Only 20% of Australian Employers Have No Gender Pay Gap

New data out today shows that while Australia’s gender pay gap is closing, it’s not moving fast enough.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has crunched the numbers from 10,000 companies and organizations employing 5.3 million workers. The results? Only 21% of employers meet the benchmark of having a gender pay gap of less than 5%—either way—between men and women.

To put it simply, the gender pay gap is the difference between what the average woman earns compared to the average man. And in nearly three out of four workplaces, that gap still favors men. The trend is even more noticeable in high-paying companies, where the gap is often wider.

Mary Wooldridge, WGEA’s chief executive, said it was a good sign that over 1,100 employers had reached the target range. But she made it clear that more work is needed. "Where an employer's gender pay gap is beyond the target range of +/-5 per cent, it indicates one gender is more likely to be over-represented in higher paying roles compared to the other," she said. "This can be a sign of structural or cultural differences for one gender within an occupation, organisation, or broader industry."

Her message to employers who haven’t made progress? It's time to dig into the data, figure out what’s causing the gap, and take action with evidence-based solutions.

One reason the national average gender pay gap has stretched to 21.8% this year is the inclusion of CEO salaries in the data. Since chief executive roles are often the highest-paid in an organization and mostly held by men, this has skewed the numbers even more.

It’s also important to note that equal pay and the gender pay gap aren't the same thing. Equal pay is about earning the same amount for the same work, while the gender pay gap looks at the overall difference in average earnings between men and women.

While there’s progress, the latest figures show there’s still a long way to go to achieve real equality in the workplace.