CANBERRA: Progress on closing Australia’s gender pay gap has stalled, a government report has found.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) on Monday published its annual employer census, finding that the gender pay gap for the financial year 2021-2022 was 22.8 per cent.
It marks the first time that progress on reducing the gap has stalled which means that men, on average, earned 26,596 Australian dollars (US$18,072) more than women reported Xinhua.
Seventy per cent of employers reported having a pay gap that favoured male employees.
Mary Wooldridge, director of the WGEA, said the figures should act as a wake-up call to encourage employers to take urgent action.
“At a time when Australia is experiencing critical skills and labour shortage, WGEA’s annual Employer Census shows that too many employers have failed to step up on gender equality leaving many women no better off than they were 12 months ago,“ she said in a media release.
“Lasting change requires employers to make bold, creative choices that send a signal to all employees that gender equality is a core part of their business strategy and a priority for those in leadership and managerial roles.”
Females accounted for 22 per cent of chief executive officers, up 5 per cent since 2014, and more than 20 per cent of corporate boards feature no women.
Men were more likely to hold managerial positions, even in female-dominated industries such as healthcare and education.
Fifty-three per cent of employers have set some form of a target for gender equality in the workplace, with most aiming to put more women in leadership positions. -Bernama