Australia Publishes ‘Gender Pay Gap’ Data of 5,000 Public and Private Companies

A bar staff prepares drinks for patrons in a bar in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 28, 2020. William West/AFP via Getty Images

The federal Labor government has released the gender pay gap data of 5,000 public and private companies in a move claimed to improve gender equality in workplaces across the country.

This comes after the Closing the Gender Pay Gap bill introduced by Labor passed the federal parliament in 2023.

The gender pay gap is an indicator calculated by dividing the difference between the average total remuneration of male and female employees in an organisation, by the average male total remuneration.

The calculation covers all employees and employee types, such as part-time and casuals (more women fill these types of positions), but does not include the CEO position and non-binary employees.

Finance and Women Minister Katy Gallagher touted the data release as a “historic step” in strengthening transparency and accountability of the government’s work in addressing “gender inequality.”

“The gender pay gap is a persistent and complex problem that costs the Australian economy $51.8 billion (US$33.8 billion) every year,” she said, citing some government data.

“Transparency and accountability are critical for driving change. By shining a light on gender pay gaps at an employer level, we are arming individuals and organisations with the evidence they need to take meaningful action to accelerate closing the gender pay gap in Australian workplaces.”

According to the report, only 30 percent of the 5,000 companies met the government objective of having a median gender pay gap between minus 5 percent.

Around 50 percent of all employers had a gender pay gap of over 9.1 percent, while 62 percent of median employer gender pay gaps were over 5 percent and in favour of men.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) CEO Mary Wooldridge said the publication of the gender pay gap results would prompt businesses to take action and change.

“Publishing employer’s gender pay gaps brings transparency to those employers who have low median gender pay gaps and those that don’t,” she said.

“The time for talk and excuses is over. Change takes action, and employers need to double down on ensuring all employees are fairly represented and equally valued and rewarded in their workplace.”

By law, private sector employers, with 100 or more employees must report to WGEA on six Gender Equality Indicators each year.

Senator Says Gender Pay Gap Data Is ‘Useless’

Following the government’s announcement, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan criticised the move, saying the data was useless as it did not reflect basic differences such as employees’ number of working hours.

“The Gender Pay Report is now the annual Andrew Tate recruitment drive. It just breeds resentment and division,” he said on social media.

“Andrew Tate is so popular because governments and corporations push a simplistic, divisive and clearly incorrect gender narrative.

“This creates a massive vacuum for the likes of Andrew Tate to fill.”

Andrew Tate is an infamous social media influencer and former professional kickboxer who was arrested and detained in 2022 by Romanian police on suspicion of rape and human trafficking.

He produces self-help style content aimed at young men containing mixed messaging that includes working hard and treating women like property.

Meanwhile, Sam Kennard, the CEO of Kennards Storage, said government policies like this came at the cost of individual merit.

“Diversity inclusion is actually completely flipped over to be more about division and exclusion,” he previously told The Epoch Times.

“You are defining people more by their identity, gender, sexuality, race, or religion, than you are about what their character is.”