The minimum wage and four other reasons to be proud
These are the things that make Australia a great place to live
THERE’S lots of great things about Australia Day, which is coming up on Monday. Getting another day off work right after coming back from Christmas (yes!). Catching up with friends, going to the beach, the Sydney ferry races. All good.
The flood of cheap imported Australian flag merchandise, not so much. But moving right along…
On Australia Day we here at Working Life like to pay tribute to the things that make Australia a good place to live, many of them brought to you by working men and women organising and standing up for a better life.
1. The highest minimum wage in the world
Yep. While many of us could do with a pay rise, Australia leads the world in our commitment to a living minimum. Unions go into bat every year to win a pay rise for Australia’s lowest paid workers. Last year our minimum wage rose to $16.87 an hour, or $640.90.
It’s not a rich living but it largely prevents the phenomenon seen in the United States where many workers have to juggle two or three jobs to make ends meet. The US federal minimum wage is just US$7.25 per hour (and $2.13 for tipped workers). Attempts by President Obama to lift that have been blocked repeatedly by the Republicans in Congress.
While conservatives complain this makes us ‘‘the most expensive labour market in the world’’ and the government is ordering its review, Australia’s decent minimum wage hasn’t stifled decades of economic growth and gives us one of the lowest gaps between minimum and average wages in the world.
And let’s not forget the crucial role that penalty rates also play in maintaining high living standards in Australia.
Now that’s something to be proud of.
2. Free doctors’ visits … for now
One of the great things about living in Australia is Medicare. We can receive world-class medical treatment for little or no money. We can see a GP for free.
Joe Hockey may think it’s a bad thing that his son’s broken foot could be treated for just the cost of a $40 waterproof cast. But that’s the beauty of universal healthcare. We pay our taxes, we get access to medical treatment.
Australians don’t want a US-style system where getting sick can send you broke. Joe Hockey wants to pay more? Knock yourself out. But quit trying to kill free universal healthcare for the rest of us.
This Australia Day, raise your glass to Medicare.
3. Sickies
Not only can you can you see the doctor for free in Australia, but you can take a day off to do it.
Under Australia’s National Employment Standards, workers are entitled to ten days of personal and carers’ leave to cover being sick, looking after sick children, caring for relatives etc.
This is in addition to four weeks’ annual leave, public holidays, paid and unpaid parental leave and long service leave. Casual workers are paid at a higher hourly rate to make up for sick and other leave entitlements.
Make no mistake, employer groups are always looking for ways to wind back employee leave and they now have the support of Tony Abbott’s Productivity Commission review into working conditions.
But unions will keep up the fight for fair leave entitlements, because no-one should be financially punished for looking after a sick child.
As Barack Obama pointed out in his State of the Union address this week, 43 million American workers don’t have access to sick leave.
Sick leave, something to get patriotic about.
4. Retirement savings
Twenty-two years of compulsory superannuation, campaigned for by trade unions, has delivered guaranteed retirement savings for millions of Australians.
Before 1992, the only workers with superannuation were the ones fortunate enough to have a scheme at their workplace — usually organised by the union.
It’s widely acknowledged that the current superannuation guarantee of 9% of wages won’t be enough for most workers to retire comfortably on — but a planned increase to 12% has been pushed back from 2019 to 2025.
Industry super funds — managed for the benefit of their members, not to make exorbitant profits — are unanimously acknowledged as the best performing funds, consistently delivering higher returns with lower fees than those owned by the banks. But the Abbott Government wants to remove them from being default funds in awards and workplace agreements.
Why, you ask? Surely, it couldn’t be anything to do with the historic relationship between industry super and the union movement . . . ?
5. The Hottest 100
An Australia Day institution, Triple J’s Hottest 100 music countdown — the self-proclaimed “world’s biggest music democracy” with well over a million votes counted each year — is a testament to the continuing community support for our public broadcasters.
Unfortunately as the Hottest 100 goes to air this year the ABC is reeling from hundreds of staff cuts following the Abbott Government’s $250 million cut to its budget.
Triple J last week celebrated its 40th anniversary after being established by the Whitlam Government (as 2JJ) to establish Australia’s first national youth radio network.
The Js played music ignored by the commercial stations and fostered a culture of supporting local artists.
No amount of controversy about Taylor Swift can shake off the great contribution made by Triple J and our public broadcasters to our national life.
That’s five — what makes you proud of Australia?
Published on 23 January 2015.
