It's actually $15.96 an hour / $606.40 a week for an adult employee (with younger people earning proportionally less)[1]. Also, it's worth noting that now the

It's actually $15.96 an hour / $606.40 a week for an adult employee (with younger people earning proportionally less)[1]. Also, it's worth noting that now the first $18,200 of income (58% if you earn minimum wage for 52 weeks) is tax-free - that is, tax will be withheld on the basis of your estimated yearly income but then returned to you at mid-year when you file your tax return. The tax rate above the tax-free threshold is then 19% [2]. So if you earned absolute minimum wage for 52 weeks a year, you'd net a total of $28,999.57 - essentially, $29,000 after tax. This does not include any further tax breaks you may receive for being a low-income earner. There's then various social safety nets if you are minimum wage and supporting a dependent (child, disabled family member, etc.) which stack on top of that and/or give tax breaks, but I'm not really familiar with them so can't elaborate much further there. [1] http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/default.aspx http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/d... [2] http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/12333.htm http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.aspx?doc=/content/...