On 19 August 2025, Australia marks Equal Pay Day, recognising that women still have to work an extra 50 days to catch up to a man’s salary. But what’s behind this gap, and how can we finally close it?
This figure is only an average and doesn’t tell the whole story.
Let’s bust a common myth straight away: the gender pay gap isn’t just about men and women being paid differently for the same job (although that is still happening and is unlawful).
So, what is behind gender pay inequality? And why should we even care?
Let’s unpack what the gender pay gap really is, how it’s measured, and what it’ll take to finally close it. 👇
How is the gender pay gap calculated?
The gender pay gap shows the average difference in earnings between working women and men.
In Australia, this gap is calculated by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) using national data from the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
To get the full picture, they look at different types of earnings:
• Weekly earnings (excluding overtime)
• Hourly rates
• Cash earnings (including salary sacrifice)
These numbers help us understand how pay is distributed and who’s missing out.
No matter how it’s measured, the result is the same: women consistently earn less.
What’s the gender pay gap in Australia in 2025?There isn’t just one gender pay gap, there are several ways to measure it. • The national pay gap (11%) is based on average weekly earnings for full-time workers. • When we include all workers and all types of pay, the gap jumps to 21.8%. |
Why does the gender pay gap exist?
The gender pay gap isn’t caused by one single thing.
It’s the result of many factors that stack up over time: how society values certain work, who gets promoted, who takes parental leave, and who’s expected to do the unpaid care work.
→ A big part of the problem is gender segregation
The industries which have high numbers of women workers (healthcare, education, administration) are structurally undervalued. There is no logical reason these jobs should have low wages compared to other jobs requiring similar levels of skill and training, but they do.
Meanwhile, high-paying industries like construction, mining, tech are still overwhelmingly male-dominated, and multiple factors make it challenging for women to access work in these industries.
Read more: What is gender segregation?
This imbalance plays out differently across the country. In Western Australia, where male-dominated industries like mining are more common, the gender pay gap climbs above 20%. In Victoria, it sits closer to 10.8% (WGEA, 2024).
→ Leadership is another gap
Even in female-majority sectors, men’s work is more likely to be recognised and promoted. Men still dominate top jobs, just 1-in-5 CEOs in Australia are women. Some bosses have attributed this gap to women’s behaviours – Sheryl Sandberg famously encouraging women to “lean in” and behave more like men to get ahead. But statistically we know that bosses tend to hire and promote people like them – excluding and missing out on leadership talent of different genders, cultures, and lived experiences.
What if instead of telling women to behave more like men, we asked selection committees to consider why they think “masculine” traits are so desirable?
→ Behind all of this, there’s the issue of unpaid care.
Women in Australia still take on around 30 hours of unpaid care and domestic work each week nearly double that of men. That’s time away from paid work, full-time, or finding opportunities for a better job.
It’s an invisible load with very real consequences.
Crucially, this invisible load also enables men to take on more opportunities. What if, instead of asking if women can “have it all”, we asked men to step up and do their share and employers to encourage fairer access to parental leave and flexible work?
Read more: 4 big win for women workers this new financial year
Is the gender gap a global issue?Yes. This isn’t just happening here in Australia. Across the world, women still earn less than men, with the global gender pay gap sitting at around 20%, according to the United Nations. The reasons are familiar: • women’s work continues to be undervalued, • gender roles remain stubborn, and • access to opportunity is still unequal. That’s why the UN created International Equal Pay Day, held every 18 September. A global reminder that equal pay isn’t just a goal, it’s a human right we’re still fighting for. |
How can we close the gap?
The gender pay gap is complex, but closing it is possible. Here’s what works:
• Joining a union and fighting collectively for change!
• Making pay more transparent - check out your employer’s gender pay gap here
• Supporting flexible work and equal sharing of care among genders
• Ending harassment, discrimination, and hostile work cultures
• Valuing women’s skills, training, and leadership
• Ending gendered job segregation