The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released an updated Employer Gender Pay Gaps report covering 7,800 employers and 1,700 groups.
The gender pay gap is defined by the agency as “the difference between the average or median remuneration of men and the average or median remuneration of women, expressed as a percentage of men’s remuneration.” This differs from equal pay for the same or similar roles.
“(We focus) on the total remuneration gender pay gaps that include payments above base salary such as superannuation, performance bonuses, overtime and allowances, as this gives a more accurate representation of the real differences in earnings between men and women,” WGEA said.
The agency started by illustrating the general pay situation in the nation, which is evidently unequal. WGEA reported that on average, for every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 78 cents.
This drives the entire gap regardless of industry and sets a precedent for calculating pay.
WGEA also highlighted that employers in male-dominated industries, including the mining sector, are more likely to pay male workers more.
According to the report, “4 out of 5 employers in men-dominated industries have a gender pay gap in favour of men.” Across 248 mining employers, 92 percent of the total average remuneration gender pay gap favours men.
Employee ratio and roles
WGEA’s analysis considered several factors affecting the disparity. Among these is the ratio of male to female workers, which is evident in the mining sector.
The report stated that women make up 22 percent of the mining employee population, but this isn’t spread evenly across pay quartiles. In the upper and upper middle pay quartiles, women are just 16 and 15 percent of workers respectively. According to the WGEA, the over-representation of men in the upper quartile of earners drives two-thirds of the gender pay gap. In the lowest pay quartile, women make up 35 percent of the mining workforce — significantly higher than their presence in other pay groups.
“Employers with the highest gender pay gaps show the greatest disparity between the proportion of women in the upper quartile, compared to the proportion of women in the workforce. In general, the greater the difference, the higher the gender pay gap.”
Women, according to WGEA, are less likely to work in the highest paying jobs in the economy. This applies to mining, which ranked as the highest paid industry assessed under the report, having an average salary of AU$195,141 across pay quartiles.
Mining engineers and the like placed ninth in Monarch’s top 10 list of the highest paying jobs in Australia in 2024 with AU$196,178.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CMEWA) recognised this key point in a commentary on the report, with chief executive officer Rebecca Tomkinson agreeing that men still outnumber women in the sector.
“Closing the pay gap in a traditionally…
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