Australia's Gender Pay Equality Law to Focus on Corrective Action
Data reveals that many employers, despite recognizing gender pay gaps, fail to take corrective action.
HR Policy Global perspective: Australia has recently release gender pay gaps for private sector companies and corporations (with more than 100 employees in Australia). Over half of the companies have an average gender pay gap of more 12% (against a target of +/- 5%), and over 70% have a gender pay gap which favours men. The new law will enhance transparency and accountability through defined implementation plans and progress measurement.
New legislation mandates that employers with 500+ employees choose 3 gender equality targets from a set list and achieve them within 3 years. This flexible approach allows employers to tailor actions to their specific needs.
The Australian Government believes setting and achieving specific targets is crucial for accelerating gender equality. The recently released Gender Pay Gaps report reaffirmed the need for targeted action.
While the latest WGEA report revealed a decrease in employer gender pay gaps (from 9.1% to 8.9%), more than 72% of employers maintained a pay gap favouring men. The slight reduction was driven by wage increases for lower-paid workers (particularly in Aged Care Services) and higher increases in women managers' pay.
Actions for Employers
HR Policy Association members with more than 100 people in Australia can find detailed company information through the WGEA Data Explorer. (Note: bar graph interpretation - Employers with a positive gender pay gap pay the ‘average/median man’ more than the ‘average/median woman’. Employers with negative gender pay gaps pay the ‘average/median woman’ more than the ‘average/median man’).
Organizations with over 500 employees must set and publish equality targets. Failing to select or achieve 3 targets annually, or show improvement, may disqualify them from bidding on Commonwealth contracts over $80,000 after a 3-year cycle.
Michelle Swinden
Executive Director, Asia-Pacific, HR Policy Global
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