The Gillard Government today lodged its submission to the Annual Wage Review of Fair Work Australia (FWA).
The Government recommends that any increase to the National Minimum Wage and award wages in 2012 be in line with living costs and other economic changes.
The minimum wage is a key part of Australia's employment safety net for low-paid workers.
It's the Gillard Government's fundamental belief that Australian workers deserve a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.
We will always go into bat for Australia's lowest paid workers, just as we did when we supported FWA's decision to increase the wages of social and community services workers who do a remarkable job caring for those in our society that need help the most .
The submission provides the FWA with up-to-date evidence on the factors that they need to consider in determining minimum wages for 2012-13.
While the Australian economy is still expected to grow around trend in the period ahead, a high dollar and weak global demand has increased pressures on some sectors, such as retail and manufacturing.
The Government will make a further submission to FWA once the Budget has been delivered to provide the latest economic data and outline relevant Budget initiatives.
Fair Work Australia is required to consider minimum wage cases with regard to the state of the economy (including employment growth, productivity and inflation) as well as the needs of the low paid. The Government's submission is available on the Fair Work Australia website .