Gender pay gap: Data reveals North Burnett council 15% gap

Jobs dominated by women at North Burnett Regional Council pay significantly less than their male-dominated counterparts, with a gender wage gap of up to 15 per cent.

Women-dominated jobs at North Burnett Regional Council (interim CEO Craig Matheson pictured) are falling short of matching their male-dominated counterparts with a wage gap of up to 15 per cent.

Jobs dominated by women at North Burnett Regional Council pay significantly less than their male-dominated counterparts with a gender wage gap of up to 15 per cent.

Figures provided by the Services Union show the relative wage gap for graduate level positions at the council was 13-15 per cent.

This was despite base entry level jobs that are dominated by women paying almost the same as their male-dominated equivalents, with the gap only 1 per cent.

The relative wage gap was calculated by measuring indoor workforce award stream where “most employees … are women” against outdoor jobs.

The union said the relativities of these wages were fixed “under the 1989 structural efficiency principles by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission” and “the wage relativities used in the Queensland Local Government Award 1992 remain intact in our current award today”.

The relativities include benchmarks for tertiary education entry points by comparing predominantly male-dominated jobs with female-dominated ones.

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Women-dominated jobs at North Burnett Regional Council (interim CEO Craig Matheson pictured) are falling short of matching their male-dominated counterparts with a wage gap of up to 15 per cent.

The union’s figures reveal North Burnett council employee roles predominantly filled by women at the lowest relative entry point paid slightly less ($59,480.31) than their male-dominated equivalents ($60,247.20).

But the gender pay gap widens significantly at the three-year degree entry point.

At this level women-dominated jobs in the council are paid $67,129.51 compared to the $75,309 wage for men, a gap of $8179 and about 13 per cent.

At the equivalent level of another year on, that gap widens further to 15 per cent, thanks to a wage comparison of $68,272.35 to $77,116.42.

A North Burnett council spokesman said gender was “not a metric considered in classification or remuneration, nor is it considered in the recruitment and selection process”.

“(The) council is an equal opportunity employer with an incredibly diverse range of positions to meet the municipal needs of the region.

The Services Union’s data shows at the three-year graduate degree entry point women-dominated jobs in the council are paid $67,129.51 compared to the relative $75,309 wage for men, a gap of $8179 and about 13 per cent. Picture: Sam Turner

“To appropriately remunerate its diverse workforce, council applies industry-standard classification structures that consider the skills and experience needed to fulfill the requirements of a role,” he said.

“Council encourages applicants from all walks of life and is confident the classification, and recruitment and selection processes are fair, transparent, and equitable.”

Services Union local government lead organiser Tom Rivers said the figures showed an ongoing problem that needed to be fixed.

Mr Rivers said it was “important that areas that are traditionally female dominated are remunerated equally to areas that are male dominated where the training requirements, skill level and responsibilities are relative”.

“There is a significant gender pay gap issue in Queensland local government,” he said.

“There have been recent changes to the Queensland Industrial Relations Act that have put the gender pay gap to the front of the agenda.

“Councils now must provide detailed information on the gender wage gap and if there is an issue how they propose to address this issue.”

Originally published as Gender pay gap: Data reveals North Burnett council 15% gap