The Federal Government has introduced legislation to compel employers to share gender wage data.

New laws tabled in the lower house are intended to allow Australia’s gender pay gap information to be openly published.

It comes after the Minister for Women Katy Gallagher and the Government committed to implementing all ten recommendations from the 2021 Review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.

On average, women earn $263.90 less than men each week in Australia. On the current trend, it will take another 26 years to close the gender pay gap in Australia. 

“On average, women working full-time can expect to earn 14.1 per cent less than men per week in their pay packets,” Senator Gallagher says.

“The gender pay gap is also holding our economy back with $51.8 billion a year lost when it comes to women’s pay.”

The reforms include having the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) publish employer level gender pay gaps for the first time, as well as requiring employers to provide their WGEA gender equality reports to their governing bodies. 

It also includes setting a new requirement for policies or strategies across gender equality drivers and refining what employers report to WGEA, including a broader range of matters relating to sexual harassment and discrimination as a result of the Respect@Work report.

WGEA Director Mary Wooldridge says the reforms are a significant step forward for gender equality and ensuring workplaces are fair and equal for all Australians.

“It’s more than 10 years since the Workplace Gender Equality Act was first passed. In that time we’ve seen meaningful progress, but the rate of change is slow. These amendments will boost transparency, accountability and spur action to accelerate progress on gender equality in workplaces,” Ms Wooldridge said.

“WGEA is committed to working with the Government to ensure the remaining recommendations from the WGEA Review are progressed and that key stakeholders are heard along on this journey of change.

“The Review’s recommendations provided a roadmap to accelerating employer action on gender equality and driving meaningful improvements in experiences at work for many Australians.

“We look forward to working with the government, employers and others to implement these important reforms.”