Women in ag paid less than men: new data shows gender pay gap

If you’re a woman employed in agriculture, you’re likely being paid less than your male counterparts, according to a recent report.

Agriculture’s gender pay gap has been revealed, with women in the industry being paid an average 16.9 per cent less than men.

It comes as a report highlighted the national gender pay gap of 21.7 per cent, with women across all industries earning an average of 78 cent for every $1 a man earns – with one notable agribusiness paying men an average of 40.5 per cent more than their female counterparts.

This week’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency report into the gender pay gap revealed for the first time the base salary and total remuneration gender pay gaps at 5000 private businesses with 100 or more employees.

The Weekly Times has analysed the median base salary for top ASX-listed agribusinesses, as well as other companies within the agriculture, forestry and fisheries category.

Of the 90 agribusinesses and agricultural companies analysed, just 15 have achieved gender pay equity, or were operating with a gender pay gap in favour of women.

Twenty-nine were not required to submit pay data due to employing less than 100 people.

The a2 Milk Company had the greatest gender pay gap of the agribusinesses listed, with a median pay gap of 40.5 per cent.

Elders Limited, while having gender parity at an executive level, has a gender pay gap of 22.2 per cent.

Bega Cheese’s gender pay gap sat at 10.9 per cent, while Costa Group Ltd’s gender pay gap was 5.1 per cent.

The WGEA report found the average total remuneration across all industries was $108,047, with women accounting for 51 per cent of employees.

In comparison, the average total remuneration for the agriculture industry was $92,000, with women accounting for 35 per cent of employees.

A recent investigation by The Weekly Times revealed women make up only 26.8 per cent of boards across agribusiness and agricultural peak bodies.

The a2 Milk Company said it had made effort in recent years to close the gap between how much men are paid compared to their female counterparts.

Information provided by the company showed the median total remuneration pay gap shrunk from 42.2 per cent in 2021-22 to 40.5 per cent in 2022-23.

The a2 Milk Company has one of the largest gender pay gap of more than 40 per cent, according to WGEA report. Picture: Paul Miller.

The a2 Milk Company published a joint statement from chair managing director Pop Greenwood and chief executive David Bortolussi, which acknowledged “there is more work to be done”.

“While our total workforce is relatively balanced with 45 per cent men and 55 per cent women overall, we have a greater proportion of men in higher graded roles and a greater proportion of women in lower graded roles,” the statement read.

A2 Milk Company data showed women account for 100 per cent of the casually employed workforce at the company.

University of South Australia Bradley Distinguished Professor Carol Kulik said publication of the data was “a real opportunity” for employees and stakeholders to start conversations about pay equity.

Prof Kulik said research showed gender pay gaps widened each year, as women took career breaks for maternity leave, or worked part-time, as pay rises are often given as a percentage of the previous year’s remuneration.

“Any sort of career break is going to exaggerate that gap. It might happen because of a maternity break, but also if you’re working casually, or contract to contract. Any time there’s a little break, you’re losing those pay rises you’d get systematically,” Prof Kulik said.

Prof Kulik said while flexible workplaces were important to accelerating gender equity, other measures needed to be explored.

“We know the fastest way is to put more women into the highest paid positions. Our research shows evidence of a trickle-down effect. It changes the entire culture of the organisation, and that’s a fast process,” she said.

GrainCorp general manager organisation development Gary Hegarty said the company was “incredibly proud” to see a focus on gender pay parity has paid off.

Its median average base salary pay gap was 2.7 per cent.

“Our focus on building diverse teams has also seen participation by women in our workforce increase to 29 per cent, with 35 per cent of our leaders comprising women,” Mr Hegarty said.

“While there’s still a way to go, we’re confident in our processes and approaches to ensuring gender parity across our company while providing women with continual development opportunities.”

Former National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson said access to pay data was “a fantastic thing”, and hoped its publication would prompt “both employers and employees in these businesses to have the conversation about fairer pay”.

“Sadly though, I don’t think the narrower pay gap reported in agriculture is anything to celebrate,” Ms Simson said.

“It’s likely skewed by the significant over-representation of men in these companies – with blokes filling nearly seven in every 10 jobs.”

Ms Simson said it was important to remember the reporting only captured the largest employers in the sector, with no data for “the thousands of small to medium businesses which make up the bulk of the industry”.