The Australian “financial and insurance services” sector is one of the most highly female-dominated sectors in Australia. It is unfortunately also the sector with the highest gender pay gap levels in the country.
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Report, Australia is ranked 70th out of 149 countries on the metric of “wage equality for similar work”. This ranking is well below countries such as New Zealand (38th), the United States (47th), Indonesia (51st) and Singapore (54th).
The gender pay gap is greatest in the “financial and insurance services” sector – also one of the most highly female-dominated sectors in Australia. According to statistics published by the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), as of May 2019, the sector’s mean pay gap was at a nation-wide high of 24.4%.
How ADIs can reduce the gender pay gap
Gen Advisory’s view is that ADIs have both the ability and the responsibility to reduce this gap.
Specific actions ADIs can take include:
Reviewing the ADI's payroll data and carrying out a pay gap analysis.
identifying, and analysing the extent of, the organisational causes for any identified gender pay gaps;
Reporting the results of the above analyses to the ADI's board and executives;
Undertaking concrete, targeted actions to close the gaps identified;
Designating key roles within the ADI as accountable for actions and outcomes.