The minimum adult award wage for full-time employees aged 21 or more working under awards providing for 38 ordinary hours per week is $918.60 per week, payable from the beginning of the first pay period on or after 1 July 2024.

The WA minimum wage must be set by independent judgment according to equity, good conscience and substantial merit having regard to the s50A(3) considerations, not simply by adopting the FWA national minimum wage decision even though the two legislative frameworks have significant overlap.

A significant increase to the WA minimum wage would disproportionately burden WA businesses in the state jurisdiction with higher labour costs compared to WA businesses in the national system, which is inequitable given the point of difference is merely the employer's business structure (corporation vs non-corporation).

An employee's judgment of fairness by reference to wages received by others applies equally to comparison with the national minimum wage received by the significant majority of low-paid employees in WA, not just Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings.

Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings is not an appropriate primary measure for setting the minimum wage due to distortion by compositional shifts and high mining sector wages (up 50% since 2005), which are not representative of wages and living standards generally prevailing in the community.

The minimum adult award wage for full-time employees aged 21 or more working under an award that provides for a 38-hour week is $863.40 per week, and for other weekly hours shall be calculated as: $863.40 ÷ 38 × ordinary hours prescribed.

The statutory criteria in s 50A(3) are not accorded precedence over one another; all must be balanced in an evaluative exercise in the context of achieving fair wages and conditions under equity, good conscience and substantial merits.

The meaning of 'meeting the needs of the low paid' under s 50A(3)(a)(ii) involves enabling low paid employees to purchase essentials to have a decent standard of living so they can participate in the community.

Low-paid employee households spend a larger proportion of income on non-discretionary items or essentials compared to all households, making them disproportionately affected when non-discretionary inflation exceeds discretionary inflation.

The criterion in s 50A(3)(d) relating to capacity of employers to bear costs focuses on aggregate operating conditions for Western Australian businesses as measured by Gross Operating Surplus Plus Gross Mixed Income, not individual business circumstances.

Where industrial agreement making is absent in sectors most likely impacted by the State Wage Order, an increase in the SMW will go some way to protecting employees covered by it.

In determining the SMW in an environment of elevated inflation, the annual average rate of inflation excluding volatile items (such as the electricity sub-index affected by government credits) is to be preferred as a guide over headline inflation rates.