Men almost twice as likely as women to earn high salaries in ‘reality check’ on Australia’s gender pay gap
Men are nearly twice as likely as women to be making $220,000 a year, with minimal progress made on closing Australia’s gender pay gap in the past 12 months.The federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) published its gender pay gap results for 10,500 employers on Tuesday.It revealed there was a slight increase in the number of women in highly paid roles, but men were still 1.8 times more likely to be in the upper quartile of earners on an average salary of $221,000.On the other hand, women were 1.
4 times more likely than men to be in the lowest quartile of earners with an average salary of about $60,000 a year.Mary Wooldridge, the chief executive of WGEA, said the results should act as a “reality check”.“The fact that men are nearly twice as likely as women to be in the highest paid roles and that women still dominate the lowest paid roles should offer a reality check for anyone who thinks Australia has achieved equality in the workplace,” Wooldridge said.More than 50% of employers have a gender pay gap larger than 11.2%, in favour of men.
Sign up: AU Breaking News emailOver 2024-25, 22.5% of employers recorded a gender pay gap on the target range – up from 21.4% a year earlier.Last November, WGEA data found Australian women earned 78c on average for every $1 earned by men.This amounted, on average, to being paid $28,425 less than their male counterparts in the 12 months to March 2024.
Large differences in discretionary payments, such as performance bonuses and overtime hours, remained a key driver of many employers’ gender pay gaps, the new report found,“Employers should treat gender equality like their other business goals,” Wooldridge said,“Do a detailed analysis to find the issues, create an action plan to address them and set targets to be accountable for ensuring progress happens,”Employers with the largest gender pay gaps were most likely to operate in male-dominated or highly paid gender-balanced industries,This includes industries such as financial services, construction and mining, where a large majority of workplaces have gender pay gaps above 11.
2%.The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, said the release of the data – which also includes commonwealth public-sector employers for the first time – was helping “shift the dial”.“This transparency shines a light on where progress is being made and where more work is needed,” she said.“Gender pay gaps tell us a lot about how workplaces really operate, who gets opportunities, who gets rewarded and who has the flexibility to manage responsibilities outside of work.“Flexible work is a key part of the solution.
When workplaces genuinely support flexibility, women are more likely to stay connected to work, progress into senior roles and build their lifetime earnings,”
BrewDog bought by US cannabis and drinks firm for £33m, costing nearly 500 jobs
The UK and Irish assets of BrewDog, the Scottish self-styled “punk” brewer, have been sold to the US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray for £33m, in a deal that will cost nearly 500 jobs and leave legions of the company’s early-stage crowdfunders empty-handed.Tilray agreed a deal to buy BrewDog’s brand, intellectual property, UK brewing operations and 11 “strategic” bars in the UK and Ireland, the two companies confirmed, preserving 733 jobs. The remaining 38 bars will close immediately, at a cost of 484 jobs.Tilray said it was negotiating separately to buy BrewDog assets in the US and Australia.“No offer was made at any stage of the sales process, from any prospective bidder, which would have preserved BrewDog in its entirety,” AlixPartners, which acted as the administrator for BrewDog, said in a statement
McDonald’s CEO’s awkward taste test sparks mocking online: ‘His aura screams kale salad’
Business leaders are increasingly placing themselves in front of the camera, in an effort to appear more relatable to a social media-first audience. When it goes well, it can be a huge hit. When it doesn’t, you risk becoming the subject of online ridicule.In the recent case of Chris Kempczinski, the McDonald’s CEO and president, it’s the latter.A video of the head of the iconic fast food chain trying a new menu item has gone viral, with social media and online comedians mocking his awkward taste test and citing it as evidence that he did not enjoy the experience of his own firm’s burger
FTSE 100 share index records biggest fall since November as Iran war drives up oil and gas prices – as it happened
Britain’s stock market has recorded its biggest daily loss in three and a half months, as the Middle East crisis hammered shares in airlines, luxury goods makers and banks.The blue-chip FTSE 100 share index has closed down 130 points, or 1.2%, at 10,780 – away from the record highs seen last week.That’s its biggest daily fall, in percentage terms, since 18 November 2025.British Airway’s parent company, IAG, were the top faller today, down 5
What to do if your flight is cancelled due to the US-Israel war on Iran
Hundreds of thousands of passengers have been left stranded after the US-Israeli attack on Iran. Retaliatory strikes by Iran have led to airspace being closed across the Gulf and triggered the biggest disruption to global air travel since the Covid pandemic. If you are a UK holidaymaker struggling to get home or are booked to fly to an affected destination, here is a guide to your rights.Israel, Syria, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain have shut their airspace and there are no flights over the United Arab Emirates.Emirates, the word’s largest international carrier, has suspended all flights to and from Dubai
UK competition watchdog investigates hotel groups over alleged data sharing
The UK competition watchdog has opened an investigation into three of the world’s biggest hotel chains – Hilton, InterContinental Hotels (IHG) and Marriott – amid suspicions they could be sharing “competitively sensitive” information with each other.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating allegations that the businesses, which together operate more than 25,000 hotels worldwide, could be sharing information through the data analytics tool STR. CoStar, the real estate data firm that owns STR, is also under investigation.While it is common for hotel chains to use data analytics and algorithms to help them set prices, which can improve competition and lower costs, sharing this information with competitors can be harmful to their customers.The watchdog said: “When rival businesses share competitively sensitive information – including through a third-party data analytics provider – this reduces the uncertainty competing businesses normally have about how each other will act
UK house prices rise in February as chancellor avoids ‘negative speculation’
House prices in the UK increased in February, avoiding a repeat of the “negative speculation” that depressed the market before last November’s budget, as Rachel Reeves prepares to present the spring forecast on Tuesday.The average price of a home rose to £273,176 last month, up by 0.3% from the month before, according to Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society. It matched January’s monthly increase, and was above analysts’ forecasts of a 0.2% gain
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