The government's increasing the minimum wage by 50c.

From April workers will be getting an hourly rate of at least $15.25.

The starting wage for trainees is also going up, by 40c to $12.20 an hour.

Changes were announced today by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse.

It's expected the increase will equate to about $75m per year.

Annual inflation's sitting at 0.1% and wages are going up 3.4%.