If I look upset, it’s because I’m doing 100% of the work but only getting 87% of the pay: a look into Australia's gender pay gap.

The gender pay gap is one of the most hotly argued shortcomings of a patriarchal world in Australian society. It has a direct effect on every aspect of women’s livelihoods, and is something that will take many decades to rectify.

The gender pay gap at a glancE

If you are a woman in Australia and you're a full-time worker, then check this. On average, across all industries and occupations, you earn 13.3% less than your male counterparts. For every dollar (on average) that a man earns, a woman earns 87 cents. That's $253.50 less than men each week. That's someone's rent. It starts out of university and continues through all sectors - even those with more women employed. If you're interested in quick explainers on some bonkers pay gap myths, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency ('WGEA' - a federal statutory agency that were established in 2012, charged with promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces) have done some myth busting in an article, in addition to many other great resources on their website.  

If you are a woman in Australia and you're a full-time worker, then check this. On average, across all industries and occupations, you earn 13.3% less than your male counterparts. For every dollar (on average) that a man earns, a woman earns 87 cents. That's $253.50 less than men each week. That's someone's rent. It starts out of university and continues through all sectors - even those with more women employed. If you're interested in quick explainers on some bonkers pay gap myths, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency ('WGEA' - a federal statutory agency that were established in 2012, charged with promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces) have done some myth busting in an article, in addition to many other great resources on their website.  

To make this even more confounding, the gender pay gap calculation does not capture casual or part-time workers, so it's actually worse than it looks.

The 2021 Gari Yala (Speak the Truth): Gendered Insights report revealed sobering truths about the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the workplace. The report revealed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women had significantly less support in culturally unsafe situations and had the highest cultural load. Moreover, those women with caring responsibilities are even more of a vulnerable group in the workplace, being more likely to be in culturally unsafe and unsupported employment. Only 1 in 4 said they felt supported when they experience racism at work. One of the biggest revelations of the report is that Indigenous mums and carers are the group most likely to experience discrimination in Australian workplaces. Horrendous. Indigenous women are being let down in more ways than one, in comparison to non-Indigenous women. 

Gender pay gap vs. pay equity

Before we get any further, here’s a FYI you need: the gender pay gap and the concept of equal pay are two different things. The gender pay gap measures the difference in average earnings between men and women, whereas equal pay refers to the situation where two people are paid the same for work or work of equal or comparable value. It is illegal in Australia to pay two people differently for ‘work of equal or comparable value’ because of the Fair Work Act (Cth) 2009 protections. Being paid the same amount for the same work has been enshrined in Australian law since the early 1970s. So why the f**k is there a gender pay gap? Because of a poisonous culture of gender discrimination inflated by patriarchal standards, unpaid care work and workforce participation, and industrial/occupational segregation: aka the obsessive and prescriptive need of society to define women's work and men's work according to a crock of shit (that I am not sure is even written down anywhere?).

Not only is equal pay a human right, but workplace gender equality is also associated with improved national productivity and economic growth, as well as increased organisational performance. In 2020, the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Gender Equity Insights series delivered a clear message: more women in key decision-making positions delivers better company performance, greater productivity and greater profitability. The research analysed changes in the gender composition of leadership structures within a company and linked these to company performance. It found that increasing the representation of women across each of the key leadership roles in a company added company market value of between $52m and $70m per year for an average sized organisation. These findings are statistically significant, meaning the association between women in leadership and business performance is causal. This means that one thing (women) is responsible for causing the other thing (an organisation’s success).

What do we need to fix the gender pay gap?

 1.

Gender pay gap audits and reporting.

Gender pay gap audits and reporting. Employers need to understand what their pay gap is, what causes it, then identify and analyse this information, and establish strategies and actions to eliminate it. They should also be required to monitor their pay gaps and report their shortcomings for the sake of transparency and accountability. 

As of very recently, there is some great news on this front! More than 4.5 million Australian employees will be able to access their employer’s gender pay gaps starting in early 2024 after the passage of the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 in Federal Parliament on 30 March 2023. These are Australian-first law reforms that cover the workplaces of approximately 40% of the nation’s workforce. The changes also support safer workplaces and advance implementation of the Respect@Work report with enhanced reporting on the prevalence, prevention and employer response to sexual harassment and harassment on the grounds of sex or discrimination.

Similarly, earlier this year the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (Cth) was implemented into Australian law.  From 7 June 2023, pay secrecy clauses can’t be included in employment contracts or other written agreements. Employers who enter into employment contracts or agreements that have pay secrecy terms could face penalties. This is the term that says your remuneration is confidential and that you are breaching your contract if you talk to other employees about your pay. This was another big win. We can see that the gender pay gap is very much on Australia's legislative agenda (about damn time?).

 2.

Address bias in recruitment and

promotions.

Gender biases  - both conscious and unconscious - are nearly always present at every stage of the employment cycle, contributing to the underrepresentation of women in leadership as well as gender pay gaps. It's not a meritocracy, it's bullshit. WGEA tells us that even when women ask for things like pay rises and promotions, despite being socialised to minimise themselves and accept less, they aren't receiving.

 3.

Increase women in leadership.

No further explanation required.

 4.

Role model parental leave.

We need to normalise parental leave and flexible working. When men take parental and carers leave, it signifies a shift away from the entrenched gender stereotypes which dictate that a man should be the breadwinner first and a parent second, while women take the reverse position.

 5.

a continuity of action.

Consistency is the key to closing gaps faster. Like with many things, we must always be on this work in progress. 

what can you do?

• Learn more about pay gaps.

• Understand the nuanced ways in which racism interacts with gender equality.

• Be an active part of the conversation and talk about the issues.

• Use your voice to call out discrimination when it is safe for you to do so. For men, this is almost 100% of the time.

• Advocate for change.

If you're ever in a space where someone says the gender pay gap isn't real, you can acknowledge this view. You can acknowledge this view by validating the fact that men focus on getting higher paying jobs like lawyers, doctors or scientists. Because, women tend to lean towards the lower paying jobs, like female lawyer, female doctor and female scientist.