Eight of Australia’s 20 biggest companies have fewer women in their top quartile for total pay than the economy-wide average of 35 per cent, with Fortescue, Rio Tinto and WiseTech having the lowest proportion of women in their highest-paid jobs.

Nine of the ASX 20 also had more women in their bottom pay quartiles than business in general, suggesting that a failure to promote women into their senior ranks was part of their often stubbornly high gender pay gaps.