Working women in states of Australia other than NSW are seeing the gender pay gap narrow thanks to new work rights, pay rises in undervalued sectors, and strong increases in award and collective agreement wages, the ACTU says.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency data released in November revealed that the overall gender pay gap fell to 21.1 per cent, compared to 21.8 per cent in 2023–24.
Workers are exercising their new rights to collectively bargain with their employers, improving pay for undervalued female-dominated sectors like aged care and early childhood education.
Increases in minimum and award wages, the ability to request flexible working arrangements, and changes to fix our broken equal pay laws, are also delivering better pay and supporting women to remain connected to work.
“The continued narrowing of the gender pay gap shows that a wide range of reforms campaigned for by unions are working,” said ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.
“Key equal pay wins for workers in undervalued and female-dominated sectors, especially in health care and early childhood education and care, are already having a positive impact, with more significant lifts in pay expected in 2026.
“Workers on lower wages, who are disproportionately women, have seen their pay rise faster than workers in the top half, thanks to strong recent increases in award and collective agreement wages, won by unions.”