Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Sheldon. As Senator Sheldon well knows, the Albanese Labor government is focused on delivery—delivering on our commitments and delivering real cost-of-living relief for Australians, delivering better pay and conditions for workers around the country—because that is a key part of supporting Australians with cost-of-living pressures. The Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act was passed by the Albanese Labor government in December 2022 to improve wages, reinvigorate enterprise bargaining, address the gender pay gap and improve job security.

Now, as a result of these reforms, workers covered by enterprise agreements are enjoying the strongest wages growth in the nation. The latest employee earnings and hours survey shows workers on enterprise agreements earned an average of $1,746.10 per week in May 2025, and that's $153.30 more than in 2023, before that legislation passed. This 9.6 per cent rise is the biggest increase across all methods of settling pay. More than 4.5 million people now have their pay set through enterprise agreements, highlighting their importance in Australia's wage-setting system and the effectiveness of Labor's Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act reforms. These figures show the Same Job, Same Pay reforms are delivering not only for all Australian workers but also specifically for working women. Women on enterprise agreements earned an average of $1,542.30 per week—12.4 per cent more than the average across all methods of setting pay for women. This reflects the role that good-faith bargaining plays in supporting better pay and financial security for women across the workforce. This data clearly shows the Albanese government's reforms are helping workers on enterprise agreements experience the strongest wage growth across all forms of setting pay, and it shows the Albanese government has got wages moving again to help Australians with their cost-of-living pressures.