in some modern awards, now would be an appropriate time to review whether the annual wage still satisfies the requirements of the award. It is also worth assessing whether employees need to be notified in writing of any change to the number of overtime hours that can be worked in a pay period.