The unveiling of gender pay gaps within large Australian organisations marks a significant milestone for gender equality, but experts emphasise the urgent need for greater accountability and action from employers, asserts a University of South Australia researcher.

Professor Carol Kulik, an authority in workplace diversity, underscores the importance of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s release of gender pay gap data for large Australian employers as a pivotal step forward.

However, she stresses that the true impact of this revelation will hinge on the proactive measures taken by organizations to address and narrow the existing disparity.

The WGEA’s disclosure will shed light on gender pay gaps among private sector employers with 100 or more employees for the first time.

This move comes amid ongoing efforts to promote and enhance workplace gender equality.

Pay gap

According to the WGEA’s 2023 report, the average gender pay gap in Australia stands at 21.7%, translating to women earning an average of $26,393 less per year than their male counterparts.

Professor Kulik, a member of the SA Gender Pay Gap Taskforce, underscores the importance of further actions to ensure that organizations are held accountable for addressing pay gaps.

“We now must be asking employers important questions,” Professor Kulik asserts.

“In what roles and levels of employment are pay gaps most prevalent? How are employers supporting employees’ caring responsibilities? What measures are being implemented to facilitate women’s advancement into higher-paying roles? How soon can employers commit to closing their pay gaps?”

Tend to escalate

Highlighting the trajectory of pay gaps over time, Professor Kulik notes that initial disparities between men and women at the outset of their careers tend to escalate as pay rises are often calculated as a percentage of an employee’s current salary.

Career breaks and caregiving responsibilities further exacerbate these discrepancies, resulting in women retiring with significantly lower superannuation than men.

Drawing parallels from regulatory interventions in other countries, Professor Kulik underscores the unintended consequences that may arise.

For instance, while legislative mandates in Denmark narrowed the gender pay gap, they also prompted employers to compress salary distributions, impacting both male and female employees.