Australian gender pay gap report exposes top companies

SYDNEY (Reuters) -- The gender pay gap at some of Australia's top corporations including Commonwealth Bank, national carrier Qantas and oil and gas explorer Woodside is bigger than the national average of 19%, new data showed on Tuesday.

The government released for the first time data on gender pay gaps at firms with more than 100 employees, following legislation passed in March 2023 that forced them to reveal the pay of male and female employees.

The report exposes the yawning gulf between what men and women earn at some of Australia's biggest employers despite years of commentary from governments and corporations about closing the gender pay gap.

The median total remuneration gap for 2022/23 was 19% in favor of men, while the difference in median base pay was 14.5% and in average total pay it was 21.7%, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) said.

Only one-third of companies had a median gender pay gap between the target range of -5% and +5%.

"There is a substantial problem in this country when you've got essentially two thirds of businesses with a gender pay gap in favor of men," Minister for Women Katy Gallagher told reporters.

"It's not about shaming, it's not about naming, it's not about saying men should be paid less. It's about driving that change that we need to see in organizations to make sure that women are getting a fair crack at opportunity and that we are closing the gender pay gap over time," Gallagher said.

Australia's top banks and energy firms were some of the biggest laggards in gender pay parity.

The median total remuneration gender pay gap at Commonwealth Bank, Australia's largest bank with almost 50,000 staff, was 29.9% while the gap at top power producer AGL and top oil and gas explorer Woodside