The bad news is that full-time working women in Australia still earn less than men.
According to the Workplace Gender Equality government agency, women earn nearly $30,000 less than men a year. And those numbers are worse for part-time and casual working women.
The good news is that the gender pay gap is shrinking. But not by much. It will be another 250 years before the pay gap closes. So if you’re reading this blog, your organisation is (probably) already committed to fair pay.
So, where should you start? Well, ensuring women are paid equally for the same work as men is a good start, but for many organisations, the cracks run deep.
In this blog, we’ll look at what the gender pay gap is and some ways HR can break down the barriers that keep women earning less than men in Australia.
What is the gender pay gap?
Think of it as the scoreboard that shows how much women earn compared with men across your whole organisation. Add up every pay packet, divide by headcount, and the difference is the gap.
It’s important to be aware of the factors behind the numbers to understand the systemic cultural issues behind the gap. Like care duties that still fall mostly to women, tired ideas about a ‘man’s job’ and ‘women’s work’ and recruitment habits that give men the inside lane.
No organisation can rewrite society overnight, but you can chip away at the gap in your organisation by conducting regular audits, reviewing policies and being as transparent as possible.
Monthly audits
While this may feel obvious, there are so many things that can affect equal pay without you even realising it, like discretionary bonuses, access to training and development opportunities or even how performance is reviewed.
Scary right? Even with the best intentions to keep pay fair and equal, your organisation could be widening the gap before you send off employment contracts.
The best way to stay on top of that is to conduct monthly audits through your HRIS. Make sure you categorise roles on job boards consistently too, and make sure performance reviews are consistent and based on repeatable processes across the organisation.
But even if you’re doing all of the above, you’re organisation still might be contributing to the gender pay gap. Here are some other practical strategies to consider.
Review parent policies
Women still shoulder a lot of the caregiving and household responsibilities, which is a big reason why the gap exists.
It’s not HR's responsibility to rewrite social norms, but you can design work outcomes to level the playing field, giving men and women an equal chance to succeed in the workplace despite their different circumstances.
You could implement more flexibility like staggered start-and-finish times, remote or hybrid options, even four-day weeks where the hours make sense for primary caregivers, regardless of whether they be men or women. Some organisations offer more practical help like partnering with a local childcare centre. Caregivers shouldn’t have to choose between a sick child and a promotion.
Something out of your control is that women get left behind during motherhood. Providing generous parental leave is great, but it’s also important to manage the transition for mothers. Stripe, a global payments company, implemented a strategy to monitor women’s progress as they transitioned back into the office by pairing them with a mentor to refresh their skills to help them get back on track quickly.
Remove bias from hiring decisions
Most organisations don’t discriminate by gender when determining salaries for new employees, at least not actively.
But because more HR managers are using informal recruitment processes to fill roles like social media referrals and LinkedIn posts, they’re widening the gender pay gap without realising.
The success of these channels relies heavily on networks, which, depending on the level of seniority, can put women at a disadvantage. Meaning women might not have the same chance of getting an interview or even an offer. What’s worse is that fewer women are likely to push for leadership roles without role models.
Instead of thinking about women facing a glass ceiling, think about it as if they’re sitting on a rotting floor. So, to help them move up the ladder, HR needs to remove bias from informal networks and recruiting strategies. Make sure on LinkedIn that you limit the recruiting channel to junior-mid level roles and ensure job descriptions and social media posts are free from bias.
These strategies ensure your organisation is doing what it can to limit bias in recruiting.
Increase pay transparency
If you’re serious about trying to close the gender pay gap in your organisation without having to change pay, improving pay transparency is a good place to start.
If you’re going to publish salaries, it’s a good idea to make sure they’re equitable before you open the curtains. That means taking a hard look at salaries and making sure they’re fair and consistent, because once things are out in the open, people will start asking questions.
And remember, employees are already comparing salaries on sites like Glassdoor and Seek, so your numbers are out there whether you like it or not. It’s better to be in the driver’s seat than playing catch-up.
About us
Martian Logic helps HR teams build fairer, more transparent workplaces with less paperwork and a lot more clarity. Our intuitive HRIS brings everything together, from hiring and onboarding to performance tracking and compliance, so you can spot inequality early and fix it fast. With real-time data and flexible workflows, our platform gives you the tools to design smarter policies and make consistent, fair decisions. Ready to close the gender pay gap and modernise your HR strategy? Contact us today and see how Martian Logic can support a more equitable future for your team.
