Women still earn $28K less than men despite progress

Australia’s total remuneration gender pay gap has narrowed by 0.6 percentage points, with more employers analysing and addressing the underlying causes of pay disparities.

The latest figures from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) highlight that the most significant factor contributing to the reduction is an increase in wages for low-paid workers, particularly in Residential Aged Care, where women comprise approximately 80% of the workforce. This sectoral improvement has been pivotal in shifting the national figures.

For the first time, WGEA’s analysis includes remuneration data from highly-paid executives such as CEOs, Heads of Business (HOB), and Casual Managers. This broader scope enhances the accuracy of the gender pay gap calculation, providing a more comprehensive view of pay disparities between men and women across workplaces.

Despite the improvement, the national gender pay gap remains at 21.8%, meaning women earn just 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. On average, this translates to women earning $28,425 less annually than their male counterparts. The findings were published in Australia’s Gender Equality Scorecard 2023-24, based on data from WGEA’s annual private sector Employer Census.

Encouragingly, more employers are taking decisive steps toward workplace gender equality, with 68% conducting gender pay gap analyses – up significantly from previous years. Of those, 90% conducted the analysis in the past 12 months, and three-quarters implemented actions based on their findings.

WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge noted a noticeable shift in employers’ focus over the past year, driven by increasing accountability and the anticipated publication of gender pay gaps in February 2024.

“Employers are being held to account on their gender equality performance by employees, prospective employees, investors, and the community. Business leaders are being challenged to articulate the drivers of their gap and how they will address it,” Wooldridge said.

She further added, “Encouragingly, our results suggest the anticipated publication of employer gender pay gaps had a motivational effect. WGEA’s results show change is happening, with a significant increase in employers investigating what’s driving their gender pay gap and acting on the results.

“But the national results show a persistent and pervasive gender pay gap still limits the lifetime earnings of Australian women, affecting their ability to save, invest, and build long-term financial security for themselves and their families.”

Currently, employers with 100 or more employees are required to report annually to WGEA against six priority areas, known as gender equality indicators (GEIs), which aim to drive positive change in workplace gender equality.

The detailed results of WGEA’s 2023-24 Employer Census, including national, industry, and employer-level comparisons, are now available via the agency’s Data Explorer tool. However, specific employer-level gender pay gap results will not be released until early 2025.

While progress is evident, the findings underscore the ongoing need for sustained action to close the gender pay gap and ensure equitable outcomes for women in Australia’s workforce.

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