From next month, workers around Australia will find out if there is a gender pay gap in their workplace.
Experts say the change is necessary for progress to be made.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) will publish the gender pay gaps for every Australian employer with 100 or more employees on February 27.
The findings will be available to the public on WGEA’s Data Explorer.
“Pay secrecy basically holds down wages for women,” she said.
“We know that gender pay gap actually applies within organisations where men in jobs with similar skills requirements … do earn more, and if that’s not known … that gives people less capacity to actually challenge that.”
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates the gender pay gap is 13 per cent.
Meanwhile, WGEA found the average total remuneration gender pay gap, which encompasses all employee types including part-time and casual workers, sits at 21.7 per cent.
This means women in Australia are earning an average of $26,393 less per year than men.
Women are also set to retire with a much smaller nest egg than men, with 2023 research by The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work finding women earn $136,000 less in superannuation over their working lives than their male counterparts.
Lower pay and smaller retirement savings could be a factor behind women aged over 55 being one of the fastest-growing homeless demographics in the country.
Australian women spend 81 per cent more time doing unpaid domestic and care work than men, Centre for Future Work found.
Source: Pay gap transparency to benefit women, men and companies