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
March 2026
Released
13/05/2026
  • Next Release 19/08/2026
    Wage Price Index, Australia, June 2026
  • Next Release 18/11/2026
    Wage Price Index, Australia, September 2026
  • Next Release 17/02/2027
    Wage Price Index, Australia, December 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
13/05/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

  • The seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.8% this quarter.
  • Over the twelve months to the March quarter, the WPI rose 3.3%.
  • The private sector rose 0.8% and the public sector rose 0.5%, seasonally adjusted over the quarter.
  • In original terms, the largest industry contributor to quarterly wages growth was Health care and social assistance (+0.7%).

Main features

  1. See Interpretation of index numbers, Percentage change and rounding on the Methodology page.
Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses
  Dec Qtr 2025 to Mar Qtr
2026(a)
(% change)
Mar Qtr 2025 to Mar Qtr
2026(a)
(% change)
Trend(b)Australia0.83.3
Private sector0.83.2
Public sector0.73.5
Seasonally adjusted(c)Australia0.83.3
Private sector0.83.2
Public sector0.53.3
OriginalAustralia0.63.2
Private sector0.63.3
Public sector0.73.4
  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

In March quarter 2026, seasonally adjusted, wages rose 0.8% for a third consecutive quarter, however growth was lower than the same time last year (+0.9% in March quarter 2025). Wage growth was 3.3% for the year to the March quarter 2026, down from March quarter 2025 (+3.4%).

Private sector wages rose 0.8%. Annually, private sector wages rose 3.2%, down from December quarter 2025 (+3.4%) and March quarter 2025 (+3.3%).

Wages in the public sector rose 0.5% over the quarter. Through the year growth was 3.3%, lower than December quarter 2025 (+4.0%) and March quarter 2025 (+3.6%).

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

Annualised wage changes

In March quarter 2026, almost two thirds (61%) of jobs recorded an annualised wage change of more than 2% but less than 4%. This quarter, 22% of jobs recorded annualised wage growth greater than 4%, the lowest proportion observed for this category since June quarter 2022 (+16%).

  1. Index series is original, total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses.
  2. Share of jobs that experienced a wage change, smoothed using a four quarter trailing average.
  3. Excludes jobs that did not receive a wage change in the previous four quarters.

Enterprise agreements drive quarterly wage growth

In the March quarter 2026, over half of the growth in wages was contributed by jobs with pay set by an enterprise agreement (+52%). The larger March quarter contribution from jobs covered by this method of setting pay was primarily due to:

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

Sector wage growth

The private sector was the main contributor to quarterly wages growth. This is typical, as the expenditure on wages is higher than that of the public sector.

The public sector contribution to overall wage growth in March quarter 2026 was lower than the same time last year (+25% compared to +35%).

Quarterly wage dynamics, by sector, original (a)
  Mar Qtr 2025
(%)
Dec Qtr 2025
(%)
Mar Qtr 2026
(%)
All SectorsPercentage of jobs with a wage change212114
Average hourly wage change3.93.53.7
Private SectorPercentage of jobs with a wage change151913
Average hourly wage change4.33.74.0
Public SectorPercentage of jobs with a wage change392921
Average hourly wage change3.33.13.0
  1. Average hourly wage change only includes jobs recording a wage movement in the current quarter.

Private sector

In original terms, private sector wages rose by 0.6% over the quarter, the same as March quarter 2025.

In the private sector, 13% of jobs recorded a wage change, down from the 15% in March quarter 2025. The average hourly wage change for private sector jobs was 4.0%. This was higher than the 3.7% in December quarter 2025 but lower than March quarter 2025 (+4.3%).

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

Public sector

In original terms, public sector wages rose 0.7%, down from March quarter 2025 (+1.2%).

In March quarter 2026, fewer public sector jobs (+21%) recorded a wage change, than in March quarter 2025 (+39%). The size of average hourly wage change for March quarter 2026 was 3.0%, lower than the 3.3% recorded in March quarter 2025.

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

The contribution made by each level of government to public sector wage growth reflects both the size of the level of government (overall number of employees and total wage expenditure) and the size of any wage changes that occurred.

This quarter, state government pay rises contributed 69% of public sector wage growth.

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

Industry wage growth

The main contributors to wage 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.

The main industry contributor to wages growth over the quarter were jobs in Health care and social assistance (19%). The Education and training industry (11%) was the second largest contributor to quarterly wages growth.

Industry wage growth, estimates in original terms:

  • Electricity, gas, water and waste services recorded the highest quarterly rise at 1.1%.
  • Retail, Accommodation and food services and Information, media and telecommunication industries recorded the lowest quarterly rise at 0.1%.
  • Electricity, gas, water and waste services saw the highest through the year rise at 4.3%.
  • Administrative and support services recorded the lowest through the year rise at 2.8%.
  1. Index series is original, total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses.

State and territory wage growth

State and territory wage growth, estimates in original terms:

  • The Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest quarterly growth at 0.8%.
  • New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia recorded the lowest quarterly growth at 0.4%.
  • The Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest annual growth at 3.7%.
  • The Northern Territory recorded the lowest annual growth at 2.3%.
  1. 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

Create your own tables and visualisations with Data Explorer

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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

Employing Australian organisations (private and public sector) and eligible employee jobs.

 

For specific employer and employee job excludes, see scope and coverage.

Geography

Data available for: 

 

  • Australia
  • Sector
  • State and territories

Source

Prices for a range of jobs are collected from a sample of private and public sector employers via the Wage Price Index Survey.

Collection method

An initial selection of approximately 3,300 Australian organisations (public and private) produces a subset of about 20,000 eligible jobs with data submitted electronically over successive quarters.

Concepts, sources and methods

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

History of changes

  • Expenditure weights updated Dec quarter 2025
  • Wage setting analytical series updated June quarter 2023
  • Sample redesign 2009, reviewed 2023
View full methodology
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