There has only been marginal improvement of the national gender pay gap in the past four decades. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency says the gap of 22.8 per cent means women typically earn about $25,000 a year less than men.
Over the last seven years, Australia has fallen from 14th to 70th on women’s economic participation in the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap index, despite ranking first on women’s education.
The first female CEO of Super Aware, Deanne Stewart says she is acutely aware of the need to address Australia's gender pay gap.
"Look, it's so important because ultimately the gender pay gap has a significant impact on the financial security of women. But that is not just for today, but that has a knock-on impact for their future. There is not only the gender pay gap but that then translates into a superannuation gap, which then means that the gap as women look to retire, they retire with up to 50 per cent less than their male counterparts."
Every sector had a pay gap in favour of men, with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency finding women were hardest hit during the pandemic as about 60 per cent of frontline workers - like teachers, nurses, shop assistants - are women.
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