Wage numbers released - two ugly statistics for the Government

The ABS Wage Price Index rose 0.8 per cent in the June quarter 2026 and 3.2 per cent over the year. Over the last year, however, inflation has increased by 3.9%, so real wages have fallen.

In fact, workers have still not recovered the loss in real wages since around the time the Albanese Government took office in 2022. This is despite the key election promise in 2022 was to lift real wages.

Since June 2022, the wage price index has increased 15.2 per cent, from 140.4 to 161.7. Over the same period, the quarterly CPI increased 16.8 per cent.

After adjusting for inflation, therefore, workers are around 1.4 per cent lower in real terms than in June 2022.

Australian wage growth and inflation
Measure	Jun 2025	Mar 2026	Jun 2026
WPI — annual	3.4%	3.2%	3.2%
Private sector — annual	3.4%	3.2%	3.1%
Public sector — annual	3.7%	3.4%	3.4%
Quarterly CPI — annual	2.1%	4.1%	3.9%
Real WPI — annual	+1.3%	-0.8%	-0.7%

Real wage change since June quarter 2022
Sector	Wage growth	CPI growth	Real wage growth	Result
All sectors	15.17%	16.81%	-1.40%	Behind
Private sector	15.19%	16.81%	-1.39%	Behind
Public sector	14.80%	16.81%	-1.71%	Behind