Gender pay gap has widened
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency / Image: EOWA
Recent data showing the gender pay gap has widened provides even more justification for the Government’s proposed reforms to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act, 1999.
“These reforms will strengthen the ability of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) to track and provide advice on the gender pay gap for organisations across all sectors,” EOWA Director, Helen Conway said today. The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (Average Weekly Earnings Survey) shows that, in August 2011, the gender pay gap (based on the average weekly ordinary time earnings of full-time adult employees) was at 17.8 per cent.
EOWA is deeply concerned by the current level of the gap. While it is important to recognise that the gap can fluctuate considerably over the short term, due to data volatility, the fact remains that the gender pay gap has hovered between 16 per cent and 18 per cent for nearly twenty years.
“We know that the causes of the pay gap are complex and include occupational and industry segregation, the undervaluation of women's work and discrimination. These deep-seated, structural factors require concerted action and will take time to address. The Government’s commitment to fund, by over $2 billion, its share of any wage increases awarded by Fair Work Australia in the equal remuneration case for social and community services workers is an important step in addressing historical pay inequity,” Ms Conway said.
EOWA is committed to assisting employers to address the gender pay gap and has developed a suite of useful website resources and practical information that relate to pay equity issues, including an online gender pay equity course, “Mind the Gap”. EOWA is also working to develop a gender inclusive job evaluation and grading standard with Standards Australia, industry experts and other stakeholders.
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Source: EOWA
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