Employer update: WGEA publishing gender pay gaps

The Gender Pay Gap is closing.

It’s the lowest it's ever been.

But there’s still a long way to go to close it!

Here’s what you as employers need to know, to do your part.

I’m Mary Wooldridge, the CEO of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

And I’ve got some key information to help you improve fairness in your workplace.

[What's coming?]

In late February, WGEA will again publish the gender pay gaps for private sector employers who report to us – those of you with more than 100 employees.

That’s more than seven thousand six hundred employers and over sixteen-hundred corporate groups - if you’re one of them, thank you for your work.

And a reminder: the gender pay gap isn’t the same as equal pay.

It’s the difference between the average or median pay of women and men across organisations, industries and the workforce as a whole.

[What will be published?]

The data will include everything that we published last year...and more.

 That means we will publish each employer’s median gender pay gap, for total remuneration and for base salary.

For the first time, WGEA will also publish gender pay gaps as an average.

This will also be for total remuneration as well as base salary.

 The data is going to be broken up into pay quartiles – dividing employees into four groups by the amount they are paid.

This will show the proportion of men and women in each pay quartile. We’ll also publish average total remuneration for each of these quartiles.

The breakdown of the combination of pay and workforce composition gives important insights into what could be driving your gender pay gap.

[Why is this important?]

Transparency enables accountability. It means that you as employers and your employees can look at your results and the results of your peers.

The data is important to help employers – you – to understand what is driving your gender pay gap so you can begin to take action to close it.

Gender equality isn’t just ‘nice to have’, it’s a basic human right. The added benefit is it's also good for business.

[What's new?]

For the first time data on CEO pay has been reported to WGEA and will be included in the calculations.

[Why does that matter?]

Almost 80 per cent of CEOs in Australia are men, and these roles usually pay the most.

The inclusion of this data will help give a more accurate picture of Australia’s gender pay gap.

Adding this in, isn’t going to impact your median gender pay gaps – but it can have a significant impact on your average gender pay gaps.

This was the reason why we only published median gender pay gaps last year.

And, in order to see what’s changed since last year, we should only compare median-to-median pay gaps.

[Do employers see the data before it’s published?]

Yes. As an employer you’ll each receive an Executive Summary when you lodge your WGEA report.

This includes your gender pay gap data.

From early November you will also be able to access your Industry Benchmark Report, showing how your results compare with other similar sized employers in your industry.

Legally you must provide both these reports to your Board or governing body. They can be downloaded from the WGEA reporting portal.

Now that reporting has finished, we are compiling the Executive Summaries for entire Corporate Groups – these will be available from the reporting portal in December.

[Where will WGEA publish gender pay gaps?]

You’ll be able to find your gender pay gap– and the results for thousands of other employers, industries and the nation – on WGEA’s Data Explorer on our website.

The data will be for each individual employer, as well as corporate groups as a whole.

[What’s an Employer Statement?]

Like last year, every employer can choose to provide a link to an Employer Statement.

This is your chance to give context to your results, and update the public about the steps you’re taking to continue to improve.

WGEA will publish this link alongside your gender pay gap result. You will be able to upload your link after the new year.

[What can I do to prepare?]

Good question! The most important thing you can do is a gender pay gap analysis of your organisation.

This analysis can tell you a lot about the workplace experience for women and men.

It can help you see whether everyone’s experiencing it equally or if there’s an imbalance that needs to be addressed.

It’s important to identify the issues so you can make a plan to fix them.

Our team can support you to do this – you can read our guide, sign up to one of our free masterclasses or for some one-on-one advice via the website.

Once you’ve done the analysis there are tools that can help you – like our action planning tool and the playbook outlining the exact steps you can take to improve.

Its also important that you communicate your results, what’s driving them and the action you plan to take with your employees before the next release.

[What should we be aiming for?]

MARY: There’s a lot of different factors to consider. So we recommend an average total remuneration gender pay gap between minus five to plus five.   

If it’s less than minus 5%, this means you have an imbalance in favour of women – as the pay for women, on average, is more than men’s.

If it’s more than 5% this means you have an imbalance in favour of men – as the pay for men is, on average, more than women’s.

All this information helps you understand where you’re performing well and where there are gaps.

These gaps point to the places where action is most meaningful to close your gender pay gap and improve equality in your workplace.

And the reason why that’s important is… it’s not only fair and just – it will also increase your productivity, your profitability and employee morale.

Improving gender equality is good for everyone.

Now is the time to be getting ready for the next round of gender pay gaps being published in late February 2025!

Thanks for listening – you’ll find a lot of extra guides and resources on our website – or reach out and sign up for our masterclasses or some one-on-one advice.