Media Release
Closing gender pay gaps calls for action at national, industry and organisational levels
27 February 2024
Closing the 19% median national gender pay gap is a generational challenge requiring commitment and co-ordinated action at organisation, sector and national levels, according to the Champions of Change Coalition’s report released today in conjunction with Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s inaugural publication of gender pay gap data for Australian private sector organisations with more than 100 employees.
Supporting WGEA’s publication of gender pay gap data, Closing gender pay gaps: our action and commitment report provides the median gender pay gap data for Champions of Change Coalition Members, as provided to organisations by WGEA in November 2023 in their ‘WGEA Reporting Industry Benchmark Report’, together with a framework for understanding and responding to gender pay gaps and priority actions the Coalition is taking to close them.
While there are limitations to this point-in time data, some early insights from Member data include:
- Median gender pay gaps exist across the board. Organisations can take action to reduce their gender pay gaps, however collective sector-based and national action is also essential for significant and lasting improvements.
- Even when overall gender balance is achieved, organisational gender pay gaps can persist. This can be due to, for example, specific ‘tough spots’ in organisations and/or deliberate and corrective strategies underway to build gender balanced talent pipelines, particularly in traditionally male-dominated industries.
- Bonuses, overtime and allowances appear to be more accessible to men exacerbating gender pay gaps.
- Debunking long-tail norms and stereotypes regarding ‘gender appropriate’ careers and equal sharing of household management and care priorities is the next frontier to accelerate change and requires industry and cross-sector collaboration.
Champions of Change Coalition CEO Annika Freyer welcomed the release of the median gender pay gap data by WGEA as a powerful aggregate measure of progress on achieving gender equality, affirming the Coalition’s focus on closing them.
“We strongly support public and granular reporting on gender pay gaps to drive organisational, sector and national awareness and action. As more organisations advance towards overall gender equal representation, analysis of gender pay gaps will inform more targeted strategies to achieve inclusive gender equality across Australian workplaces,” said Ms Freyer.
Sex discrimination, systemic and structural challenges still underpin persistent gender pay gaps, according to Champions of Change Founder, Elizabeth Broderick AO.
“What our Member data and experience as a Coalition over a decade shows is that organisations cannot close gender pay gaps by working in isolation. This is a generational challenge. Lasting change will only be achieved through collective efforts to redesign decades of education, employment and workplace strategies which in the past have been based on gender roles and norms that undermine efforts to achieve gender equality. Strategies to address the unequal division of caring and household management will also be essential,” said Elizabeth Broderick AO.
According to the Champions of Change report, an example is the impact of entrenched workplace and cultural norms particularly around caring, that results in men being more likely and able to access the overtime, commissions and bonuses that boost their total remuneration compared to women.
The relative undervaluation of traditionally feminised roles is also a significant contributor to median gender pay gaps.[1]
Chair of Manufacturing Australia, and Champions of Change Convenor, James Fazzino says “the Champions of Change Member data shows that industry and cross-sector collaboration will be critical in closing gender pay gaps”.
“This data is a rear view but it shows evidence of the structural dynamics that underpin gender pay gaps and that organisations acting alone will only do so much to shift national pay gaps. We need industry and cross-sector collaboration to ensure we are building gender equality into our workplace strategies for the future,” said Mr Fazzino.
“Tackling occupational and industry segregation is essential to closing gender pay gaps,” says Champions of Change Convenor Richard Deutsch.
“While it’s point in time only, analysis of our Member’s data highlights how “tough spots” are impacting the median gender pay gap of organisations even when they have 40-60% women in their senior ranks and overall workforce.
“Gender pay gaps are influenced by gender imbalance in specific high-paid functions such as information technology, or key roles such as investment and operational leadership within the organisation,” said Mr Deutsch.
The Champions of Change report explains why occupational and industry segregation requires long-term and cross-sector efforts involving government, the education sector, and parents to ensure women are equally represented in the high demand, higher paid roles of the future such as in engineering or technology, and those on the critical path to leadership.
Without coordinated cross sector efforts, gender pay gaps will remain entrenched and difficult for the private sector alone to shift.
Closing gender pay gaps: our action and commitment was developed by Champions of Change Members with advice and support from WGEA and includes:
- The Coalition’s commitment to collective efforts to closing gender pay gaps
- A framework for understanding the drivers of gender pay gaps and high impact actions that can be taken at organisation, sector and national level to close them
- Collective and transparent disclosure of median pay gap data for eligible Members
- Case studies of Member action to close gender pay gaps from Viva Energy, Australian Super, Deloitte and CSR.
Now in its 14th year as a Coalition, the Champions of Change strategy has evolved to include a focus on closing gender pay gaps at sector and national levels to drive sustainable change on inclusive gender equality in the Australian workforce and women’s economic security.
About The Champions of Change Coalition
The Champions of Change Coalition includes CEOs, Secretaries of Government Departments, Non-Executive Directors and community leaders who believe gender equality is a major business, economic, societal, and human rights issue. The Champions of Change Coalition is a globally recognised, innovative strategy for achieving gender equality, advancing more and diverse women in leadership and building respectful and inclusive workplaces. Established in 2010 by Elizabeth Broderick AO, our mission is to achieve inclusive gender equality across workplaces by 2030 and a significant and sustainable increase in the representation of women in leadership.
[1] She’s Price(d)less: The economics of the gender pay gap Prepared with Diversity Council Australia (DCA) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), 2022
