The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has revealed its most recent findings in a report on the pay gap progression in 2024 and the results are staggering. They displayed that while more than half of Australian companies have improved their gender pay gap in the last year, on average, for every $1 a man earns, women still only earn 78 cents. WGEA Chief Executive, Mary Wooldridge stated, "What we're seeing is that the majority of employers are narrowing their gender pay gap … In the last 12 months, 56 per cent of employers reduced (it). So we've got progress. We need to accelerate that change".
The data reports that only one in five businesses in Australia has eliminated the gender pay gap. There are still extreme gaps in some of the most well-known companies in the country and those that have a large female client base, demonstrating a gap in what is presented vs done on the topic.
The average national gender pay gap is 21.8 per cent for total remuneration (including bonuses and penalties). This adds up to a yearly difference of $28,425.
There has been a 0.1 per cent increase as CEO pay is now included in the latest findings and will be in following years. If this position was not included, the average pay gap would sit at 21.1 per cent which is a drop of 0.7 per cent.
This data exposes the companies with over 100 staff who are not doing enough, allowing employees access to investigate the gap at their workplace.
One of the standout findings was that Sydney Ultrasound for Women, a company “devoted to meeting the diagnostic needs of women at all stages of their lives,” has an 88 per cent gender pay gap for both base salary and total remuneration. This means that for every $1 a man at Sydney Ultrasound for Women earns, a woman earns, on average, 12 cents.
Some companies have made impressive progress in the last year in improving their pay gaps. Metro Trains Victoria was at 25 per cent last year and in 2024 this was reduced to 8.6 per cent.
Companies have been submitting their wage data to WGEA for almost 10 years to create anonymised industry reports and to inform companies where they sit in their sector. However, data on specific companies wasn’t publicised until the Labour Government changed the law and published the gender pay gaps of every company with more than 100 employees.
It is important to note that there are substantial gaps in companies like airlines where men dominate the higher-paying roles. For example, as of February 2024, more than 90% of all aircraft pilots in Australia were white males meaning that they do receive higher pay than women who tend to be in flight attendant roles with Jobs and Skills Australia reporting that 77% of flight attendants within Australian aviation companies are female. In Qantas, for every $1 a man earns, a woman earns on average, 54-64 cents. This is partly because approximately 93% of their pilots are male. This may account for the discrepancy in some industries, however, it is clearly not the only factor as subconscious bias comes into play. Banks are not immune to bias as at Westpac, the gap is still 28%. However, at NAB, a competitor in the same industry with the same issues, the gap is half that.
It is important to note that the gender pay gap is not about “equal pay for equal work” but instead about striving for an equal average or median pay for women and men across organisations, industries and the workforce as a whole. It is not a new concept that women should be paid the same for the same work, in fact, this has been legally enforceable for more than 50 years. The pay gap aims to tackle issues including gender-dominated or segregated industries.
This is particularly an issue across industries, for example, industries dominated by women like teaching, are paid on average less than those in male-dominated fields like construction. Gender bias is still a common issue and acts as a barrier to better wages for women, for example, more women make up part-time roles which means they are limited in their earnings.
Ms Wooldridge said publishing gender pay gaps had "definitely" made a big difference, stating, "What we've what we're seeing with these numbers is, in anticipation of publishing, companies started to take action," she said.
One of the most troubling findings was that some of the most popular brands that sell goods to women still have substantial gender pay gaps. In 2023, City Chic Collective, a company that owns multiple womenswear brands, had a 57.7 per cent gender gap for the median salary base, this was increased to 65.1 per cent in the 2025 findings. This isn’t the only brand guilty of worsening the gap, some of the most notable include Forever New and Seafolly.
While there has been progress, it is clear that there is still a long way to go in closing the gap and ensuring equal opportunities and compensation for women in the workforce.
