Many Australian companies have a smaller gender pay gap than they did a year ago.
Each year, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) analyses pay data from employers representing nearly 5.9 million Australian workers.
It found the majority of Australian companies still have a gender pay gap of at least 11.2% in favour of men, but that more employers are reducing their gaps.
Context
Australian law requires employers with 100 or more employees to report their gender pay gap data to the WGEA, which analyses the information and publishes it.
The gender pay gap highlights the disparity in overall typical earnings between men and women.
This is different to paying men and women differently for the same work - which is illegal.
For some employers, the total remuneration gender pay gap is higher than the base salary gender pay gap.
If that’s the case, it means (on average) one gender is earning more from additional payments made on top of the base salary.
The WGEA noted that these additional payments often make the gender pay gap larger in favour of men.
Findings
In 2024-25, more women were in high-paid roles, but men were still 1.8x more likely to be in the highest paid jobs.
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Women were also 1.4x more likely to be employed in the lowest earning jobs.
The target gender pay gap is set between -5% to +5% to account for normal workplace changes.
1.1% more companies fell within that range than the year before.
Goldman Sachs, Forever New and Lovisa had some of the highest gender pay gaps in favour of men.
Estée Lauder, Smiths Snackfood and Fitness First had some of the highest gender pay gaps in favour of women.
What changed?
WGEA said more employers each year are analysing their gender pay gaps and asking employees about gender equality at work.
More than half of the companies that conducted an analysis uncovered the reason for their gender pay gap, and 27% have implemented targets to reduce the gap.
Since WGEA first published this data, the number of employers in the target range has increased by 1.1%.
You can access employer & industry pay gap data via WGEA’s Data Explorer.
