Salaries for Australian workers are increasing at their slowest rate in more than a decade, a new survey has found.

The 2015 Australian Institute of Management (AIM) National Salary Survey, released Thursday, found the average salary was up 3.4 per cent, compared with 3.6 per cent last year.

The pace of growth was the slowest since 2003, according to the survey, which was based on data from 25,000 employees across the country.

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The survey predicted salary growth to slow even more in 2016, forecasting just a 3.2 per cent average rise.

Acting AIM chief executive Tony Gleeson said low business confidence was contributing to sluggish salary movement.

But he said lower pay rises did not automatically mean companies would lose staff.

“Employers need to be creative when looking for ways to keep their people,” Mr Gleeson said.

“Bonus schemes, profit sharing, performance or project-based pay are types of variable schemes that are low-risk options with a huge upside for employees and productivity overall.”

According to the survey, Western Australian workers were enjoying the biggest pay increases (3.9 per cent), followed by South Australia and the Northern Territory (3.6 per cent), and Queensland (3.4 per cent).

The lowest pay rises were in NSW and the ACT (3.3 per cent) and Victoria and Tasmania (3.2 per cent).

Human resource workers got the biggest jumps in 2015 pay, with 3.6 per cent, while administration workers were experiencing the smallest rises, with 3.2 per cent.