28 February 2024
In 2023, the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 was amended by the passing of the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill. This amendment stipulates the requirement for all Australian employers with more than 100 employees to report their gender equality data to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) each year.
On Tuesday 27 February 2024, the WGEA published the first ever gender pay data for approximately 5,000 private sector employers.
What Was Found?
- On average there is a 21.7% pay gap between women and men, despite women making up the majority (51%) of the total workforce. This means that for every $1 men earn, women earn 78¢.
- Women only make up 33.7% of manager, key personnel, and CEO roles within the private sector workforce, with men making up 66.3%.
- The industries with the biggest average total remuneration pay gaps are:
- Construction: 28.3%
- Financial and Insurance Services: 26.2%.
- Rental, Hiring, and Real Estate: 23.1%.
- Typically, the more employees an employer has, the higher the average total remuneration gender pay gap. However, employees with over 5,000 employees have the lowest pay gap on average.
Data for individual employers have also been published. Readers are also able to access Employer Statements provided by employers in response to the data. A link to access this site can be found below.
https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer
How Can You Respond?
There are a number of initiatives employers may consider in response to closing the gender pay gap including:
- Implementing and supporting policies that champion anti-discrimination and equality;
- Undertaking annual remuneration benchmarking activities and implementing interventions to support equal pay;
- Cultivating an organisational culture which recognises the value of equity;
- Developing a coaching and mentoring framework which elevates and supports women moving into higher-level roles, especially those primarily dominated by men;
- Reviewing internal and external recruitment processes to ensure they provide fair and equal opportunity for all individuals;
- Supporting community initiatives that champion the progression of girls and women into traditionally male-focused roles, such as technology.
For more information regarding the WGEA gender pay gap data and what it means for your organisation, please contact us via the link below.
