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For more than 100 years, Australia has had a minimum wage enshrined in law. It aims to ensure a basic standard of living for the working population by prohibiting employers from paying their staff less than the minimum.
Victoria was the second jurisdiction after New Zealand to introduce a minimum wage. It set minimum wages for six industries rather than a universal minimum wage. Other states followed suit. In 1907, the Harvester decision set a “living wage for a man, his wife, and three children to live in frugal comfort”. The ruling became the basis for setting Australia’s minimum wage standard for the next 70 years.
Today, Australia’s Fair Work Commission is responsible for setting the national minimum wage. It also sets minimum wages under each modern award. A modern award sets out minimum terms and conditions on top of the National Employment Standards (NES).
NES is part of Australia’s national workplace relations system and it sets out the minimum working conditions for jobs in certain industries. Not all employees will be covered by a modern award or an enterprise agreement, but almost every employee is covered by the NES.
“The objective of the national minimum wage is set out in the Fair Work Act, and it...
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