Men almost twice as likely as women to earn high salaries in ‘reality check’ on Australia’s gender pay gap

Men are nearly twice as likely as women to be making $220,000 a year, with minimal progress made on closing Australia’s gender pay gap in the past 12 months.The federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) published its gender pay gap results for 10,500 employers on Tuesday. It revealed there was a slight increase in the number of women in highly paid roles, but men were still 1.8 times more likely to be in the upper quartile of earners on an average salary of $221,000.On the other hand, women were 1.4 times more likely than men to be in the lowest quartile of earners with an average salary of about $60,000 a year.Bar charts showing proportion of women and men in the four quartiles of incomeMary Wooldridge, the chief executive of WGEA, said the results should act as a “reality check”.“The fact that men are nearly twice as likely as women to be in the highest paid roles and that women still dominate the lowest paid roles should offer a reality check for anyone who thinks Australia has achieved equality in the workplace,” Wooldridge said.More than 50% of employers have a gender pay gap larger than 11.2%, in favour of men.Over 2024-25, 22.5% of employers recorded a gender pay gap on the target range – up from 21.4% a year earlier.Last November, WGEA data found Australian women earned 78 cents on average for every $1 earned by men. This amounted, on average, to being paid $28,425 less than their male counterparts in the 12 months to March 2024.Large differences in discretionary payments, such as performance bonuses and overtime hours, remained a key driver of many employers’ gender pay gaps, the new report found.“Employers should treat gender equality like their other business goals. Do a detailed analysis to find the issues, create an action plan to address them and set targets to be accountable for ensuring progress happens,” Wooldridge said.Employers with the largest gender pay gaps were most likely to operate in male-dominated or highly paid gender-balanced industries. This includes industries such as financial services, construction and mining, where a large majority of workplaces have gender pay gaps above 11.2%.The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, said the release of the data – which also includes Commonwealth public sector employers for the first time – was helping “shift the dial”.“This transparency shines a light on where progress is being made and where more work is needed,” she said.“Gender pay gaps tell us a lot about how workplaces really operate, who gets opportunities, who gets rewarded, and who has the flexibility to manage responsibilities outside of work.“Flexible work is a key part of the solution. When workplaces genuinely support flexibility, women are more likely to stay connected to work, progress into senior roles and build their lifetime earnings.”