The extent of the gender pay gap in Australia has been revealed, with women typically earning $7.72 for every $10 made by a man.
This is an improvement from last year, but it will still take more than 25 years to reach gender equality in Australian workplaces should this trajectory be maintained, it is claimed.
The findings were part of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency's annual report card, which also revealed men are twice as likely to earn more than $120,000 a year than women, the threshold where the second-highest marginal tax rate of 37 per cent kicks in.
Published on Friday, the report also found decision-making structures, such as company boards, were still dominated by men and that women were "substantially over-represented" at the bottom level of earners.
The government agency's director, Mary Wooldridge, told SBS News "the rate of change is very slow".
She said: "What our research shows is that it's going to take more than 25 years to reach gender equality in our workplaces.
"And in an area like chief executive officers, where there's currently less than 20 per cent of all chief executive officers are women, it's going to take 80 years for there to be equality in that area.
"The trajectory is in the right direction, but the rate of change is very slow."
The overall gender pay gap continued a downward trend into the 2020/21 financial year at 22.8 per cent, down half a percentage point from the previous year.
Ms Wooldridge added: "We know that gender equality, greater representation of women across businesses, and in senior management and leadership roles, is good for business, it's good for productivity, it's good for profitability.
"But what we're not seeing is the drive that needs to happen, to realise those benefits and also realise the benefits for your workforce, to be working in a more equal workplace, where everyone's valued for who they are and the work they can contribute."
'Concerning absence of women's voices'
For the sake of the calculations, work from part-time or casual roles - where more than 60 per cent of women are employed - was converted into full-time equivalent.
The data covers nearly 4.2 million employees in Australia - or about 40 per cent of the country's total workforce.
The pay gap includes super, bonuses and additional payments, but excludes salaries for CEOs and heads of business, 81 per cent of whom are men.
Ms Wooldridge said there was a "concerning absence of women’s voices in the workplace where it matters most".
"Our latest insights show this pattern clearly: 22 per cent of all boards still don’t have a single woman in the room, and about three-quarters of all boards have a vast majority (over 60 per cent) of men.
"Of those heavily male-dominated boards, only 12 per cent have set a target to increase the representation of women, and on average that target is only 35 per cent - not even what is generally considered a balanced board,” she said.
The industry with the largest gender pay gap was construction (30.6 per cent), followed by financial services (29.5 per cent) and professional, scientific and technical services (24.7 per cent), while the lowest gap was in public administration and safety (4.8 per cent).
Other findings included that women make up 51.0 per cent of the workforce, but only 19.4 per cent of chief executive officers and 37.4 per cent of senior managers with both figures an increase on the previous year.
Maria Halasz is the CEO of consumer health company Anagenics Limited and told SBS News one of the big issues surrounding women and career development was childcare.
She said: "There are a number of women, even in leadership positions in biotechnology, but certainly there's a significantly larger number of men.
"And what tends to happen is that girls start in school loving science and doing really well but there seems to be a leaky pipeline and that progressively they select themselves out of STEM areas.
"By the time you get mid-level or senior level management, they're significantly more men than women in (the) industry.
"Once you get through high school and progressively get through your career, obviously (there can be) family responsibilities, and the particularly big issue here is childcare.
"Women tend to stay home with their children much more often. And they lag in terms of curriculum, career development."
Additional reporting by Danielle Robertson
