Almost a quarter of Australians in poverty are working full-time, a statistic the country should be ashamed of, federal parliament has been told.
Greens MP Adam Bandt wants the minimum wage increased from 55 per cent to 60 per cent of the median full-time weekly wage - up to roughly $20 an hour.
"In a rich country like Australia people earning a full-time wage shouldn't be struggling to make ends meet," he said while introducing legislation in the lower house on Monday.
Having a full-time job was no longer a guarantee of security, he said.
The Fair Work Commission last month raised the minimum wage from $18.29 to $18.93 an hour.
Mr Bandt expects when the latest wage figures are released it will show a slight jump from 55.1 per cent of the median wage to 55.6 per cent.
The MP argues that's still not enough.
Mr Bandt told parliament he bets most Australians would think a $20 an hour wage is fair and would help those facing the rising cost of housing and energy, and low wage growth.
"The change that's happening at the moment is not transformative, it isn't even incremental. It's ineffective (and) it's barely even noticeable," he said.
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