Labor has officially backed a pay increase for low wage workers in a formal submission made today to the nation's wage authority.
The Fair Work Commission will rule this month on a wage rise for the nation's lowest-paid workers.
Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said the new government had taken its first step today to end the previous government's "deliberate" policy of low wages.
"Ten years of the government having low wages as a deliberate design feature... ended today," he said.
"This is what it looks like when you have a government that is willing to fight for better wages."
In the final weeks of the election campaign, the now-Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seized on cost of living concerns to promise his government would back a substantial lift in the minimum wage.
Mr Albanese said the lift should be no less than the inflation rate, which was running at 5.1 per cent.
It would amount to a $1 increase to the hourly minimum wage, putting it at $21.36.
That call prompted outrage from former prime minister Scott Morrison, who warned it would overheat the economy and send inflation further upwards.
He also criticised Mr Albanese for what he called "interference" in the work of the wage authority.
The decision on whether to lift wages and by how much ultimately rests with the independent FWC.
Mr Burke said the formal submission explicitly recommended a pay increase in line with inflation.
"The submission says this: 'In considering its decision on wages for this year, the government recommends that the Fair Work Commission ensures that the real wages of Australia's low paid workers do not go backwards,'" Mr Burke said.
"We don't want anyone to go backwards ... but this is at its most acute for low wage earners.
"It's now in the hands of the Fair Work Commission as to how they handle that."
He noted businesses were already paying more than minimum wage because of labour shortages, but that the submission was to "make sure" those on the minimum wage do not go backwards in real terms.
In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a real wage increase for the lowest-paid workers would also help to close the gender pay gap.
"Many low-paid workers are young, female, in casual employment, and are far more likely to find themselves experiencing financial hardship," he said.
"These low-paid workers were also on the front line delivering essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the retail, hospitality, aged care, cleaning, and childcare sectors."
Unions have pushed for a slightly higher increase of 5.5 per cent, while the Coalition has refused to put a number on what it thinks would be a fair increase, saying the decision should be left to the FWC.
