The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has reported an average total remuneration gender pay gap of 5.6% for 2024, up 0.3 percentage points on the prior year, according to data submitted to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). The increase reflects the first‑time inclusion of CEO remuneration in APRA’s WGEA dataset. On a basis that excludes WGEA’s CEO remuneration classification, APRA’s internal calculations show an average total remuneration gender pay gap of 4.8%. On this measure, the gap narrowed by 0.5 percentage points year on year across APRA’s wider workforce.
APRA’s analysis also shows a 0.6 percentage point rise in the nonmanagerial gender pay gap. The regulator attributes this mainly to workforce composition and notes that women remain less represented in higher‑paid technical, specialist, and leadership roles, affecting overall averages. In its statement, APRA said it is committed to “strengthening gender representation and promoting a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace, where all employees feel safe, respected, and supported to develop their careers,” while acknowledging that further progress is required to achieve gender pay equity.
APRA has said it is concentrating on structural factors that influence pay outcomes. It is working toward a 40:40:20 gender balance objective – 40% women, 40% men, and 20% flexible – across the organisation, including in managerial and nonmanagerial groups. The regulator is also incorporating gender balance considerations into recruitment, including the composition of applicant pools and interview panels, and is encouraging uptake of gender‑neutral paid parental leave alongside flexible work arrangements available to all employees. These disclosures and targets may be referenced in internal discussions on remuneration structures, workforce composition, and succession planning.
APRA’s update follows separate disclosures from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which reported a higher organisation‑wide gender pay gap for 2024. Data supplied by ASIC to WGEA indicate an average total remuneration gender pay gap of 6.5% as at Dec. 31, 2024, compared with the national average of 11.5%. ASIC’s figure increased from 5.7% in the previous reporting period. ASIC’s preliminary analysis points to the distribution of women and men across job levels as a key factor, with women more often employed in lower‑paid roles. The regulator is reviewing starting salary settings and pay progression over time, noting indications that these decisions have influenced average earnings for different employee groups.
ASIC has identified differences in pay outcomes among employees in comparable roles and performance bands and is conducting further analysis to understand those variations and their contribution to the overall gap. At senior levels, ASIC reports a lower gender pay gap than the organisation‑wide figure and a downward trend in recent years, while noting that some differences remain. The regulator is also examining remuneration structures and selected employment arrangements for their impact on average pay outcomes and internal consistency. ASIC has said that changes to WGEA’s reporting framework, including the first‑time inclusion of the chair’s salary, influenced the 2024 result, and limit direct comparability with earlier years compiled under a different basis.
Women represented about 56% of ASIC’s workforce in 2024 and held 52% of leadership roles. Since 2023, the senior executive service leadership team has comprised equal numbers of women and men. The Women in ASIC committee has been established to focus on female representation in senior roles and is working toward 50% representation for women across senior executive service and executive tiers. ASIC has indicated it intends to reduce its gender pay gap and will publish gender equality targets under the WGEA framework.
The disclosures by APRA and ASIC sit within a changing reporting environment. WGEA’s 2024-25 annual report outlines reforms over the past five years that have altered gender equality reporting requirements for large employers, including insurers, intermediaries, and other financial services firms. Legislative amendments require employers above the reporting threshold to maintain policies and strategies across six gender equality focus areas, provide expanded reporting on workplace sexual harassment, submit WGEA reports to their board or governing body, and accept publication of employer‑level gender pay gaps. Employers must also select and work toward gender equality targets and, where they are Commonwealth public sector entities, report to WGEA under additional provisions.
WGEA describes how it has adjusted its operations to administer these obligations and to explain how gender equality data can be used in workforce planning and monitoring. WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge said: “I’m energised by the engagement and improvement that I have seen from employers in that time. Their dedication and commitment to creating equal and fair workplaces is clear both in conversation with business leaders and in the progress we can see from the data they report to WGEA.”
WGEA and economic research outputs provide additional reference points. WGEA’s latest total remuneration average gender pay gap for the private sector is 21.1%. On this measure, women on average earn 79 cents for every $1 earned by men, a difference of $28,356 per year when base salary, overtime, bonuses, and other additional payments, as well as annualised full‑time equivalent salaries for casual and part‑time staff, are included. From employer‑level reports, WGEA also calculates a median gender pay gap, currently 16.4%. Median figures are less affected by very high or very low outliers, such as chief executive pay, and are presented as an indication of typical earnings within an organisation. Across all reporting employers, half record an average total remuneration gender pay gap above 11.2%, and half have a median gap above 8%.
Patterns vary by industry. In women‑dominated industries, the midpoint of average gender pay gaps is 5.1%, compared with 12% in gender‑balanced industries and 15.6% in male‑dominated sectors. These benchmarks are sometimes referenced in internal board and remuneration committee discussions. Separate analysis based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Average Weekly Earnings shows a base salary gender pay gap of 11.5% for full‑time workers, underscoring the effect of non‑salary components and working patterns on total remuneration measures.
Economic research released in January 2026 by KPMG Australia, Diversity Council Australia, and WGEA in the fifth “She’s Price(d)less” report estimates that the gender pay gap is costing the Australian economy about $1.26 billion per week in equivalent earnings. According to the report, women earn an average of $42.26 an hour compared with $45.57 for men, an hourly pay gap of 7.3%, up from 6.5% in 2020. The analysis attributes 37% of the overall gap to lower rates of pay in occupations and industries where women are more likely to work, 26% to patterns of parental leave and unpaid care, and the remaining portion to other gender‑related influences, including discrimination and factors that are harder to separate in the data.
HILDA data cited in the report indicate that women comprise 48% of employed people nationally, 66.5% of part‑time workers and 39.8% of full‑time workers, and are more likely than men to work on a casual basis or limit weekly hours, with consequences for earnings, superannuation, and progression. The combination of regulator disclosures, WGEA reforms, and macro‑level findings has coincided with greater use of gender pay gap metrics in prudential, conduct, ESG, and talent discussions, as boards and executives assess how workforce structures and reward systems interact with regulatory expectations.
