Australian Average Wage Annual Growth was 3.6%

The average salary of Australian workers grew by 3.6 per cent yearly, newly released date from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. The rate is almost the same as that of inflation rate which means wage growth was just modest and manageable.

These data are indicators that workers are still struggling to cope with rising prices as any salary increase they receive is eaten up by inflation, said Australian Confederation of Trade Unions Secretary Jeff Lawrence.

"Since this time last year, employer groups have been screaming that a wages breakout was imminent, but there is no evidence this has occurred." Mr Lawrence said in a statement.

"Once again, employers have been caught out spreading myths and untruths, just as they constantly do about productivity and the nature of Australia's industrial relations system," he added.

Mr Lawrence pointed out that the share of wages in national income is down to 53.1 per cent which is the lowest level in almost five decades, while the share of profits is 28.1 per cent which is a record-high.

Last week, the Labor government agreed to make a joint submission with unions to improve the low level of pay in Australia's social and community sector. However, employers warned that it could lead to a wages breakout, which ACTU belied.

"The only wages breakout is in the offices of Australian CEOs, where some outrageous bonuses and pay rises have been awarded," Mr Lawrence said.

Economists said that the weaker-than-expected growth of wages could pave the way for the Reserve Bank of Australia to further reduce the cash rate. On a quarterly basis, wages in the September quarter rose by only 0.7 per cent, lower than median market forecast of 0.9 per cent.

"The tame wages growth is going to be no road block to further lower RBA cash rates. That fits with our view that the Reserve Bank will drop the cash rate by another quarter of a per cent in the coming months," the Herald Sun quoted John Peters, senior economist of Commonwealth Bank.

However, ICAP senior economist Adam Carr thinks otherwise. He said the RBA would probably not be affected by the wages growth data since the increase was below danger levels. What would influence the RBA are developments in the eurozone, he added.

"If Europe goes down the toilet, we could get a series of rate cuts but if it doesn't, the next rate move could be a hike," Mr Carr said.