The improvement in the gender pay gap for Australian staff is disappointing. (Web Pictures)
According to The Advertiser, a "disappointing" slight improvement in the gender pay gap in Australia`s latest pay survey released on Thursday. Maintain legal rights warns that the narrowing of the income gap between men and women is regressing.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency, WGEA agency released its semi-annual report yesterday. According to the report, the wage gap between women and men in Australia is now 13.9 percent, a rise of just 0.01 percentage points over the middle of last year.
While there are many complex reasons behind the gender pay gap, employers need to make a stronger commitment to employees to prevent the gap from widening further, said Niki Vincent, South Australia`s Commissioner for Equal Opportunities (SA Equal Opportunity Commissioner).
"It is disappointing that, despite the growing awareness of the impact of the gender pay gap and the ripple effects that may have on women`s lives and financial prospects, we have not made any significant progress in addressing this shortfall. "It`s not just about fairness, it`s also commercially significant," said Vincent. "
Libby Lyons, head of WGEA, said the latest gender pay gap survey showed the gender equality process in the workplace was slowing.
"The danger signal is clear... Reversing is not a proper choice. "
National gender pay differential data are known to measure the difference in weekly average full-time pay between men and women. The gender pay gap was 14% in the same period last year.
