A Fair Work Pay Equity Unit has been formed to address the pay gap between men and women, with men being paid around 17.6 per cent more for the last twenty years.

Helen Conway, director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), has said in a statement, “The gender pay gap, calculated on average full-time weekly ordinary time earnings... has remained fairly consistent for more than two decades... it is my hope that the work undertaken by the Pay Equity Unit will facilitate improvement in the disparity between women’s and men’s earnings.”

Conway says the style of work typically designated to a specific gender holds some clues to the pay disparity, “for example, the ‘caring skills’ needed in female-dominated sectors like health care and teaching have historically not been rewarded as favourably as technical skills needed in more male-dominated industries,” she said.

The Workplace Gender Equality Act stipulates all non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees must report to the WGEA, and must also provide remuneration data separated by gender and workplace profile. In addition, they will provide information as to whether they have a remuneration policy or strategy in place which includes objectives to eliminate pay equity discrepancies.