As a principal talent management specialist at a medical technology company, Donia Abdel-Mageed helps creates career development opportunities for women.
"I feel that I'm really privileged to be the byproduct of leaders throughout my career who have advocated for me, who have allowed me to be in rooms where I wasn't quite ready for, to develop and grow, even before I perhaps even believed in myself. Now in this leadership role in that space, it's my way of giving back, and my way of making change. "]]
She says when it comes to addressing the gender pay gap, advocacy has been key at her own workplace.
"We finally feel that we have permission to grow, and to ask the questions, and to take up that kind of space. But the data is what we're really proud of. We've seen year on year, increased in women in leadership roles. We're now at a point where we have over 45 per cent women in leadership, and this is what we're super excited about."
The latest research shows the gender pay gap is narrowing, but men are still nearly twice as likely to earn higher salaries than women.
Using data from more than 10,500 Australian companies employing nearly 6 million workers, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency says more employers are within the target range, compared with last year.
But the national midpoint shows 50 per cent of employers have a pay gap of 11.2 per cent, with high-paying male dominated industries, like finance, construction and mining, reporting the largest pay gaps.
Mary Wooldridge, CEO of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, says the figures show there's still a long way to go.
"That women still dominate the lowest paying roles should offer a reality check for anyone who thinks that Australia has already achieved equality at work."]]
Steven Asnicar, Managing Director of Diversity Australia, says there are significant costs attached to this pay gap.
"At the moment, per week, it's costing us about $1.27 billion per week in lost tax revenue, simply because we don't pay females the same levels as we pay males for the exact same job."
In terms of solutions, Ms Wooldridge says there's not a one-size-fits-all approach.
"What every workplace needs to do is do the analysis to understand what's driving their gender pay gap. Is it the recruitment? Is it retention? And then having done the analysis, there's a lot of evidence that can be used to undertake a plan for how you address those gaps."
Minister for women, Katy Gallagher, says steady progress is being made.
"I think there'd probably be plenty of views it's not happening fast enough but we are seeing consistent change in the right direction with the publication of each one of these reports. And I think the publication of this data is making a practical difference to that result."
Data shows gender diversity in the board room is also improving.
The Australian Institute of Company Directors says the number of female directors at companies listed on the ASX 200 and 300 continues to track close to 40 per cent.
Despite that – it notes that the proportion of women in senior board roles remains lower across the market.
Ms Abdel-Mageed says the more people calling for reform, the better the chances of systemic change.
"The one thing that I really hope that those that are starting on their journey can do is to advocate for themselves as early as possible, to believe in their own career story and their own career progression. The opportunity to advocate for yourself is probably the biggest gap. And the more we can address that and the more we can allow women to have voices in those right spaces, I think the quicker we can accelerate that change."
