The gender pay gap
is the difference in pay of women and men, usually measured across workplaces, industries, occupations and the workforce as a whole. It is an important measure of gender inequality, showing the reduction in women’s earning capacity from the day they join the workforce until they retire.
Why are women paid less than men across these measures?
There are three main barriers to women receiving the same pay as men.
They are:
1. The undervaluing of work in occupations that mostly women do.
2. Barriers to participating in work, especially the unpaid care and domestic work that women do the most of; and
3. Discrimination in hiring, promotion and pay, among others.
From stagnation to progress
After four years of stalled progress in reducing the gender pay gap, the election of the Albanese Government in May 2022 marked a turning point, achieving quick progress in reducing the gap. While the gender pay gap declined overall under the Coalition, there was a period of significant stagnation between November 2018 and May 2022. This meant that on the eve of the 2022 Federal Election, the gender pay gap was 14.1 per cent of male full-time earnings, the most used measure, which is exactly where it was four years prior in November 2018.
The Gender Pay Gap by State
Consistent with the overall decline in the gender pay gap, since the change of Government in May 2022 the pace of decline has picked up in all of Australia’s largest states. Over the last two years, the average annual decline in the full-time gender pay gap has been 0.9 percentage points in New South Wales; 1.9 percentage points in Victoria; 1.8 percentage points in Queensland; and 0.6 percentage points in Western Australia.
The Gender Pay Gap by Industry
While more mixed than the overall picture, the gender pay gap has declined in twelve out of eighteen industries since the change in government in May 2022 measured on a full-time basis. The largest fall has been in construction, declining 11.2 percentage points. Retail trade has seen the next most substantial fall, declining 4.6 percentage points between May 2022 and May 2024. In Retail trade, the gender pay gap had increased slightly from 11.9 per cent to 12.4 per cent between May 2013 and May 2022, which the decline under Labor has more than reversed, with the pay gap now only 7.8 per cent. In Wholesale trade, the industry with the seventh largest decline, the pay gap rose from 10.2 per cent in May 2013 to 15.8 per cent in May 2022, with the 3.0 percentage point decline to 12.8 per cent.
The Minding the Gap Report 2024 outlines 20 major reforms that has enabled the closing of the gender pay gap.