Gender pay gap narrows but highest earners still tend to be men
More women are taking on managerial roles, but men are almost twice as likely to be among the top earners. Some of the highest-paying industries have the worst gender pay gaps.
This is according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s latest data, which reveals gender pay gaps, workforce composition and wages across more than 10,500 employers responsible for around 5.9 million staff in 2024-25.
Average wages in Australia increased by 3.6 percent over the year. The strongest growth (4.3 percent in the lowest quartile and 4.5 percent in the lower middle quartile) was among low-wage workers, who are more likely to be women. “This contributed to a reduction in the overall gender pay gap,” the report says.
Meanwhile, the highest-paying industries, as measured by average total pay, often have the largest gender pay gaps, due to larger wage gaps between quartiles and the unequal distribution of men and women within each of these quartiles.
In the construction industry, only one in 10 workers in the highest-paid quartile is female, earning an average of $270,433, while nearly four in 10 workers in the lowest-paid quartile are women, bringing home an average of $80,614.
In the financial and insurance services industry, the top 25 percent, just over a third of whom are women, earn an average of $323,593 each, while the bottom 25 percent, two-thirds of whom are women, earn an average of $79,380 each.
But more employers overall now have a gender pay gap in the target range; This means a difference of 5 percent or less between men and women. In 2024-25, 22.5 percent of employers were within this target range, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous year.
“Employers in female-majority sectors are the most likely to have a gender pay gap in the target range in 2024-25,” the report says.
Sectors that include public administration and security, health and social services, and accommodation and food services had the highest share of employers in the target range.
For the first time, gender pay gaps between 126 Commonwealth public sector employers have been revealed, alongside figures from 8,500 private sector workplaces and 1,850 corporate groups.
WGEA chief executive Mary Wooldridge said gender pay gaps were generally narrower in the public sector than in the private sector due to structures put in place over time.
“There is a wide range in the public sector, but there is a long history of structured progression, recognition of merit progression systems and active recruitment, and a desire to balance gender roles across management,” he said.
Men are 1.8 times more likely to be employed in the top 25 percent of earners and women are 1.4 times more likely to be employed in the bottom 25 percent, but women’s representation in the top quartile increased by 1 percentage point and fell by the same amount in the bottom quartile.
“One of the reasons for this change was a small net increase in management positions for women with higher pay,” the agency says.
According to the agency, additional payments such as pensions, bonuses and overtime on top of the basic salary contribute significantly to the gender pay gap. Its data shows that half of employers pay men almost 30 percent more than women in bonuses, overtime and fringe benefits other than pensions.
Wooldridge said progress had been made across the board, including in male-dominated industries such as hiring, real estate, wholesale trade and mining, but there was a long way to go and some companies were going backwards.
“They have to do the work,” he said. “Business success absolutely depends on having a workforce that is engaged, motivated, productive and contributing to the success of the company.”
But going backwards wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if it was part of companies’ efforts to improve gender equality, he said.
“Some companies will have to go back before they can move forward,” he said. “For example, airlines that do not have women in high-paying pilot roles or senior pilot roles should hire more junior women and train them through the ranks to reach senior levels, which could contribute to widening the gender pay gap in the first place. [to improve it] shift.”
Wooldridge said although progress has been made, employers need to conduct more comprehensive analysis of pay and composition in their workplaces; choose evidence-based actions to increase justice; and set goals to increase accountability and measure progress.
Only a quarter have carried out a comprehensive gender pay gap analysis in 2024-25, and almost a third have not carried out any analysis to find out the reasons for the gender pay gap.
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Millie Muroi is the economics writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He was previously an economic correspondent for the Canberra Press Gallery and a banking writer in Sydney.Connect with: X or email.
