Women’s wages surge in Australia as gender pay gap narrows

The Australian government has hailed a new era of gender equality after the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data revealed the national gender pay gap has plummeted to a record low of 11.5%.

This marks a significant decline from 12% in November 2023 and 14.1% in May 2022. Since the Albanese government took office in 2022, women’s average weekly earnings have surged by A$173.80 (US$115.11).

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attributed the progress to the government’s concerted efforts to close the gap, including banning pay secrecy clauses, modernising bargaining systems, and enforcing transparent gender pay gap reporting. “We came to government with a commitment to help close the gender pay gap, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing,” Albanese said.

Minister for Women Katy Gallagher emphasised the tangible benefits for women, stating, “Closing the gender pay gap means that women are taking home more money at the end of each week.” She highlighted the government’s initiatives to boost pay for early childhood educators, aged care employees, and minimum wage earners as key drivers of the improvement.

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Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt credited the government’s wage policies for delivering record pay rises for hundreds of thousands of women on award wages. He also pointed to the increase in female employment, with an additional 510,000 women joining the workforce, with 60% of these positions being full-time.

The record-low gender pay gap coincides with a record high for women’s workforce participation, at 63.2%. While celebrating this milestone, the government acknowledged that challenges remain and pledged to continue its efforts to achieve gender equality.