Introduction
We can direct investigations and publish reports about gender pay equity, equal remuneration and the Care and Community Sector in Australia. Reports about these matters will be published on this webpage.
Content
Current research
Overview
On 3 February 2023 the President announced a research project about occupational segregation and gender undervaluation. This research project expands on issues raised by the former President in November 2022.
Research reports for stage 1 and stage 2 have now been published and are available on this webpage.
Read:
- Former President’s statement: Occupational segregation and gender undervaluation (4 November 2022)
- President’s statement: Pay equity and the Care and Community Sector - Expert panels (3 February 2023)
- President’s statement: Gender pay equity research – Stage 1 report published (15 November 2023)
- President’s statement Gender pay equity research – Stage 2 research to be conducted (5 December 2023)
- President’s statement: Gender pay equity research – Stage 2 report published (4 April 2024)
Interested parties are invited to comment on the research in reply submissions to the Annual Wage Review 2023-24 by 5:00 pm (AEST) on Monday 29 April 2024.
Stage 1
Gender-based Occupational Segregation: A National Data Profile
Natasha Cortis, Yuvisthi Naidoo, Melissa Wong & Bruce Bradbury (Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales)
The report examines current patterns of segregation in Australia using a data-driven approach. The UNSW researchers analysed data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census and the 2021 Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours. The researchers identified 144 detailed occupational classifications of any size where women comprised of over 60% of the workforce, and together employed nearly 4.7 million workers. However, the report focuses on a subset of 29 priority occupations that meet 3 criteria in that they were:
- large (containing over 10,000 people)
- highly feminised occupations (over 80% female) and
- in feminised industries (over 60% female)
Together, these large, highly feminised occupations in feminised industries employ over 1.1 million workers, constituting over 9% of the workforce. The report suggests that there are 13 modern awards used to set pay in these 29 large, highly feminised occupations.
The stage 1 report will be considered in the Annual Wage Review 2023-24.
Gender-based Occupational Segregation: A National Data Profile (pdf)
Stage 2
Stage 2 report: Gender pay equity research
The report examines the history of 12 of the 13 awards identified in Stage 1 to determine whether the Commission (or its predecessors or, where relevant, State tribunals) has ever undertaken a comprehensive work value assessment of classifications within the awards and to identify any other indicia of historic gender-based undervaluation.
Read the full Stage 2 report: Gender pay equity research (pdf)
Interested parties are invited to comment on the research in reply submissions to the Annual Wage Review 2023-24 by 5:00 pm (AEST) on Monday 29 April 2024.
Previous pay equity research
Content
Previous pay equity research, including research undertaken and commissioned by our former Pay Equity Unit in the 2014-15 Work Program, can be found on the Previous pay equity research webpage.