Teachers, nurses, police, cleaners and public servants in Western Australia have been offered a six per cent pay rise over the next two years as a buffer against rising inflation.
The Western Australian government has increased its pay offer for 150,000 workers by three per cent a year for the next two years, along with an additional $2500 cost of living payment.
Premier Mark McGowan said the move was in response to peak inflation and would cost the budget an extra $634 million over the next four years.
“Given the current economic climate, we have listened and revised our salary policy,” he wrote on social media on Sunday.
“This is a sensible and generous policy, but also a responsible one in these volatile economic times.”
The changes will happen immediately to industries that have already accepted the government’s previous offer of a 2.75 percent pay rise, including teachers and doctors in public hospitals.
Some workers’ wages will increase by more than the three percent annual rate, with a patient care assistant making just over $55,000 a year effectively getting a 7.5 percent pay increase during the first year.
Perth’s consumer price index rose 1.7% in the June quarter, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed, pushing its annual inflation rate well above the national average up to 7.4%.
Health workers and other public servants in WA have been pushing for a pay rise of more than 2.75 per cent, with some holding walkouts outside Perth hospitals in recent weeks.
The McGowan government posted a $5.7 billion surplus in this year’s state budget, which included a one-off electricity credit of $400 for every household.