Australia's lowest-paid workers are to receive a 2.4 per cent pay rise following a decision by the Fair Work Commission.
It lifted the minimum wage to $17.70 an hour - but not everybody is celebrating the decision.
From July 1st, Australia's lowest-paid workers will be better off by around $15.80 a week.
The Fair Work Commission said a healthy economic climate, including low unemployment and inflation, had provided the opportunity for a modest increase to the national minimum wage.
The commission noted Australia's low-paid workers were relatively worse off than they were a decade ago, and said some were living below the poverty line.
But some, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions say the increase is not enough.
ACTU National Secretary Dave Oliver says the increase won't ease the financial pressure for the almost two million people earning the minimum wage.
"Had the government put a submission in suggesting an amount to lift the minimum wage, that would have had considerable weight, and we may have seen a different outcome. So, while we do welcome any decision to increase the minimum wage, we are disappointed it doesn't go far enough. If you take into account the inflation rate and the increase, it delivers a real wage increase of just over one percent so for a minimum wage earner that is something like six dollars a week."
The ACTU had called for the minimum wage to increase to $686.90 a week, or $18.07 an hour.
But business groups had sought to limit the increase.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce sought a wage increase of no more than 1.2 per cent.
James Pearson from the ACCI spoke about some of the issues he says must be taken into account.
"We are looking for reasonable, pragmatic, sound policies, that I would hope both sides of politics can support, that will make us more competitive. Because the world does not owe us a living. And our challenge is to remain a high wage economy, while becoming more and more competitive against other countries that are finding their own ways to get ahead of us."
The Fair Work Commission says its modest increase to the minimum wage would not lead to inflationary pressure and would be highly unlikely to have any negative impact on employment.
However some retailers are warning they may have to slash workers' hours.
Stephen Smith, from the Australian Industry Group, has told the ABC there could also be consequences for job seekers.
"They need to take into account not only people in jobs but those looking for jobs and those in jobs that are not secure so it needs to balance everyone's interests."
The Fair Work Commission reviews the national minimum wage annually, and last year lifted the minimum wage by 2.5 per cent.
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