Australia's coalition government is to assign A$8 million (US$5.8 million) to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to help it upgrade its reporting and data management system.
The update will make it easier for WGEA to sort through and analyse the data it collects, while also enabling voluntary additional data to be submitted. It will also help to streamline the reporting process and reduce the time and cost to businesses of reporting, according to the Department of Jobs and Small Business.
Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer said: "This new technology will strengthen the work WGEA does with employers to promote and further improve gender equality in our workplaces, which will in turn help to grow the Australian economy.”
The upgraded system will enable public sector employers to voluntarily report their pay gaps for the first time, potentially increasing the size of WGEA’s dataset to include approximately 75% of Australian employees, up from the current 40%.
According to the Agency, Australia's gender pay gap still averages more than A$25,000 (CAN$18,235) per year across all industries and occupations. But its director Libby Lyons indicated there had been a significant decrease of 1.1% in terms of pay inequity over the last year.
“The reason it is dropping is because employers are taking action," she told the Canberra Times. "It's the biggest drop we've seen over the five years of collecting data. Now nearly 40% of all managers are women, and over the five-year period we have seen a steady increase."
She added that 43% of all managerial promotions now went to women.
But in the most female-dominated industry of all, the health-care sector, the pay gap has actually increased. While women make up the majority of employees in the sector, it is men who tend to hold management positions.
The problem, Lyons said, is that equality is frequently seen as an aspiration, but there is often little action to make it a reality.
"Although more employers are analysing their pay data, over 40% of those who did, took no action to close the gap," she explained. "Access to parental leave has ground to a halt. Although the proportion of women in management has increased, most senior roles, especially at the CEO level, are still dominated by men."
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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Australia's coalition government is to assign A$8 million (US$5.8 million) to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to help it upgrade its reporting and data management system.
The update will make it easier for WGEA to sort through and analyse the data it collects, while also enabling voluntary additional data to be submitted. It will also help to streamline the reporting process and reduce the time and cost to businesses of reporting, according to the Department of Jobs and Small Business.
Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer said: "This new technology will strengthen the work WGEA does with employers to promote and further improve gender equality in our workplaces, which will in turn help to grow the Australian economy.”
The upgraded system will enable public sector employers to voluntarily report their pay gaps for the first time, potentially increasing the size of WGEA’s dataset to include approximately 75% of Australian employees, up from the current 40%.
According to the Agency, Australia's gender pay gap still averages more than A$25,000 (CAN$18,235) per year across all industries and occupations. But its director Libby Lyons indicated there had been a significant decrease of 1.1% in terms of pay inequity over the last year.
“The reason it is dropping is because employers are taking action," she told the Canberra Times. "It's the biggest drop we've seen over the five years of collecting data. Now nearly 40% of all managers are women, and over the five-year period we have seen a steady increase."
She added that 43% of all managerial promotions now went to women.
But in the most female-dominated industry of all, the health-care sector, the pay gap has actually increased. While women make up the majority of employees in the sector, it is men who tend to hold management positions.
The problem, Lyons said, is that equality is frequently seen as an aspiration, but there is often little action to make it a reality.
"Although more employers are analysing their pay data, over 40% of those who did, took no action to close the gap," she explained. "Access to parental leave has ground to a halt. Although the proportion of women in management has increased, most senior roles, especially at the CEO level, are still dominated by men."
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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Tax Justice Network Australia reveals country's worst tax dodger
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