Australia’s gender pay gap narrows as ‘change is happening’
But women employees on average still earn A$28,425 (US$18,590) less each year than their male colleagues
The total gender pay gap dipped by 0.6 percentage points to 21.8 per cent for the year to March 2024 as more than half of employers improved the pay gap between men and women doing the same job in Australia, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) said.
“The results show change is happening, with a significant increase in employers investigating what’s driving their gender pay gap and acting on the results,” WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge said in a statement accompanying the report.
An increase in the wages of low-paid workers, particularly in aged care, where women make up about 80 per cent of employees, was the significant contributor. But female CEOs are paid annually an average of A$158,632 less than men, Wooldridge said.
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More than 56 per cent of employers and the majority in every industry improved their average total remuneration gender pay gap over the last year, she added.
