More employers are narrowing the gender pay gap, yet only 35% of women believe their employer is actively working to fix it. The data tells one story. Women’s experience tells another.
What’s happening: The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has published gender pay gap results for 10,500 Australian employers, covering nearly 5.9 million workers. The data shows more employers are reducing their gap year on year.
Why this matters: For businesses, the stakes are practical as well as cultural. From 1 April, large employers must select and commit to achieve three Gender Equality Targets over the next three years, in what WGEA describes as a world-first initiative.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has released gender pay gap data for 10,500 Australian employers, giving nearly 5.9 million workers access to their employer’s results for the first time alongside Commonwealth public sector employers, whose figures have been published simultaneously with the private sector for the first time this year.
WGEA’s own analysis points to meaningful movement. More than 22.5 per cent of employers now have a gender pay gap within the target range of plus or minus five per cent, up from 21.4 per cent the year prior. The proportion of women in high-paid roles has also risen, and the share of women in the lowest earning quartile has fallen.
WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge welcomed the shift, crediting public reporting as a catalyst. “Many employers have told us publishing their information has helped them prioritise fairness and equality and led to deeper engagement from the C-Suite and Board,” she said.
But Wooldridge was direct about what remains. “The fact that men are nearly twice as likely as women to be in the highest paid roles and that women still dominate the lowest paid roles should offer a reality check for anyone who thinks Australia has achieved equality in the workplace,” she said.
Large differences in discretionary payments, including performance bonuses and overtime, remain a key driver of many employer gender pay gaps.
A collapse in confidence
While the headline figures point to progress, the mood among women in Australian workplaces is moving in a different direction. Research from HiBob, released alongside the WGEA data, reveals a significant and growing disconnect between what employers are reporting and what employees believe is actually happening.
Anna Volkova, Head of People and Culture at HiBob, said the findings were striking. “Women’s belief that public reporting actually drives changes has plummeted by 21 percentage points since last year,” she said. “To make matters worse, only 35 per cent of women now feel their employer is actively working to address the pay gap, compared to over half last year.”
Volkova described the shift as a quiet but serious erosion of trust, particularly at a time when broader economic and geopolitical uncertainty can cause equity initiatives to lose momentum. “When the majority of the female workforce feels the needle isn’t moving, this suggests transparency alone has reached its limit as a catalyst for genuine equality,” she said. “While transparency creates visibility, visibility without sustained action erodes trust.”
The trust gap extends beyond pay. HiBob’s research also points to a deepening divide in how men and women perceive fairness in the workplace more broadly. Three in four men believe roles are paid equally, yet only 59 per cent of women agree. At the same time, more women than in the previous year believe men are still being promoted at higher rates.
Volkova called this a growing promotion paradox, one that compounds the pay gap and undermines the credibility of employer commitments to equality.
Beyond box-ticking
From 1 April, large employers will be required to select and commit to three Gender Equality Targets over the next three years, in what WGEA describes as a world-first accountability initiative. Wooldridge urged employers to treat the exercise seriously. “Employers should treat gender equality like their other business goals. Do a detailed analysis to find the issues, create an action plan to address them and set targets to be accountable for ensuring progress happens,” she said.
Volkova echoed the call but warned that intent alone would not be sufficient. “To prevent the upcoming April 1 targets mandate from becoming a mere box-ticking exercise, businesses must actually show employees the path to parity,” she said. “That means clear accountability, measurable action, and consistent follow-through. Ultimately, this will prove to their employees that equality is a cultural priority, not just a compliance requirement.”
Read the full report and find the full list of employer results on the WGEA website.
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