A full‑time worker on the minimum wage has just $33 spare each week after rent, food and transport, according to a new report.
Anglicare Australia's 2025 Cost of Living Index, released on Thursday, also said a single parent would have $1 left, even after government assistance, while a two‑income family with two children is left with only $5.
This analysis examined how far the minimum wage would stretch when covering essential weekly costs like rent, food, transport, childcare and education.
Based on recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Household Expenditure Survey and rent costs from SQM Research's Weekly Rent Report, it compared these expenses to a full-time worker’s take-home pay of $822 a week from 1 July, when the latest minimum wage increase takes effect.
A separate example included government support available to single parents.
The report, Anglicare says, shows that "full-time work no longer guarantees a decent standard of living", with minimum wage workers "being pushed to the brink".
Anglicare executive director Kasy Chambers labelled the results of this year's index as "bleak".
"After paying for the basics, minimum‑wage workers are left with almost nothing. In many cases, there's no money left for energy bills at all," Chambers said.
"We're seeing more people trapped in energy debt. They are skipping meals, going without heating, and falling behind on bills they'll never be able to repay."
More than 330,000 customers owed a combined $300 million to energy retailers and debts above $3,000 were "surging", Chambers said, referencing the Australian Energy Regulator's 2024 annual retail markets report.
Payment plans unsustainable, Anglicare says
Chambers said many people are locked into payment plans they cannot sustain, "even though energy retailers are making record profits".
Anglicare says it wants more energy debt relief for people in hardship and governments to better regulate what it says is "the gauging of energy costs".
"Energy is not a luxury. It is essential to running a household, staying healthy, and living with dignity," Chambers said.
Changes are coming, but not until next year
Rule changes announced by the Australian Energy Market Commission earlier this month will stop retailers from raising prices more than once a year, ban most late‑payment penalties and require companies to move vulnerable customers onto their best available deal.
The reforms are meant to stop retailers from "luring customers in with cheap deals, only to move them onto higher-cost plans", Energy Minister Chris Bowen said last week.
"There are many, many Australians, either in hardship or not in hardship, who aren't on their best possible plan. That's not their fault. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to change," Bowen told ABC Radio National.
Every residence and one million small businesses across the nation will receive a $75 quarterly rebate automatically applied to their electricity bill from 1 July until the end of 2025.
