Bonuses and Male-Dominated Jobs Hinder Gender Pay Gap Progress, New Data Reveals
Government efforts to narrow the pay gap between men and women are showing only tedious progress, according to new data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Stubborn obstacles such as childcare responsibilities and entrenched workplace practices continue to impede meaningful change.
The agency released its third iteration of a debate-prompting report on Tuesday, which publicly discloses salary information from contracting firms with 100 employees to large corporates like Wesfarmers and BHP. This transparency initiative aims to hold employers accountable for pay disparities.
Current State of the Gender Pay Gap
Data from November revealed that men in Australia are paid 21.1 percent more than women based on average total remuneration. While this gap has been on a steady decline since 2013, progress remains slow and uneven across sectors.
WGEA defines the gender pay gap as the difference between the average or median remuneration of men and women, expressed as a percentage of men's remuneration. The agency advocates for workplaces to assess their pay gaps and implement strategies for improvement.
In the latest analysis, chief Mary Wooldridge noted encouragement that almost all sectors—except education and training—had tightened the total remuneration pay gap between men and women. An additional 300 employers out of 10,500 now have what the agency considers an acceptable pay gap of 5 percent or less compared to last year.
Key Drivers of the Pay Gap
The report identified several factors that perpetuate the gender pay gap. Men are nearly twice as likely to hold Australia's top-paying jobs, while women are 1.4 times more likely to be employed in the lowest-paying quartile.
High-paying roles are often concentrated in more labour-intensive, male-dominated industries such as construction, mining, and utilities. For instance, yearly total remuneration for a mining worker averages about $202,148, and construction workers earn approximately $159,244 annually.
Financial services bucked the trend in terms of gender balance but still exhibited significant disparities. Despite having a balanced male and female workforce, the sector's lucrative bonus and brokerage-driven roles are heavily skewed towards men. The upper end of average total remuneration in this industry is the highest across the board at $323,593, with an average annual wage of $169,992.
Notably, firms like St Georges Terrace broking firm Euroz Hartleys, along with Jefferies, Canaccord Genuity, and Morgan Stanley, ranked highly in terms of average total remuneration gaps.
Discretionary Payments and Advocacy Issues
The report specifically highlighted discretionary payments, such as bonuses and overtime hours, as key drivers of gender pay gaps. WGEA boss Mary Wooldridge emphasized that setting clear, objective frameworks for performance evaluations and bonus considerations could better align salaries.
"What the research shows is that men and women both advocate for their needs, but often the outcomes are different as a result of that advocacy," she said. "Making sure that things like performance evaluations, bonus considerations, remuneration decisions generally, are based on a much clearer framework of capability and contribution, rather than subjective measures that require individual advocacy in order to be recognised."
Wooldridge also cautioned against divulging salaries from previous roles, as this can inadvertently keep women's existing salary benchmarks in place. "(I'd) strongly argue that the question about what you're getting paid ... if you're looking to change jobs should not be asked," she stated. "It should be based on competency, not historical perspectives."
Childcare and Social Factors
Despite concerted efforts, childcare remains a persistently difficult social issue affecting many women's career advancement. Dr. Kathryn Daley from the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University highlighted that pay transparency is crucial for levelling earnings in the workplace.
"When employees know what everyone else is earning, it's a neutralising force," Dr. Daley explained.
She also pointed out that while there is a shift towards parental leave rather than maternity leave, women still predominantly take it. "The decision as to who's going to be a primary carer often defaults to whoever's earning more. Because if you're going to lose one salary, you want to lose a smaller one," she told The West Australian.
Overall, the data underscores the complexity of closing the gender pay gap, with bonuses, male-dominated jobs, and childcare responsibilities presenting significant hurdles. Continued transparency and targeted policy interventions will be essential for driving future progress.
