When both adults in a household work and still cannot afford a decent life, it shows that the problem is not individual failure, writes St Vincent de Paul Society national president Mark Gaetani. Source: Eureka Street.
The Fair Work Commission’s 2026 Annual Wage Review lifts modern award wages by 4.75 per cent and takes the National Minimum Wage past $1000 a week.
On paper, that looks like progress, but in practice, it follows years in which housing costs, food, electricity and fuel have outpaced wage growth, leaving many low-income households worse off.
The minimum wage rise will ease pressure for some workers. For someone on the lowest rates, it might mean a little less fear when the next bill arrives or a smaller shortfall at the end of the week.
While that matters, it still falls short of what many would regard as a living wage that reflects the real costs of housing, food, energy and transport, and prevents, rather than entrenches, financial insecurity.
In many Australian cities, median rents now consume most of a full-time minimum wage before tax. On the Gold Coast, residents are paying about $950 a week for a typical house. Earning $1000 a week before tax does not go far enough to make ends meet.
At the St Vincent de Paul Society, this is everyday reality. Across the country, members, volunteers and employees meet people who have worked hard, juggled caring and paid work, yet still find themselves turning up for food hampers, help with school costs or support to keep the power on.
The society’s Secure Work policy argues for a living wage and work that is stable and respectful. Too many jobs now come without the basics many Australians once assumed: paid leave, reliable hours and some confidence that the job will exist next month.
For many people we assist, that instability affects every part of life. It is harder to plan, to study or train, to care for your health, or to say yes when a child brings home a note about a school excursion. The focus narrows to simply getting through to the next payday.
The 2026 minimum wage rise is a chance to move towards a fairer, more just Australia. Whether it does will depend on our willingness, as citizens, employers and policymakers, to respect the dignity of work and workers’ rights, and to recognise people in working poverty as our neighbours whose future is bound up with our own.
FULL STORY
When work no longer guarantees a decent life (Eureka Street)
