Equal Pay Day 2024, observed yesterday, August 19, underscores the additional 50 days Australian women must work in the current financial year to earn what their male counterparts did in the 2023-24 period.

The gender pay gap has long been a key indicator of how society values men and women, offering a stark reflection of persistent disparities.

It also serves as a critical measure of the effectiveness of gender equity initiatives aimed at improving parity and representation within organizations.

This year marks a significant milestone, as it’s the first time the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released gender pay gap data for private sector employers with 100 or more employees, based on the 2022-23 reporting period.

The impact has been profound, prompting businesses across Australia to reassess their progress on gender equity.

According to The Conversation, the gender pay gap is calculated by comparing the average weekly ordinary-time, full-time earnings for men and women.

Therefore, in dollar terms, women are now earning $231.50, or 11.5%, less than men, on average, in their weekly full-time pay packet, and although this is still not parity, it is the lowest difference in the history of the measuring of gender pay rates.

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese explains that “We came to Government with a commitment to help close the gender pay gap and that’s exactly what we’re seeing”, while his Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher has gone on record saying that "Closing the gender pay gap means that women are taking home more money at the end of each week.

However, at the same time she says, “As well as lowest gender pay gap on record, we now also have reached a record high for women’s workforce participation at 63.2 percent,”

In the architecture and landscape architecture sectors, recent reported data reveals some troubling disparities.

No architecture, design and landscape practices fell within the target range for gender pay equity, with nine showing pay gaps greater than the quoted national average, accoring to one survey.

Remarkably, all but two of the surveyed firms are among the 50 percent of employers where the gender pay gap exceeds 9.1 percent, with Group GSA standing out for having the lowest gender pay gap in the sector at 5.6 percent.

For more information, visit the WGEA website at https://aus.archi/pk99 .

Further details on Equal Pay Day within the architecture profession are available at the AIA Instagram account https://lnkd.in/gq7RDyrC .

Image: www.shutterstock.com

Branko Miletic

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