State Wage Case 2023

The Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission (WAIRC) issues a State Wage Case General Order (State Wage Order) annually in June which sets the WA minimum wage for adults, apprentices and trainees, and adjusts wage rates under the State awards. The State Wage Order now applies to all Local Governments in WA (with the exception of the Shire of Christmas Island and the Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands). Local Governments must ensure that the wages paid to employees are the same as, or higher than, the State minimum wage. As a general rule, many Local Governments provide much higher rates of pay than the State minimum wage which is important for the attraction and retention of staff.
 
All interested persons and organisations have an opportunity to provide a submission to the WAIRC regarding what minimum wage should be set. The Minister for Industrial Relations and other peak industry bodies provide submissions which often contain WA specific economic data. The WAIRC also considers the minimum wage rate set by the Federal Fair Work Commission before releasing its decision.

Submission on the State Wage Case 2023

WALGA is preparing a short submission to the WAIRC on behalf of the Local Government sector covering the industrial relations (IR) context for WA Local Governments, economic conditions in WA and Local Governments' capacity to pay. The draft submission will be considered by the WALGA State Council before filing.
 
If a Local Government wishes to prepare an individual submission to inform the State Wage Order, it must do so by filing its written submission with the WAIRC by Wednesday, 17 May 2023. Further information can be viewed here.

Impact of the State Wage Order on Local Governments

In the table below we have set out how the State Wage Order affects Local Governments and their industrial agreements and awards.
  Impact on awards / transitional award Impact on industrial agreements
Local Governments that transitioned from the Federal IR system to the State IR system on 1 January 2023 The wages in the Local Government Industry Award 2020 Industrial Agreement (LGIA IA) must be higher than the State minimum wage.
 
Currently, the wage rates in the LGIA IA are higher than the State minimum wage. This comparison will need to be done again when the 2023 State Wage General Order is issued in June.
 		 The wages in an industrial agreement must be higher than the State minimum wage.
 
Local Governments need to undertake their own assessment of their industrial agreement wage rates against the State minimum wage rates.
Local Governments that operated in the State IR system before 1 January 2023 The wages in the Local Government Officers’ (Western Australia) Award 2021 (LGO Award) and the Municipal Employees (Western Australia) Award 2021 (ME Award) must be higher than the State minimum wage. *Currently there is an issue with level 1 wage rates under the ME Award (see below).
 
The award rates will increase when the 2023 State Wage General Order is issued in June.
 		 The wages in an industrial agreement must be higher than the State minimum wage.
 
Local Governments need to undertake their own assessment of their industrial agreement wage rates against the State minimum wage rates.

*Local Governments applying the ME Award

Currently the level 1 wage rate in clause 16.1 of the ME Award is lower than the State minimum wage. This means Local Governments must not apply the level 1 rates directly from the ME Award, they must apply the State minimum wage which is currently $819.90 per week. See the ME Award Summary.

Proposed special public holiday general order

WALGA engaged with the sector in February and March of 2023 to notify the sector of UnionsWA’s application for a special public holiday general order.
For more detailed information about this general order please see our previous ER Alert on 17 April 2023 and our March SIRT Bulletin.

On the basis that limited feedback has been received by WALGA and the limited impact of the general order, a survey was not distributed to obtain further feedback.

WALGA has prepared a letter to the WAIRC to provide the following information for consideration when making the proposed general order.
 
  • WALGA has not received any feedback from the sector to date identifying concerns with the proposed general order, given its limited application.
  • Two Local Governments have provided direct feedback to WALGA about the proposed general order.
  • Information about the entitlements that were required to be paid to Local Government employees on the National Day of Mourning on Thursday, 22 September 2022.

Local Governments wishing to make individual submissions about the proposed general order must do so by no later than 4pm on Tuesday, 2 May 2023 as set out in the Registry’s notice, which is available here.

If you have any questions about this alert, please email WALGA Employee Relations or call 1300 366 956.