[Australia] New data paints bleak picture of gender pay gap

In Australia, newly released data has painted a bleak picture of the state of pay parity, SBS News reports.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency published the median gender pay gaps of nearly 5,000 Australian private-sector employers with 100 or more workers.

Mary Wooldridge - Chief Executive of the Agency - commented on its findings. She said, "For employers, this does set a benchmark on their progress, and it's fair to say some are very focused on it and others still need to turn their minds to it. And they have more work to do to make sure they can improve their employee experience each and every day. Every employer's solution is going to be different but what it does take is analysis, planning, KPIs and it does take a team to lead the process to drive that change."

The data reportedly revealed that the national median base salary gender pay gap is 15 per cent. That rises to 19 per cent - a difference of $18,000 a year - when bonuses, commissions and overtime are added.

The largest pay gaps identified were in male-dominated industries such as construction, finance, engineering and law. The smallest gaps were in hospitality, the arts, education and in companies with a greater number of women in leadership positions.

Katy Gallagher - Australia’s Minister for Women - said it is clear that change is needed.

"We need to be honest about it - it's not about shaming, it's not about naming, it's not about saying men should be paid less. It's about driving that change that we need to see in organisations to make sure women are getting a fair crack at opportunity and that we're closing the gender pay gap over time. It's complex, there's no silver bullet but this is a part of the response," she said.

The Agency reportedly discovered that the worst pay gap offenders were airlines including Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin. At some of Australia's big banks the gap was nearly double the national average.

The country’s largest private sector employer, Woolworths, achieved a near-neutral pay gap of 5.7 per cent, while Coles had 5.6 per cent.

Despite pay disparity in comparable, or "like-for-like", jobs being illegal for decades, the gender pay gap persists and Australia’s Finance Minister hasn't ruled out excluding companies with large gender pay gaps from government contracts.

According to SBS News, a number of the employers with the biggest gaps claimed they are the result of gender-segregated roles within their organisations.

Rae Cooper - Director of the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion at Work - said, "How do we actually make some of these places where women aren't represented in great numbers more hospitable to women, and more reflective of the types of things they want to do with their careers. And the flip side for highly feminised sectors, to have men coming into those sectors, to make it more acceptable and more welcoming."

Source: SBS News

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Australia, newly released data has painted a bleak picture of the state of pay parity, SBS News reports.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency published the median gender pay gaps of nearly 5,000 Australian private-sector employers with 100 or more workers.

Mary Wooldridge - Chief Executive of the Agency - commented on its findings. She said, "For employers, this does set a benchmark on their progress, and it's fair to say some are very focused on it and others still need to turn their minds to it. And they have more work to do to make sure they can improve their employee experience each and every day. Every employer's solution is going to be different but what it does take is analysis, planning, KPIs and it does take a team to lead the process to drive that change."

The data reportedly revealed that the national median base salary gender pay gap is 15 per cent. That rises to 19 per cent - a difference of $18,000 a year - when bonuses, commissions and overtime are added.

The largest pay gaps identified were in male-dominated industries such as construction, finance, engineering and law. The smallest gaps were in hospitality, the arts, education and in companies with a greater number of women in leadership positions.

Katy Gallagher - Australia’s Minister for Women - said it is clear that change is needed.

"We need to be honest about it - it's not about shaming, it's not about naming, it's not about saying men should be paid less. It's about driving that change that we need to see in organisations to make sure women are getting a fair crack at opportunity and that we're closing the gender pay gap over time. It's complex, there's no silver bullet but this is a part of the response," she said.

The Agency reportedly discovered that the worst pay gap offenders were airlines including Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin. At some of Australia's big banks the gap was nearly double the national average.

The country’s largest private sector employer, Woolworths, achieved a near-neutral pay gap of 5.7 per cent, while Coles had 5.6 per cent.

Despite pay disparity in comparable, or "like-for-like", jobs being illegal for decades, the gender pay gap persists and Australia’s Finance Minister hasn't ruled out excluding companies with large gender pay gaps from government contracts.

According to SBS News, a number of the employers with the biggest gaps claimed they are the result of gender-segregated roles within their organisations.

Rae Cooper - Director of the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion at Work - said, "How do we actually make some of these places where women aren't represented in great numbers more hospitable to women, and more reflective of the types of things they want to do with their careers. And the flip side for highly feminised sectors, to have men coming into those sectors, to make it more acceptable and more welcoming."

Source: SBS News

(Quotes via original reporting)