Australian Employers Making Progress in Closing Gender Pay Gap while Others Lag Behind

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Australia’s progress to end the gender pay gap is underway, but only one in five employers have an average gap within the target range.

That’s according to new results released by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) on Tuesday, which showed more than half of employers improved their gender pay gap in the last year.

“Progress to end the gender pay gap is happening,” the government agency said.

Despite this, the majority still fall outside targets.

The WGEA works to promote and improve gender equality in the workplace, and employers with 100 or more employees are required to lodge annual reports.

The results for 2023-24 comprise information from 7,800 individual employers and 1,700 corporate groups. For the first time, they include average gender pay gaps and average remuneration by pay quartile.

This followed legislative changes that allowed the remuneration of chief executives in calculations of an employer’s gender pay gap.

The gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women, expressed as a percentage of men’s remuneration.

Total remuneration includes base salary, superannuation, overtime, bonuses and other additional payments for full-time, part-time and casual employees, on an annualised full-time equivalent basis.

The WGEA’s report, published in conjunction with Tuesday’s results, focuses on average total remuneration gender pay gaps.

A national picture

For every $1 a man earns, women earn on average 78 cents, according to the report. This adds to a yearly difference of $28,425.

At a national level, women earn $11,204 less, on average, than men from additional payments beyond base salary, such as super and overtime.

The national statistics reflect 5.3 million employees across 19 industries.

For every $1 a man earns, women earn 78 cents on average, according to the WGEA. Source: SBS News

The target range

According to the 2023-24 results, 21 per cent of all employers had an average total remuneration gender pay gap inside the target range of – 5 to +5 per cent. That leaves 79 per cent of employers outside the target range.

The majority of employers — 72.2 per cent — pay men more on average, than women. High-paying employers are the most likely to have a gender pay gap in favour of men — and a larger gender pay gap.

Currently, only 15.3 per cent of employers have both an average total remuneration and median total remuneration gender pay gap within the target range.

When it comes to the average total remuneration gender pay gap, the so-called “mid-point” for employers is 12.1 per cent.

An infographic showing the average total remuneration gender pay gap among Australian employers.

The average total remuneration gender pay gap among employers — and how this increases. Source: SBS News

‘It’s time to ask why’

WGEA’s analysis showed 56 per cent of employers reduced their average total remuneration gender pay gap in the last year.

WGEA chief executive Mary Wooldridge said the proportion of employers in the target range for both measures is encouraging.

“Each employer has a unique set of circumstances that impacts the size of their gender pay gap,” she said.

“Where an employer’s gender pay gap is beyond the target range, it indicates one gender is more likely to be over-represented in higher paying roles compared to the other. This can be a sign of structural or cultural differences for one gender within an occupation, organisation, or broader industry.

“For employers that haven’t made progress, it’s time to ask why — dig into the data to find out what’s causing any gender differences and use evidence-based solutions to address them.”

When it comes to a national reduction in the gender pay gap, the report said this happened across the majority of employers in every industry. However, it acknowledged this may be in part due to more attention on the issue.

“Over the past year, employers have told us that publication of employer gender pay gaps is a catalyst to assess gender-based differences in all areas of their workplace,” Wooldridge said.

“For men, a more equal experience could mean their employer is providing access to paid parental leave, paying superannuation on that leave and actively supporting a flexible return to work from parental leave.

“For women, it could mean their employer is redesigning manager roles that will enable those roles to be undertaken on a part-time basis or as a job share.”

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay for equal work, which has been a legal requirement for employers since 1969.

Commonwealth public sector employer gender pay gaps are expected to be published for the first time in April.