Report shows women in public service are paid 13.5% less than men, with even larger gap in the private sector

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A new report has found the gender pay gap is smaller in the public sector than the private one. Mary Wooldridge, the CEO of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency which wrote the report, says more still needs to be done to achieve parity.

Transcript

00:00Well, this is the first time that the public sector at the federal level has reported to

00:05the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, and what we've found is there's a lot to be proud

00:09of. The performance in terms of the gender pay gap is lower, women and balance at the

00:15most senior management levels as well is to be proud of. But there is more work to do

00:21because there's still opportunities to close that gap, and particularly in areas like non-managerial

00:27professions, trades and technicians, they're still very heavily male dominated and high

00:31paid roles. There are lessons that can be drawn from the private sector, there's a number

00:36of companies in highly male dominated areas that are really targeting this issue, how

00:42do they design work differently, how do they change things, how do they attract women to

00:47what may be stereotypical male roles, and have that focus to try and shift it. The other

00:54area which has been an area of focus that's highlighted is men's uptake of parental leave.

01:00It's lower in the public sector than the private sector, which was a surprise, and once again

01:06changing culture and environment to support taking parental leave for both men and women

01:12will help shift that dynamic and change gender stereotypes. Well, across particularly the

01:17private sector and the public sector, that idea of taking time out of the workforce often

01:23is seen as stunting careers, and the women's inability to return to work in a full time

01:30capacity because they can't work flexibly is an important aspect of that. Now in the

01:35federal public sector, flexibility is promoted and encouraged, and we see that as a really

01:40encouraging sign about why more women are working full time but can balance their caring

01:45responsibilities. It's an opportunity for the private sector to do more on that front.

01:49So there's lessons to learn from both sides, but we do have to change the culture, change

01:54the expectations and stereotypes, and make sure that care is something that's shared.

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