New data from Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) shows the Australian Human Rights Commission has a 13.5% median gender pay gap, despite women making up 85% of Commission staff.
"Gender inequality is widespread in Australia. The Commission's results underscore the work we must do to address gender inequality within our organisation," said President of the Australian Human Rights Commission Hugh de Kretser.
The data is a result of the WGEA 2023 scorecard covering 241,224 employees from 119 public sector employers and included individual agency data for the first time. The scorecard shows that the average gender pay gap for the Commonwealth public sector is 6.4%. The equivalent in the private sector is 21.1%.
WGEA measures gender pay gaps by calculating the difference between the median and average earnings of men and women in an organisation. It shows overall inequality in pay between men and women, not whether men and women are paid the same to do the same job. At present, reporting data does not capture gender diverse people. We will continue to advocate for their inclusion.
"The Commission's results reflect that fact that while over 80% of Commission staff are women, women are more likely than men to be in lower paid roles. We can do better," said Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody.
"The Commission is taking action to address these results, including during recruitment and in our workforce planning, as well as regular reporting and data analysis."
The WGEA report shows the Commission has the highest percentage of women (85%) in our workforce out of the 120 listed public service employers. It also shows the Commission has the highest percentage of women (80%) in the top pay quartile out of the 120 listed public service employers. However, the data shows that women in our organisation are less likely to be in higher paid roles and more likely to be in lower paid roles.
| Gender | Proportion per Level | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level | Female | Male | Non-Binary | Total | Female | Male | Non-Binary |
| APS 3 | 2 | 2 | 100% | 0% | 0% | ||
| APS 4 | 29 | 4 | 33 | 88% | 12% | 0% | |
| APS 5 | 13 | 1 | 14 | 93% | 7% | 0% | |
| APS 6 | 52 | 8 | 1 | 61 | 85% | 13% | 2% |
| EL 1 | 47 | 12 | 1 | 60 | 78% | 20% | 2% |
| EL 2 | 22 | 4 | 26 | 85% | 15% | 0% | |
| SES Band 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 50% | 50% | 0% | |
| SES Band 2 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0% | 0% | ||
| Total | 167 | 30 | 2 | 199 | 84% | 15% | 1% |
The WGEA data for the Commission does not include the remuneration of the President and Commissioners. Currently five of these eight (62.5%) of these leadership positions are held by women.
A full statement on the gender pay gap results [PDF 88KB] is available.
