Wage Price Index, Australia

Latest release

The WPI measures changes in the price of labour, unaffected by compositional shifts in the labour force, hours worked or employee characteristics

Reference period
June 2024
Released
13/08/2024
  • Next Release 13/11/2024
    Wage Price Index, Australia, September 2024
  • Next Release 19/02/2025
    Wage Price Index, Australia, December 2024
  • Next Release 14/05/2025
    Wage Price Index, Australia, March 2025
  • View all releases

Key statistics

  • The seasonally adjusted WPI rose 0.8% this quarter and 4.1% over the year.
  • The private sector rose 0.7% and the public sector rose 0.9%, seasonally adjusted, for the quarter.
  • In original terms, the largest industry contributors to quarterly wages growth were Professional, scientific and technical services (0.7%), Public administration and safety (1.0%), and Construction (0.9%).

Main features

a. See Interpretation of index numbers, Percentage change and rounding on the Methodology page.

Wage Price Index (WPI) Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses
 Mar Qtr 2024 to Jun Qtr 2024 % change(a)Jun Qtr 2023 to Jun Qtr 2024 % change(a)
Trend(b)  
Australia0.83.9
Private sector0.83.9
Public sector0.83.9
Seasonally Adjusted(c)  
Australia0.84.1
Private sector0.74.1
Public sector0.93.9
Original  
Australia0.64.1
Private sector0.64.1
Public sector0.73.9
  1. See Interpretation of index numbers, Percentage change and rounding on the Methodology page.
  2. See Interpretation of index numbers, Trend estimates on the Methodology page.
  3. See Interpretation of index numbers, Seasonally adjusted indexes and Seasonal analysis methods on the Methodology page.

Overview

Seasonally adjusted, wages rose 0.8% in the June quarter, and 4.1% over the year. Annual growth has remained at 4.0% or above since September quarter 2023.

In the June quarter, private sector wages rose 0.7%, the equal lowest rise for the sector since December quarter 2021.  Annually, private sector wages rose 4.1% to the June quarter 2024.   This follows three consecutive quarters with annual wage increases of 4.2%. 

The public sector rose 0.9%, up from 0.6% last quarter. This is the highest rise recorded for the sector in a June quarter since June quarter 2012 (1.0%). Public sector wages rose 3.9% over the year to June 2024, higher than the 3.8% annual rise in March quarter 2024, and the 3.1% recorded in the same period last year.

a. See Interpretation of index numbers, Percentage change and rounding on the Methodology page.

Sector wage growth

The public sector contributed a quarter (25%) of overall wage growth in June quarter 2024, higher than the contribution of the sector to wage growth in the June quarter 2023 (19%).

All Australian Public Service employees received pay increases effective 14 March 2024. This led to a larger increase in the contribution Commonwealth jobs made to public sector wage growth. Growth for these jobs had previously been reported across multiple quarters, reflecting the timing of individual agency agreements.

a. See Interpretation of index numbers, Percentage change and rounding on the Methodology page

Quarterly wage dynamics

Quarterly wage dynamics, by sector, original (a)
 June quarter 2023 (%)March quarter 2024 (%)June quarter 2024 (%)
All Sector   
Percentage of jobs with a wage change131413
Average hourly wage change4.14.04.1
Private Sector   
Percentage of jobs with a wage change121211
Average hourly wage change4.54.44.2
Public Sector   
Percentage of jobs with a wage change151819
Average hourly wage change3.02.93.8

a. Average hourly wage change only includes jobs recording a wage movement in the current quarter.

Private sector

In original terms, the private sector recorded 0.6% quarterly wage growth, consistent with June quarter 2023.

The size of hourly wage change for private sector jobs and the proportion of jobs recording a wage change may be an indicator of wage pressure in the labour market. 

The private sector saw fewer jobs recording a wage change (11%) compared to June quarter 2023 (12%). 

The average hourly wage change for jobs in the private sector that recorded a change was 4.2%. This was lower than the same period last year (4.5%) and the March quarter 2024 (4.4%).

a. Average hourly wage change only includes jobs recording a wage movement in the current quarter.

Public sector

In original terms, the public sector saw 0.7% wage growth, higher than the previous June quarter (0.5%).

In June quarter 2024, the public sector recorded an increase in both the proportion of jobs that received a wage movement (19% compared to 15%) and the size of average hourly wage change (3.8% compared to 3.0%).

The result for the public sector reflected the implementation of new Commonwealth and State enterprise agreements in addition to regular scheduled June quarter rises.

a. Average hourly wage change only includes jobs recording a wage movement in the current quarter.

Annualised wage changes

Two thirds of all jobs (67%) that recorded a wage change over the previous 12 months received an annualised increase above 3%, compared to 53% in June quarter 2023.

The last time the share of jobs with an annualised increase above 3% was at this level was June quarter 2009 (68%).

The share of jobs recording an annualised increase of greater than 6% has remained at 14% since December quarter 2023, this had been steadily rising since March quarter 2022 (6%). 

The share in the greater than 6% in June quarter 2024 (14%) is similar to levels last recorded in March quarter 2009 (15%).

a. Index series is original, total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses.
b. Share of jobs that experienced a wage change, smoothed using a four quarter trailing average.

Individual arrangements drive quarterly wage inflation

By method of setting pay, jobs covered by an individual arrangement contributed over half of WPI quarterly growth in June quarter 2024.

a. Analytical series is total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses.
b. See Method used to calculate analytical series ‘Contribution to wages growth by method of setting pay' on the Methodology page.
c. See Analytical series index numbers, Appendix B index numbers, method of setting pay on the Methodology page.

Industry wage growth

The main contributors to WPI growth reflect both the size of the industry (overall number of employees and total wage expenditure) and the size of any wage changes that occurred.

In terms of contribution, Professional, scientific and technical services was the main contributor to wages growth.

Original estimates:

  • The Mining industry recorded the highest quarterly rise (1.3%).
  • Retail trade and Health care and social assistance industries recorded the lowest quarterly rise in wages (0.2%).
  • Health care and social assistance industry recorded the highest through the year wages growth (5.0%).
  • Other services industry recorded the lowest through the year growth (3.1%).

a. Index series is original, total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses.

State and territory wage growth

Original estimates:

  • The Australian Capital Territory had the highest quarterly growth at 1.6%. The Northern Territory recorded the lowest quarterly growth at 0.3%.
  • Tasmania recorded the highest annual growth at 5.1%. Victoria recorded the lowest annual growth at 3.3%.

a. Index series is original, total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses.

Survey impacts and changes

Seasonal adjustment and trend

Data downloads

I-Note

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data cubes - Distribution of expenditure on wages, wage price index, Australia

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Wage Price Index

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6345.0.

Using price indexes

Price indexes in contracts

Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).

Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering the inclusion of an Indexation Clause within a contract utilising an ABS published price index.

Frequently asked questions

The article Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Wage Price Index has answers to a number of common questions to do with price indexes and the Wage Price Index, in particular.

Methodology

Scope

The quarterly WPI measures change in the price of wages and salaries in the Australian Labour market over time.

Geography

Quarterly WPI data is published at the national, sector, state and industry level.

Source

Prices for a range of jobs are collected from a sample of private and public sector employers undertaking economic activity across Australia.

Collection method

Prices are collected on a quarterly basis via electronic collection.

Concepts, sources and methods

Information about the data sources and methods used to compile WPI is contained in the Wage Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods.

History of changes

  • Sample redesign 2009
  • Expenditure weights update Dec 2023
  • Wage setting analytical series updated June 2023
View full methodology
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