Victorian men paid more than women but more likely to feel discriminated against

The pay gap in Victoria is widest for women in this role, which pays them a whopping 17 per cent less than their male colleagues.

The Victorian government’s gender agenda is gaining momentum, with the first public sector gender audit revealing male discrimination and support for a new “gender lens” in employment.

The landmark audit of 450,000 workers and 300 organisations shows men are still being paid more than women and are more likely to be senior managers.

However, more men than women feel they are discriminated against and denied opportunities for promotion.

Nearly half of all men who experienced discrimination said they had been overlooked for promotion compared to less than a third of women.

Sexual harassment is also lower than expected – at six per cent for women and four per cent for men.

The mandatory audit of nearly 300 organisations covered by the new Gender Equality Act shows the workforce is made up of 66 per cent women, 34 per cent men and 0.1 per cent “self-described”.

Female labourers are worst hit by the gender pay gap. Picture: Gaye Gerard

The report found the average pay gap between men and women was 15.6 per cent. This means that, on average, men took home $19,000 more than women across the 2020-21 financial year.

The pay gap was highest for labourers (17 per cent) or $11,000 a year. The gap for managers equated to $17,000 a year, or 11 per cent.

The audit, conducted by the office of Niki Vincent, the Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner, said it was important that a “gender lens” was applied to identify causes of pay variation, including performance measurement, promotion, recruitment and appointment systems.

The report also concluded that gender quotas improve the representation of women on boards.

Across all organisations, including the Victorian public service, universities, TAFEs, agencies and councils, six per cent of women and four per cent of men said they experienced sexual harassment.

Women were 50 per cent more likely to say they had been sexually harassed, most commonly sexually suggestive comments or jokes and intrusive questions about a person’s private life or comments about their physical appearance.

Those harassed mostly took no action, with 44 per cent saying they pretended it didn’t bother them and 38 per cent tried to laugh it off.

The government ran a public sector gender audit of 450,000 workers and 300 organisations.

Those who didn’t make a complaint either didn’t think it was serious enough or didn’t think it would make a difference.

In public sector organisations, 66 per cent of employees are women, but only 45 per cent of those in senior leadership roles were women and more than three in five chief executives were men.

The report also shows senior male leaders are paid $392,000 in universities and women $347,000, men get $346,000 in police and emergency services and $344,000 in finance and insurance.

Female CEOs got more pay in the arts ($365,000) and TAFE ($349,000).

More than three-quarters of those individuals using formal flexible work arrangements were women. Women leaders were also more likely than men to take up part-time work and job-sharing opportunities – forms of flexibility that often entail a financial penalty.