Australian women are earning thousands of dollars less than their male counterparts every year, shocking data has revealed, as the full extent of Australia’s gender wage gap has come to light for the first time.
The highly anticipated data, published by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), took the salary information from every company in the country with 100 or more employees, and broke it down by industry into base salaries and total pay, including overtime, bonuses and superannuation.
It found that the national median pay gap was 21.7%, meaning women earn $26,393 less than their male counterparts each year.
Some industries had far more severe pay gaps than others. In mining, electricity and financial and insurance services, 90% of employers had pay gaps favouring men, with more than 80% of these employers paying men almost 10% more than women.
There’s also a noticeable connection between having women in leadership roles and lower pay discrepancies. WGEA found that employers that had an equal amount of men and women in senior positions were 50% more likely to have no gender pay gap.
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said the gender pay gap was costing the Australian economy almost $52 billion every year.
“The release of employer gender pay gaps marks a historic step towards transparency and accountability in addressing gender inequality,” she said.
“Transparency and accountability are critical for driving change.
“By shining a light on gender pay gaps at an employer level, we are arming individuals and organisations with the evidence they need to take meaningful action to accelerate closing the gender pay gap in Australian workplaces.”
The range considered acceptable is a gap of 5% or less, a target met by about 38% of businesses. Of all the industries, those working in accommodation or food services were paid most equally, with a gender pay gap of just 1.9%.
Hopefully making the gender pay differences of all large Australian companies public will encourage employers to pay their staff fairly
