Australian women earn nearly $30,000 less than men a year, the governments latest pay gap report finds

Original article by Kate Lyons, Eelemarni Close-Brown
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 4-Mar-25

Data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that the gender pay gap narrowed at 56 per cent of employers in the year to March 2024. However, the data indicates that the gender pay gap at 72.2 per cent of employers still favours male workers, while just 6.5 per cent have a pay gap that favours women; some 21.3% of employers have a neutral gender pay gap, whereby the difference in wages for male and female workers is no more than five per cent. Meanwhile, the gender pay gap is largest in male-dominated industries such as construction and financial services.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

Finance sector has gender balance – except the pay gap

Original article by Helen Trinca
The Australian – Page: 15 : 4-Mar-25

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s latest annual report shows that women now comprise 53 per cent of workers in Australia’s banking, finance and insurance sector. However, the report notes that the gender pay gap in this sector is 22.3 per cent, compared with the national pay gap of 12.1 per cent. The average gender pay gap for the nation’s four major banks ranges from 18.8 per cent to 22.4 per cent; in contrast the average pay gap at Morgan Stanley is 58.6 per cent, although its base salary gap is just 37.3 per cent. Meanwhile, women comprise just 36 per cent of the top remuneration quartile in the financial services industry, and predominantly work in roles that have lower pay.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

Female-focused businesses among worst for pay equity

Original article by Jenna Clarke, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 5 : 28-Feb-24

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s landmark report shows that there is a significant gender pay gap at some companies whose products are primarily targeted at women. The report shows that the national median gender pay gap is 14 per cent; however, the gender pay gap is 44.5 per cent at bikini brand Seafolly and 36.3 per cent at female-focused activewear label Lorna Jane. Likewise, the gender pay gap at jewellery retailer Lovisa is 26.4 per cent. Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley says it is unacceptable that some big-name brands make profits off the products they market to women while not having pay parity in their own workforces.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY, SEAFOLLY, LORNA JANE EXERCISE WEAR PTY LTD, LOVISA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LOV, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Named: the big businesses with (very) large gender pay gaps

Original article by Helen Trinca
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 27-Feb-24

Landmark data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that the national total median remuneration gender pay gap is 19 per cent across private sector businesses with more than 100 employees. The base salary gap is in turn 14.5 per cent. However, the gender pay gap is more than 50 per cent at 37 companies, while women are paid 40-50 per cent less than their male colleagues at 107 companies. The data shows that Macquarie Group, Telstra and Woodside Energy are among the large companies that have a significant gender pay gap. WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge says employers ignore gender gaps at their peril, while Minister for Women Katy Gallagher says the gender pay gap costs the economy $51.8bn a year. The WGEA’s gender pay gap data in 2025 will include public sector employers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY, MACQUARIE ADVANCED INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS

Wage war on pay gap

Original article by Ellen Ransley
Herald Sun – Page: 7 : 8-Mar-23

The Australia Institute has released the findings of research which concludes that the gender pay gap means that on average, women on median earnings will be $1.01m worse off over their working lives. The research, which has been released to coincide with International Women’s Day, also shows that women retire with $136,000 less in superannuation than male workers. Eliza Littleton from the Australia Institute’s Centre of Future Work says the gender pay gap costs women more than $3bn across the economy every week. Official data shows that the gender pay gap is currently about 13.3 per cent.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED. CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK

$25k gap shows gender pay parity a distant dream

Original article by Stephen Lunn
The Australian – Page: 2 : 19-Nov-19

New data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that the gender pay gap has narrowed by 0.5 per cent in 2019, to 20.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the agency’s latest gender equality scorecard shows that more than 50 per cent of employers have yet to introduce employer-funded paid parental leave, while the proportion of female CEOs remains unchanged at 17.1 per cent. However, WGEA director Libby Lyons notes that more employers are now offering paid domestic violence leave.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

Women earning more, but have the stress to match

Original article by Rebecca Urban, Victoria Laurie
The Australian – Page: 5 : 30-Jul-19

The proportion of women in employment rose to 71 per cent in 2017, which is the highest level since the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey began in 2001. The survey also shows that 39 per cent of women in the workforce have full-time jobs, and their average salary has increased by 24 per cent since 2001. In contrast, the average salary of full-time male employees has risen by 21 per cent. Meanwhile, the average work-family conflict score for working mothers has risen since 2001, while there has been a slight fall in the average score for working fathers.

CORPORATES

No change to hourly pay gap in 10 years

Original article by David Uren
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Jan-19

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released a report which concludes that the average hourly pay of women is still 11 per cent lower than their male peers. The report shows that the gender pay gap is widest in the health sector, at 25 per cent, despite the fact that women account for nearly 80 per cent of workers in the sector. In contrast, sectors such as manufacturing, hospitality and the public service are among those with the narrowest gender pay gap.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Pay gap at lowest in 20 years as employers react

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 17-Aug-18

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency estimates that the national gender pay gap for full-time employees fell to 14.6 per cent in 2017-18, compared with 15.3 per cent in the previous financial year. The full-time average weekly earnings of men was $1,678.40, compared with $1,433.60 for women. The agency’s director Libby Lyons says the national gender pay gap could be eliminated if all employers undertook a pay audit and took appropriate action.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

‘Glass walls’ contribute to gender pay gap

Original article by Stephanie Peatling
The Age – Page: 13 : 8-Jun-17

A report produced by the Senate’s Finance & Public Administration Committee has made a number of recommendations aimed at addressing the gender pay gap. They include amending the Fair Work Act to include the objective of achieving pay equity and developing a national strategy on the issue. Australian Labor Party senator Jenny McAllister says the gender pay gap has narrowed by just one per cent to 16 per cent over the last two decades.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA