Every year, Australian union members, via ACTU advocacy, fight for improved pay rates for the lowest paid. Recently, the Fair Work Commission determined in the national wage case, to apply a 3.5% pay increase to the national minimum wage from 1 July 2025 ($948 per week, or $24.95 per hour).
This pay rate will apply to approximately 3 million workers in Australia.
The same pay increase of 3.5% will also be applied to the 122 modern Awards, which set minimum pay rates across various industries or occupations, including the Health Professionals and Support Services Award (HPSS Award). HSUWA Members in the private sector bargain collective agreements with their employer, which, at the time the collective agreement is made, must be better off overall in pay and conditions than what is set out in the HPSS Award. This is called passing the BOOT test. Additionally, during the term of a collective agreement (usually three years), it is unlawful for the rates of pay to fall below the Award minimums.
Here’s what you can do to make sure you’re being paid correctly:
- Review the Award that applies to you. If you’re not sure what you should be getting paid from 1 July, don’t hesitate to contact us.
- Check your payslips from 1 July 2025.
- Contact your employer with any questions, or contact us if you would like any clarification about your entitlement.
It’s important to note that this pay increase is a separate process to the recent preliminary finding of the review into five Modern Awards which included the HPSS Award, and found that a range of occupations had been subject to historic gender undervaluation.
Separately, the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission, also determined that the state minimum wage would raise by 3.75% to $953 per week.
Without our Union Agreement 2024 for the public sector, wages would be very different in public health.
