The new salary rise is hitting all areas of the workforce.
The rise will affect almost all nurses, but it’s particularly significant for those who work in hospitals, where salaries have gone up by 25 per cent in the past year, and who work with an extra $15,000 a year.
A recent analysis by The Conversation has found that in the health and social care industry the average wage increase is about 12 per cent.
It’s a drop from the 26 per cent increase in the year before, and is a lot more than a one per cent bump in other sectors.
The new wage increase will see nurses pay a median salary of $61,000, up from $50,000.
But the median pay is less than half the $84,000 median for all other jobs in the economy.
The average salary in the non-medical, administrative and support occupations is $55,000 while the average for those working in other professions is $63,000.(Supplied: ABS)A large chunk of that difference comes from a drop in the amount of overtime pay workers are entitled to.
In the health sector, which is heavily reliant on overtime work, overtime is already paying for the salaries of a large number of people.
In recent years, the number of workers in the industry has grown from about 12,000 to 18,000 – mostly through the introduction of new overtime protections.
The pay rise will see that number rise to 20,000 by 2028.
The increase is being phased in over the next five years.
The wage increases are only valid for people who work for the Government or a public agency.
But those in the private sector, particularly in the hospitality and hospitality management sector, will see their pay increase by just two per cent a year from 2019 to 2020.
Healthcare workers are particularly at risk.
The annual increases for those earning between $80,000 and $105,000 are just over five per cent each year.
And those earning $105 and up will see the biggest pay rise.
The health sector also has some of the most vulnerable people in the country.
Those earning less than $80 a week, those in poverty and those aged 25 to 34 who are unemployed, will all see their wages increase by two per, four and eight per cent respectively.
People earning more than $90 a week will see a one-per-cent increase.
A person earning $100,000 will see pay rise by two to four per cent, while a person earning more $110,000 could see pay increase from three to six per cent annually.
Health Minister Michaelia Cash said that although the changes are designed to bring more Australians into the workforce, they were also designed to help the health system.
“We know the average age for people to get a GP appointment is 21.9 and people are getting older,” she said.
“But the health budget is going up by $1.2 billion a year, so the overall health budget will be increasing by $7.3 billion over five years.”
“This means that we’re doing all we can to get the health workforce to work longer and more efficiently.”
But the changes will not be a huge help to people in poorer families.
Health Minister Cash said those in low income families would see their income increase by an average of $1,400 a year and those in families earning less that $60,000 would see an average increase of $750.
Income inequality in Australia has been on the rise, with median income in Australia now about $62,000 more than it was in 2010.
But in some of those areas, like inner-city Sydney, median income has dropped.
Some of the richest regions in Australia are also among the most disadvantaged.
Topics:work,education,jobs,health,health-policy,healthcare-facilities,health—organisations,health/social-issues,health–research,healthpolicy,government-and-politics,government,sunday-morning-news,government–of-australiaFirst posted September 29, 2018 19:57:51Contact Paul Jaffe
