QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Ms RISHWORTH (Kingston—Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) (15:03): I'd like to thank the member for Melbourne for her question and her fierce advocacy for Australian workers. Since the Albanese Labor government came to office we have been working to get a better deal for Australian workers and to get wages moving. Of course, this was off the back of 10 long years of low wages as a deliberate design feature of the coalition's economic architecture.

Our government has improved our workplace laws to deliver better wages and more-secure jobs, and now we're starting to see the benefit of our changes. Under the Albanese Labor government we are currently seeing the strongest rate of annual real wage growth in five years. Growth in real wages helps workers with the cost of living.

Importantly, the government's workplace relations reforms have reinvigorated enterprise bargaining, with a record high of 2.8 million employees now covered by enterprise agreements. This is the highest number of employees covered by agreements since bargaining first began, in 1991. Our government's workplace relations reforms have removed barriers to workplace bargaining, meaning better pay and job security for workers while helping businesses improve flexibility, productivity and staff retention.

The most recent data shows that enterprise agreements are delivering real wage increases. The most recent data shows that the average annualised wage increase for agreements approved in the June quarter was 4.2 per cent—higher than the economy-wide wage increase of 3.4 per cent. In particular, enterprise agreements in the private sector led the growth in wages.

Real wage increases delivered through enterprise bargaining are providing important cost-of-living relief for Aussie workers. In addition to enterprise bargaining, our government has a strong record of standing up for our lowest paid workers. In our government's most recent submission to the Annual Wage Review, we called for a real wage increase.

And, from 1 July this year, minimum award wages increased by 3.5 per cent. Of course, over the term of this Labor government, minimum award wages have increased by $9,120 a year. This is real money in the pockets of our lowest paid workers.

We have also, of course, legislated to protect penalty rates for those on the minimum-award safety net who rely on them as an essential part of their pay packet. And, of course, our government is delivering tax cuts for every single worker in this country. While those on the other side continue to be distracted and divided, it is this Labor government that is committed to helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn.