The Bureau of Statistics said the seasonally adjusted wages figures may be distorted because a report on minimum-wage increases wasn't included in this quarter's figure as in past years.

That's because of changes to the labour tribunal that decides pay increases for the nation's lowest-paid workers.

The annual rate of wages growth was 3.8% in the third quarter cooling from 4.1% in the second quarter. Economists had expected annual wages to climb 4.1% in the quarter.

The government's new labour laws, which took effect in March, make it easier for companies to fire workers or scale back their job entitlements.

The government has also introduced specific reforms in the construction industry to restrict trade-union activities. The building industry employs 9% of Australia's workers and has been one of the main drivers of jobs growth this year.

"There are worker shortages, but you're not seeing the wages spiral that you'd normally expect from that, " said Wal King, chief executive officer of Leighton, Australia's largest construction company.

"That's a function of a whole set of things, including the new industrial laws in Australia, " he added. Leighton is "managing shortages by recruiting from overseas". Sydney-based Leighton has recently hired workers from Serbia, South Africa and the Philippines.

The number of permanent arrivals into Australia through the skilled migration program climbed 12% in the year ended last June.

"High immigration and greater participation have created extra labour supply and absorbed some of the wage pressures from strong labour demand, " Commonwealth Bank's chief economist Michael Blythe said.