CEW welcomes pay gap progress, calls on companies to accelerate change to unlock economic prosperity

Media release: CEW welcomes pay gap progress, calls on companies to accelerate change to unlock economic prosperity

Chief Executive Women (CEW) welcomes the findings of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s (WGEA) 2023-2024 Scorecard, which shows the gender pay gap has narrowed to 21.1 per cent, a 0.6 percentage point improvement over the past year. 

WGEA found this progress was largely driven by pay increases for aged care workers, an outcome CEW has long championed. Despite this, 100 per cent of occupations and industries still show a gender pay gap favouring men. 

CEW president Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said while the progress was positive, more change was needed to unlock women’s workforce participation and improve the nation’s prosperity. 

“The reason why we measure gender balance is because if women’s participation in the workforce matched men’s, we would add one million full-time skilled workers to Australia’s economy. When we have a significant skills shortage, it is the single biggest lever we have to increase our nation’s productivity, and Australians’ financial security, for the good of all. 

“Yet, the report shows the gender pay gap exists at all levels, in all industries and all occupations. We need to take action to fix this.” 

For the first time, the Scorecard highlights entrenched inequities in leadership. Just one in four CEOs or Heads of Business are women, and these roles have the largest pay gap of all management positions, at 27.1 per cent. Women in these roles are paid an average of $158,632 less than their male counterparts. 

“It is inexcusable that women remain so underrepresented and underpaid in the most senior leadership roles. We know that diverse leadership teams create better outcomes for all stakeholders, lower risk, and improve safety,” Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz said. 

“Diversity targets, pay benchmarking, and transparent policies and hiring practices are not optional — they are essential for driving better business outcomes.”

The Scorecard reveals a positive trend: 68 per cent of employers have reported analysing their gender pay gaps, and of those, 75 per cent took action. 

“This proves what we’ve always known — what gets measured, gets done, and shining a light on this data has changed corporate actions,” Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz said. 

“Our research shows companies with clear gender targets are 3.6 times more likely to achieve leadership balance. Setting targets and holding leaders accountable works, and every organisation must make this commitment. This is not merely a nice to have — gender equality is better for all.”

CEW calls on business leaders to take three deliberate actions: 