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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Peter Hannam

Average Australian worker went backwards by $800 in 2021, says ACTU chief Michele O’Neil

Michele O'Neil
Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O'Neil will tell the Australia Institute wages have effectively gone backwards Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Australia’s soaring cost of living is outstripping wage increases, leaving the average worker more than $800 worse off in 2021, the steepest cut in real terms for more than 20 years, according to Australian Council of Trade Unions president, Michele O’Neil.

The contraction in spending power happened during Covid supply chain shortages, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only propelled prices of fuel and food higher.

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