New data released by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has shown that women are still under-represented in the boardroom, despite more Australian employers taking action to promote gender equality in the workplace.
Director of WGEA, Libby Lyons said the data report, now in its sixth year, highlighted some key problem areas.
“Women are still hitting the glass ceiling at the highest levels,” Ms Lyons said.
“The number of women chief executives has stalled and Australia’s boardroom tables remain dominated by men.”
The data showed there was incremental growth in employer action on overall gender equality policies and strategies, pay equity and flexible work.
Ms Lyons said the stand-out result was a substantial increase in employer action on family and domestic violence.
“There was a 13.3 percentage point jump in the number of employers with a policy or strategy on family and domestic violence and an 8.9 per cent increase in employers offering paid domestic violence leave,” Ms Lyons said.
“This year’s findings also showed a small increase in the representation of women in management, but the number of female chief executives has not changed, remaining at 17.1 per cent for the second year in a row.”
She said while access to paid parental leave improved, more than 50 per cent of employers still did not offer it.
“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1969 equal pay decision which first saw Australian women win the right to be paid the same as men for doing the same work, or work of equal or comparable value,” Ms Lyons said.
“Yet 50 years on, women and men still have very different experiences of work. Our data shows that pay gaps favouring men persist in all industries, occupations and manager categories.”
She said the data showed that when employers took action, it made a difference.
“Over seven in 10 employers now have policies or strategies to support gender equality or promote flexible working. Action on addressing pay equity continues to grow,” Ms Lyons said.
Minister for Women, Marise Payne said the Government was focussed on practical measures to ensure women were financially secure, able to access work, and paid fairly for their work.
“The Government is working with business to increase women’s leadership,” Ms Payne said.