Nearly three out of four of all employers in Australia have a gender pay gap that favours men, new analysis from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has found.

High-paying employers are most likely to have a gender pay gap in favour of men and a larger gender pay gap. Just 1 in 5 (21%) of employers have an average gender pay gap in the target range of -5% and +5%, according to the WGEA reports, which provide insights into workplace gender equality for 5.3 million Australians working for 7,800 individual employers across 2023-24.

Despite challenges, progress to end the gender pay gap is happening, stressed WGEA CEO Mary Woolridge, with 56% of employers reducing their gender pay gap in the last year.

“Each employer has a unique set of circumstances that impacts the size of their gender pay gap,” Ms Wooldridge said.

“Where an employer’s gender pay gap is beyond the target range of +/-5%, it indicates one gender is more likely to be over-represented in higher paying roles compared to the other. This can be a sign of structural or cultural differences for one gender within an occupation, organisation, or broader industry.

“For employers that haven’t made progress, it’s time to ask why – dig into the data to find out what’s causing any gender differences and use evidence-based solutions to address them.”

Read the Employer Gender Pay Gaps report here