Hundreds of Aussie companies named and shamed for paying male workers more than women

The gender pay gap at every company in Australia has been published, lifting the lid on the worst offenders. Find out how your workplace fared.

The gender pay gap at every company in Australia with over 100 employees is published today on the internet, lifting the lid on the worst offenders, the most improved and the biggest pay gaps in the country.

The latest data has confirmed that men, on average, earn $28,425 more than women and around one-third of that gap comes from financial incentives beyond base salary such as superannuation, overtime and performance bonuses.

It reveals that across Australia for every $1 a male full-time worker earns, a full-time female worker earns 78 cents on average, adding up to that difference of $28,425 a year.

In a move likely to cause a stampede of workers to their desktop computers this morning, all the data including the average wage at companies across Australia, the average pay gap and the companies where one in four workers earn $1 million a year is being published online.

If you want to check your company you can now head to the Workplace Gender Equality Agencies (WGEA) website and click onto the Data Explorer.

Men, on average, earn $28,425 more than women and around one-third of that gap comes from financial incentives beyond base salary. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

The pay gap of every company in Australia with 100 employees or more has just been published on the internet. Picture: WGEA

MORE: A guide to the average salary in Australia

The report finds the over-representation of men in the upper quartile of earners is a significant factor, driving up to two-thirds of employer gender pay gaps.

The companies that pay their high income earners the most cash are among the worst pay gap culprits, expecting women to toil away despite huge pay gaps.

WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge said around 1000 employers were hitting the target range for pay gaps.

“Each employer has a unique set of circumstances that impacts the size of their gender pay gap,” Ms Wooldridge said.

“For employers that haven’t made progress, it’s time to ask why – dig into the data to find out what’s causing any gender differences and use evidence-based solutions to address them.”

What is the gender pay gap?

The WGEA’s website states that the gender pay gap is different to equal pay for equal or comparable work – which has been a legal requirement for employers since 1969.

Instead, it is the overall difference in pay across a workforce and while equal pay is a component, it is also driven by the composition of the workforce, particularly in higher and lower paid roles.

The gender pay gap is not a comparison of like roles. Instead, it reveals the difference between the average or median pay of women and men across organisations, industries and the workforce as a whole.

Most companies pay men more than women

Just 1 in 5 Australian employers have an average gender pay gap in the target range of -5 per cent and +5 per cent, according to the WGEA results.

The WGEA has published the results for 7800 individual employers and 1700 corporate groups and the new rollout means that Australians working for a company that’s part of a bigger corporate group can access both the group and individual employer’s gender pay gap for the first time.

MORE: 5 tips for pitching a higher salary

Industry midpoints. Picture: WGEA

In the 2023-24 gender pay gap results, nearly three in four (72 per cent) of all employers pay men more, on average, than women.

High-paying employers are the most likely to have a gender pay gap in favour of men and a larger gender pay gap.

Who is getting paid $1 million?

Data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency examined by The Australian Financial Review reveals that Goodman Group, IFM investors Morgan Stanley and UBS are among the group of just over 20 companies where some high income earners are earning seven figures.

Those same companies have huge pay gaps. In the case of Goodman Property Services there’s a pay gap of 66.8 per cent.

According to the Australian Financial Review the huge pay gap was a reflection of a “unique remuneration structure” in which up to 92 per cent of pay is linked to a long term incentive program linked to the share price.

IFM investors reported a pay gap of 61.6 per cent.

WGEA’s analysis shows 56 per cent of employers reduced their gender pay gap in the last year. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Named, shamed and improving

WGEA’s analysis shows 56 per cent of employers reduced their gender pay gap in the last year.

“It’s promising to see the big increase in the number of employers working to understand what is driving their gender pay gap, beyond unequal pay,” Ms Wooldridge said.

“Over the past year, employers have told us that publication of employer gender pay gaps is a catalyst to assess gender-based differences in all areas of their workplace.

“For men, a more equal experience could mean their employer is providing access to paid parental leave, paying superannuation on that leave and actively supporting a flexible return to work from parental leave.

“For women, it could mean their employer is redesigning manager roles that will enable those roles to be undertaken on a part-time basis or as a job share. This action can create new pathways to career progression for employees with caring or other responsibilities outside of work, or by actively broadening the pipeline of talent across occupations and job roles.

“What is common to each is purposeful action that breaks down traditional notions of what it means to be a worker and carer in the contemporary workplace.”

Originally published as Hundreds of Aussie companies named and shamed for paying male workers more than women