The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has named August 29 Equal Pay Day 2022 in recognition of the 60 extra days after the close of the financial year an Australian woman must work to earn the same annual salary earned by a man.
This means that it took an additional 60 days to close the national gender pay gap this year, which is now 14.1%, three basis points higher than it was six months ago.
The gender pay gap was especially prevalent in the financial and insurance services, where the difference between women’s and men’s average weekly full-time earnings remained one of the highest in the country at 19%, next only to the professional, scientific, and technical services (25.3%) and health care and social assistance (22.2%).
Still, the number presented a 5% yearly decrease in gender pay gap for the industry. On a weekly basis, men in the financial and insurance services earned $2355.80 whereas women earned $1907.80 – a gap of $448 down from $560 a year ago.
To mark Equal Pay Day 2022, the WGEA has renewed its call on employers to take five key steps to “speed up the rate of change” and close the gap: conduct a pay gap audit to develop an action plan and establish accountabilities; set targets to promote gender equality at all levels of the organisation; design leadership roles that can be fulfilled part-time and promote women into leadership positions; normalise flexible working arrangements; and introduce a robust, gender-neutral, paid parental leave policy.
“While the gender pay gap persists, women’s skills, capabilities, and potential are not being fully realised or valued,” said WGEA Director Mary Woolridge. “Further, while women are earning less, they’re spending the same as men on the essentials we all need to survive. A high inflation rate of 6.1% is greatly increasing the cost of living, making daily essentials … more and more expensive. The gender pay gap means many women now find it even harder to make ends meet.”
Taking urgent action on gender equality was not just the right thing to do, Wooldridge emphasised. “It’s also a sensible business decision to make sure your organisation is prepared for gender pay gap transparency, to be able to articulate what analysis has been done and the steps being taken to close it,” she said, referencing the federal government’s commitment that WGEA will publish employer-level gender pay gaps in the near future.
