A groundbreaking Indigenous-led report, Towards Indigenous Pay Parity, has quantified Australia’s First Nations pay gap at 16 per cent for the first time. Professor Nareen Young, Director of the Centre for Indigenous People and Work, explains how historical undervaluation of Indigenous labour continues to shape today’s workplace realities, with particularly severe effects for First Nations women and professionals.
For generations, the national conversation about First Nations economic justice has centred on employment rates. A new report now shifts the focus to wages themselves. Towards Indigenous Pay Parity provides the first Indigenous-led measurement of the pay gap, placing it at 16 per cent overall and 17.9 per cent in professional and managerial roles.
Professor Nareen Young stresses that the disparity cannot be separated from history.
We can’t separate the historical from the contemporary… Indigenous labour simply isn’t valued in the same way as mainstream people.Professor Nareen Young
From ration payments on missions to legally sanctioned lower rates under the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Award until 1966, policies embedded assumptions of inferiority that still echo today.
Even qualifications offer little protection. “A degree doesn’t protect you. Experience doesn’t protect you,” Young notes, pointing to persistent underpayment in unregulated sectors. First Nations women fare worst of all:
Our women are the worst paid people in the country.Professor Nareen Young
Gaps appear across every industry, though they shrink where awards or enterprise agreements apply. Young’s recommendations include a positive duty on employers to prevent workplace racism, better Indigenous wage data collection, and concrete steps to close the gap.
After decades of focusing only on participation, the report demands a new conversation about genuine pay parity.
