Australian wages excluding bonuses rose 0.7% in the third quarter of 2009 from the second quarter and rose 3.6% from a year earlier, Australian Bureau of Statistics labour price data show.
Economists surveyed ahead of the announcement on average forecast a rise of 0.7% over the quarter and 3.6% from a year earlier.
The index measures movement in underlying wages by calculating the change in the wage and salary cost of a basket of jobs.
In the private sector, wages excluding bonuses rose 0.7% in the third quarter from the second quarter and rose 3.2% from a year earlier. Public-sector wages rose 1.0% in the quarter and increased 4.6% from a year earlier.