With a new financial year comes a raft of changes, from an increase to minimum wage to changes to the payroll tax laws, here’s a quick checklist to make sure you haven’t missed any!

• From 30 June 2023, minimum wages for some employees working in aged care increased by 15%. This increase applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 30 June 2023 to eligible employees covered by the:
  • Aged Care Award 2010
  • Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010; and
  • Nurses Award 2020
• From 1 July 2023, the National Minimum Wage increased to $23.23 per hour and $882.80 per week and $29.04 per hour for casual employees
• Award minimum wages increased by 5.75% as of 1 July
• There is a new Fair Work information statement for permanent employees you can download here.
• The Superannuation guarantee increased to 11% as of 1 July
• From 1 July, the Payroll Tax Act 2007 introduced a temporary surcharge for all employers who pay Australia wide wages of $10 million or more in a financial year and will be payable on Victorian wages above the relevant threshold.
  • A surcharge of 0.5% will apply to businesses with national payrolls above $10 million
  • Businesses with national payrolls above $100 million with pay an additional 0.5%
• The high-income threshold was increased to $167,500 from 1 July
• The maximum compensation which might be awarded by the Fair Work Commission for a successful unfair dismissal claim increased to $83,750 as of July 1
• The paid parental leave amendment comes into effect from 1 July with the main changes being that the current entitlement to 18 weeks paid parental leave pay and the current Dad and Partner pay entitlement of 2 weeks can be combined into one payment which means partnered couples can claim 20 weeks between them and single parents are entitled to 20 weeks paid parental leave pay.  In addition to this the whole payment is now more flexible with parents able to apply for the leave in blocks, up until the child is aged 2.

If you need any assistance ensuring your business is compliant, reach out to HR Gurus today, whether it is running a Better Off Overall Test (BOOT) to make sure your employees are paid at or above the current Award rates, to updating your Parental Leave Policy, we’ve got you covered!

Written by Shelley Martin.