'The status quo is unacceptable, so the work must continue'

Australia on Tuesday unveiled for the first time ever the gender pay gaps for nearly 5,000 private sector employers.

The historic publication revealed that Australia's gender pay gap has improved to 21.7%. It also showed the proportion of employers that are meeting the target range of gender pay gap in workplaces.

Following its release, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) issued a statement cautiously commending the average decline in the gender pay gap, attributing it to the strong collaboration between employers and the government.

"Gains in the fight to close the gender pay gap have been made but the status quo is just not acceptable, so the work must continue," said BCA chief executive Bran Black in a statement.

According to Black, the pay gap shouldn't exist, and their members have been putting a "huge amount of energy" in addressing it.

"A focus in the policy we develop with our members is pulling down the barriers women face when it comes to career advancement in the workforce, because a big part of the problem is that women are not yet getting their share of senior roles," Black said.

"We have long called for a more generous paid parental leave scheme coupled with a low cost, world-class childcare system that empowers women to build careers."

The publication of the gender pay gap comes after the government legislated it last year, highlighting its impact on closing the gap and boosting transparency in the workplace.

Other groups responded to the gender pay gap report:

Michele O'Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions: "Publicising the gender pay gap is a tool that works – it shines a light on entrenched practices and structural inequalities that see women in the lowest paid positions and being concentrated in occupations and jobs with low wages.

"The improvement in the gender gap is welcome, but there is more work to do. The pay gap is symptomatic of work done mainly by women being undervalued, and the evidence is that women with less security and less bargaining power are more subject to hostile and unsafe work practices."

Sarah Liu, founder and director of TDC Global (formerly known as The Dream Collective): The report “is a significant step forward for equity in the Australian workforce as startling figures reveal that across all employers, 50% have a gender pay gap of over 9.1%. Data is crucial when it comes to aligning pay systems with DEI goals. When the data clearly speaks to the fact that there is still such disparity between genders in the workplace, that is a symptom of a biased system.

"Transparency is a powerful catalyst for change. When we move from assumptions to facts, we pave the way for open discussions and informed decisions. This isn't just about exposing pay gaps; it's about understanding why they exist and how we can transition away from accepted norms about remuneration. People are beginning to understand the main causes of the gender pay gap that exists today. Women are typically expected to make greater career sacrifices to have children and frequently find themselves in industries that society tends to undervalue monetarily compared to those predominantly occupied by men.

"'Gender' is not going away. It continues to be a differentiating factor in the workplace. Organisations must be committed to systemic change to focus on what the mass majority can do to move the needle and how they can shift policies and culture to be inclusive. An equitable and inclusive workforce is a productive one that can drive better business performance. From this moment forward, it is important we hold companies with large pay gaps accountable to ensure the issue of pay equity isn't swept under the rug."

Nirit Peled-Muntz, Chief People Officer at HiBob: "I don't believe that organisations deliberately set out to create a gender pay gap, but it happens over time for a variety of reasons, including how men are often more forthright in negotiating starting salaries and pay rises than women.

"Knowing you have a gender pay gap is the first step. The second is getting buy-in from the leadership team. The leadership team needs to be committed to fixing the issue, while also creating a culture of inclusivity and diversity. Without that openness and willingness to invest, a gender pay gap will simply exist as a symptom of an inability to move with the times.

"Finally, discussions about the gender pay gap are ultimately likely to become the catalyst for conversations about wider pay transparency within organisations. Transparency is becoming more important to build trust between employers and employees, and organisations will need to determine what 'transparency' looks like for them. For example, that could be making salary ranges available to managers for their employees' jobs. Or it could be sharing the pay range for the job level above to each employee. Whatever that looks like, the whole idea is to foster trust to ensure your best employees stay with you rather than seek employment elsewhere."