Last week the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) released the results of their latest gender pay gap survey, just in time for International Women’s Day. We’re pleased to report that the gender pay gap at Anglicare Victoria is just 2.3 per cent – and it’s in favour of women.
“As a woman who has worked in the sector for many years, this is fantastic to see,” said Sue Sealey, our Deputy CEO here at AV. “It’s great news for our female employees and for those considering a career at Anglicare Victoria.”
It’s the first time the WGEA has published a report that identifies individual companies – previous reports have grouped data by sector, with company names anonymised. Changes to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 have also made it compulsory for employers with more than 500 staff to have a policy or strategy outlining how they plan to achieve gender equality.
According to the WGEA report, the median gender pay gap in Australia is 19 per cent, meaning women are earning almost one-fifth less than men. In some industries, including finance, resources, and aviation, employers reported gender pay gaps of up to 60 per cent. This means that for every dollar a man in that organisation earns, the women on average earn just 40 cents.
Of the top 20 publicly listed companies in the country, only one had a gender pay gap that favoured female employees. The data also revealed that just 19 per cent of board chairs and 34 per cent of board members are women, with one in four boards reportedly having no female members at all.
How does Anglicare Victoria fare?
Like many organisations in the community services sector, AV has a predominantly female workforce, with around 77 per cent of our 2100-plus employees identifying as women. But, as the WGEA data reveals, this does not necessarily translate to pay parity within an organisation. In fact, several fashion and beauty companies who have mostly female employees reported large gender pay gaps in favour of men in 2023.
As mentioned above AV’s gender pay gap of 2.3 per cent at AV is in favour of our female employees. Women also hold most of our leadership roles. 81 per cent of our team leaders and 73 per cent of our program managers are female, and in our executive team, 85 per cent of Director-level positions are occupied by women – as might be expected in an organisation where eight in every 10 employees are female.
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and flexible workplace that responds to the needs of our staff, including the 55 per cent who juggle caring responsibilities alongside their role. 43.9 per cent of our female employees work full time, while 41.9 per cent work part time and 14.2 per cent have casual roles. On average, female staff members worked 33.2 hours per week in 2022.
Where to from here for gender equity at AV?
“The results of the 2023 WGEA survey are promising, but we know that achieving gender equity is an ongoing process,” said Sue. “As an organisation we are committed to removing any barriers preventing our female employees from progressing in their careers.”
We have formed a Gender Equity Committee made up of employees from across the organisation and the state, which meets regularly to discuss issues related to gender equality and is in the process of drafting our first Gender Equity Action Plan. We have also identified women as a priority group in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workforce Strategy. Our employees are entitled to up to 15 days of family violence leave and eight weeks paid parental leave, in addition to any government leave entitlements, and we conduct ongoing training to prevent gender-based harassment or discrimination in our workplaces, ensuring all our offices are safe spaces for women to thrive.
