Federal parliamentarians, judges and senior public servants will receive their first pay rise since before the COVID-19 pandemic after the Remuneration Tribunal decided to lift their wages by 2.75 per cent from July 1.
Elected officials and senior office-holders who fall within the independent tribunal's wages remit have had sporadic pay rises under the previous Coalition government and none at all since July 2019.
Throughout the last two years the Morrison government tied wages of most APS officials to the public sector wage index, which lead to the slowest wage growth in more than a decade.
That public sector wage policy remains in effect, but due to several years of no increases the tribunal was able to offer a catch-up increase for top-ranking officials above the most recent private sector wage price index figure of 1.9 per cent.
In justifying the wage increase for the most senior officials, the tribunal said its primary focus was to provide "competitive and equitable " wages appropriate for the roles and sufficient to attract people of "calibre".
"Many of these officeholders do not expect or require that monetary compensation for their roles in the public sector be set at private sector levels. Rather, officeholders serve for the public good and in setting remuneration, the Tribunal has traditionally set rates below those of the private sector," the tribunal said in its decision.
The rebounded Australian economy following the pandemic was also a factor.
The tribunal also took into consideration the current economic conditions, the recent budget outlook and the last two years of annual wage reviews by the Fair Work Commission, with last year's review not available at the time it chose to decision against a wage rise in 2021, motivated to keep within the government's policy capping public sector wage rises.
Australia's seasonally adjusted March 2022 wage price index rose 2.2 per cent in the public sector, and 2.4 per cent in the private sector. In 2021, these figures were 1.5 per cent in the public sector, 1.4 per cent in the private sector.
The ruling applies to the top senior executive ranks in the public service, statutory agencies, some government-owned businesses in addition to the federal judiciary, parliamentarians and other part-time offices set up by the Commonwealth.
Labor has been cautious about directly promising to lift public sector wages, but is set to increase the investment in the APS by cutting waste and rorting.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison tied public sector wages to the private sector wages index during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020, claiming it would motivate his officials to deliver better outcomes for the people of Australia.
The Fair Work Commission is set to announce its decision on the national minimum wage on Wednesday morning. Around 2.7 million Australians earn the minimum wage which is set at $20.33 per hour.
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