Each year, WGEA uses the data lodged by relevant employers within their Gender Equality Report to calculate employers’ gender pay gaps. WGEA then publishes the gender pay gaps on the WGEA Data Explorer and in an Employer Gender Pay Gaps Report.
About gender pay gaps
The gender pay gap is the difference between the average or median remuneration of men and women, expressed as a percentage of men’s remuneration. This is not the same as equal pay.
WGEA focuses on total remuneration gender pay gaps, which include payments above base salary such as superannuation, performance bonuses, overtime and allowances. This provides a more accurate representation of the real differences in earnings between men and women.
Important: as soon as you successfully lodge your Gender Equality Report, you will receive an Executive Summary, which provides key insights about your gender pay gap and workforce composition.
For further information, refer to the Employer Gender Pay Gaps Report and the Executive Summary page.
Calculating gender pay gaps
WGEA calculates the average and median gender pay gap for base salary and total remuneration.
The gender pay gaps calculated by WGEA from your submission can be viewed in your Executive Summary document(s).
Both sets of gender pay gap figures in your Executive Summary are derived from the data in the Workplace Profile section of your submission.
Formula for calculating gender pay gaps
Average gender pay gap formula
The average gender pay gap is the difference between women’s and men’s average earnings, expressed as a percentage of men’s average earnings.
- GPG = 100% x (Average male total remuneration – Average female total remuneration) / Average male total remuneration
Median gender pay gap formula
The median gender pay gap is the difference between the median woman's and median man's average earnings, expressed as a percentage of the median man's earnings.
- GPG = 100% x (Median male total remuneration – Median female total remuneration) / Median male total remuneration
Calculation inclusions and exclusions
The calculation includes all employees except for:
- overseas reporting managers (OSM)
- non-binary employees
- employees with 0 income on the Workplace Profile.
The following employee types are now included:
- CEO/equivalent
- Heads of Business (HOB)
- casually employed managers (for private sector employers)
- all casual employees (for Commonwealth public sector employers).
Why calculate gaps using annualised and full-time equivalent earnings?
All salary/remuneration data for each employee is provided as their annualised and full-time equivalent earnings. This means:
- Any part-year employee has earnings provided as if they worked the full year.
- Any part-time employee has earnings provided as if they worked full-time hours.
This standard allows a comparison of remuneration paid for the roles in your organisation by controlling for employees working part-year tenure and/or less than full-time hours.
Why calculate gaps using total remuneration?
Total remuneration includes an employee’s base salary amount plus any additional benefits – whether payable directly or indirectly, and whether in cash or in a form other than cash. As a general principle it is any payment or benefit an employee receives because of their employment with your organisation.
Total remuneration includes:
- wages or salary payments
- superannuation
- bonuses (or performance pay)
- higher duties allowances and temporary performance loadings
- allowances
- back pay or workers compensation payments
- commissions, penalty rates or shift loadings
- other payments, whether in cash or in a form other than cash.
The gender pay gap is a calculated indicator measuring the difference between average earnings of men and women.
- This calculation is more relevant and accurate when all payments made to employees are included, as this total figure represents the full earnings of each employee.
Useful terms
- Base salary: the ordinary wages or salary payments an employee earns.
- Total remuneration: the sum total of all payments made to an employee, including payments made in cash or kind or other means.
- Average: the sum total for all employees divided by the number of employees in the cohort.
- Median: the middle employee in the cohort when all employees are ordered from lowest earning to highest. If the cohort is even, the median figure is the average of the two employees in the middle (incomes combined and divided by two).
What is published?
Every year, WGEA publishes:
- average total remuneration and base salary employer gender pay gaps
- median total remuneration and base salary employer gender pay gaps
- gender composition and average total remuneration by pay quartile
- a link to employers' voluntary Employer Statements (if uploaded) that provide context to employers' results and explains the actions they are taking or plan to take to address their gender pay gaps.
For further information, refer to Publishing employer gender pay gaps.
Which employers or corporate groups will be published?
WGEA publishes gender pay gaps for all relevant employers who report 80 or more employees in their Gender Equality Report.
Corporate groups
We will publish this information for the group as well as each relevant employer within the group (each ABN employing over 80 employees).
Note: For ABNs within a corporate group that report less than 80 employees, their data will be included in the corporate group data but it will not be published at the ABN level.
Employer Statements
The gender pay gap is a universally recognised metric of workplace gender equality. However, it is only one measure of an employer’s commitment to achieving gender equality in the workplace.
The Employer Statement provides an opportunity for you to give context to your gender pay gap and what you are doing about it. Ideally, it details the drivers of your gap and the actions you are taking, or plan to take, to address these.
For further information and instructions, refer to Employer Statements.
Resources to help reduce your gender pay gap
For many employers, the publication of their gender pay gap is a chance to show progress, but we understand that improving workplace gender equality does take time. WGEA has resources, guides, masterclasses and support services that can help with this process.
| Gender pay gap analysis | The first step to reducing your gender pay gap is to measure it. WGEA’s Gender Pay Gap Analysis guide can help you to understand how to complete a gender pay gap analysis and to look for more than just instances of unequal pay. |
| Gender pay gap masterclasses | For those who prefer more interactive learning, you can also book to attend one of WGEA’s gender pay gap masterclasses. The online class will explain how to analyse your workforce data alongside the experiences and outcomes that may be contributing to your gender pay gap. |
| Direct advisory service | WGEA also offers a direct advisory service to support employers to identify the drivers of their gender pay gap and the actions they can take within their organisation’s specific context. Register for one of these 30-minute sessions. |
| WGEA newsletter | Sign up to our monthly newsletter to stay informed about the release of new WGEA resources, masterclasses and webinars, and all other news. |
| Additional resources | We offer a range of resources and assistance to help employers improve gender equality in their workplace: |