CANBERRA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Australia's workplace gender pay gap fell in 2024-25, but men remained significantly more likely than women to hold the highest-paying jobs, according to a government report.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) on Tuesday published annual gender pay gap results for 10,500 employers across the country, revealing that half of employers had an average total gender pay gap lower than 11.2 percent in favor of male employees in 2024-25.
It marks a decline of 0.9 percentage points from 2023-24, when half of employers had an average gender pay gap lower than 12.1 percent.
The WGEA report said that 54.8 percent of employers nationally reduced their average total gender pay gap in 2024-25.
However, the WGEA found that men accounted for 64 percent of the highest-paying quartile of jobs in 2024-25 and that women accounted for 58 percent of the two lowest-paying quartiles of jobs.
"The fact that men are nearly twice as likely as women to be in the highest paid roles and that women still dominate the lowest paid roles should offer a reality check for anyone who thinks Australia has achieved equality in the workplace," WGEA chief executive officer Mary Wooldridge said in a statement.
The report found that 22.5 percent of employers had a gender pay gap within the WGEA's target range of 5.0 percent in favor of men or women in 2024-25, up from 21.4 percent within the target range in 2023-24. ■
