The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released the latest update on progress towards gender equality. The report found that over the last 5 years there has been a 'steady increase' in the number of women in management roles and that 'strong growth in employer action' in areas such as overall gender equality policies and strategies, pay equity and flexible work has driven decreases in the gender pay gap.
However, the data also highlights areas for improvement. WGEA Director Libby Lyons said: 'Access to parental leave has not improved, with the provision of paid primary carer’s leave actually going backwards. The glass walls persist in industry segregation, which remains deeply entrenched in Australia. The glass ceiling is still a barrier for women at the CEO and board levels. We now need even more employers to take action so that we can accelerate the momentum for gender equality in Australian workplaces'.
Key findings from the report
- The gender pay gap in Australia is narrowing: According to WGEA data, the gender pay gap has decreased 3.4% (from 24.7% to 21.3%) over the past five years. However, women working full time still earn on average over $25,000 a year less than men in total remuneration.
- Women have increased their presence in management over the past five years. Women now comprise over 40% of the managers in the WGEA dataset that is, 35% of senior managers and over 30% of executives/general managers and 30.5% of key management personnel (one level down from CEO). Improvements over the period ranged from 2.8% improvement in the manager category to 4.4% in the key management personnel category.
- Pay gaps persist across every industry, manager category and non-manager occupation: The five-year data trends show 'virtually no movement' in gender segregation across Australian industries with six out of ten Australians still working in industries dominated by one gender. There was also little improvement in either access to paid parental leave or the representation of women at CEO level or on boards. Women now represent 28.1% of board members (2.7% increase on 2013-2014), 13.7% of chairs (1.7% increase on 2013-2014) and 17.1% of CEOs (1.4% increase on 2013-2014) in the WGEA data set.
- More companies undertaking pay gap analysis: According to WGEA, the number of companies undertaking a gender pay gap analysis has increased from 24% in 2013-2014 to 41.6% in 2017-2018 making this the area that showed the most positive improvement over the period. However, of the companies that undertook a pay gap analysis, 41.5% took no action on the results.
- Increased implementation of policies/strategies, but few companies include gender equality KPIs for managers: Almost three-quarters of employers (74.3%) now have an overall gender equality strategy and/or policy (up from 66.2% in 2013-14). In addition, WGEA found that the there was a 22% increase in the number of organisations with pay equity objectives included in their remuneration policy and/or strategy. However, despite the strong growth in the number of employers implementing gender equality policies and/or strategies the number of employers with key performance indicators (KPIs) for managers relating to gender equality is at 31.4%.
- Access to employer-funded paid parental leave virtually unchanged: The number of employers offering primary carer's leave dropped from 48.5% in 2013-2014 to 47.8% in 2017-2018 (down 0.7%). For secondary carers, there was a 3% increase from 38.8% of employers in 2013-2014 to 21.8% of employers in 2017-2018.