The exposure of the gender pay gaps in large Australian organisations is a turning point for gender equality, but more must be done to hold employers to account, says an Australian researcher.
Workplace diversity expert Professor Carol Kulik says the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA’s) release of gender pay gaps for large Australian employers is a great first step but its impact will depend on the actions of organisations to narrow the disparity.
The WGEA – a statutory agency responsible for promoting and improving workplace gender equality –published gender pay gaps for Australian private sector employers with 100 or more employees last week. It is the first time large organisations will have their gender pay gap data exposed.
In 2023, the WGEA reported that the average gender pay gap was 21.7 per cent, meaning women in Australia are earning, on average, $26,393 less a year than men.
Professor Kulik says the revelation of gender pay gaps in large corporations is a pivotal moment in advancing gender equality.
However, further actions are imperative to ensure employers with pay gaps are held accountable, Prof Kulik says, “We now must be asking employers, in what roles and what levels of employment are pay gaps most prevalent? How are you (the employer) supporting employees’ caring responsibilities? What are you doing to ensure women move into roles where they are paid more? How long will it take for you to close your pay gap?
“Until we show employers that their pay gaps influence our behaviour, they are unlikely to make the changes needed to narrow pay gaps.”
History shows that organisations do respond to regulatory pressure. In 2010, the ASX Corporate Governance Council started requiring ASX-listed entities to report the gender composition of their boards and executive teams, leading to a spike in female appointments to senior roles.
However, the appointments generated a new inequity, because female executives were paid less than their male counterparts.
“Instead of women being paid more, men were paid less,” Professor Kulik says. “Pay is an important motivator of employee performance, so a smart employer will close pay gaps by allocating separate funds to that purpose, rather than drawing funds from its rewards budget.”
Employer gender pay gaps are available on individual employer pages on WGEA’s Data Explorer.
Caption: Professor Carol Kulik
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