Equal Work Equal Pay - 50 years on and we are still far

Half a century after Australia enshrined the principle of equal pay, men continue to out-earn women on average by 20.8 per cent. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency scorecard identifies a small improvement in pay equity but on average men earn about $25,000 more than women each year.

1960s 1970s NURSE PUSHING ELDERLY FEMALE PATIENT DOWN DARK HOSPITAL HALLWAY IN WHEELCHAIR (Photo by D. Corson/ClassicStock/Getty Images) Source: Archive Photos

The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission established in 1969 the principle that where women perform 'equal work' alongside men they should receive equal pay. Female representation on boards increased slightly but the number of chief executives who are women remained static. Almost 40 per cent of managers in the workplace are women but Australian boardrooms are still dominated by men. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency wants more employers to analyse their pay data in order to correct gaps in the future.

Progress is slow. We would like to see the gender pay gap drop more quickly but we need to understand that the gender pay gap, along with all the other things that we measure, is cultural change - and cultural change always takes time.

Listen to SBS Punjabi Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.