Australia’s gender pay gap is at its lowest on record, latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says the drop from11.5% to 11.3% over the past six months was driven by wage gains for women in lower paid work, including in the health sector, off the back of key reforms to end the historic practice of undervaluing work in female dominated occupations.
It says from early 2026, significant pay increases began being phased in for occupations with majority-women workforces, including dental assistants, pathology collectors and other health professionals. They followed significant increases for aged care workers and early childhood education and care workers.
Workplace reforms won by unions, such as paid parental leave and paid family and domestic violence leave, are also boosting women’s wages by supporting women to stay in their jobs and to win higher pay, the ACTU said, along with the 4.75% increase in this year’s Annual Wage Review.
“At this rate of progress, a girl born today could expect the gender pay gap to be eliminated by the time she is 16 years-old and perhaps looking for her first job,” ACTU President Michele O’Neil said.
“But if the previous slow progress under the last Coalition government had continued, a girl born today would need to wait until she was 31 years old to come anywhere near achieving equal pay.
“This is happening because new gender equity laws and record pay rises for workers in undervalued sectors won by unions are having an impact – and not before time.”
