On Thursday, Australia passed a new law that mandates companies with over 100 employees to disclose their gender pay gap from the beginning of next year, as reported by Reuters on March 29. It is a part of the Labour government’s efforts to enhance working conditions for women. The official data reveal that in 2023, Australia’s national gender pay gap was 13.3%. The Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, stated that according to current predictions, it will require another 26 years to bridge the gender pay gap. Gallagher added that the government will not let women wait another quarter of a century for the pay gap to narrow. Earlier this month, Australia’s parliament passed a bill that increased paid parental leave to 26 weeks, to be shared between both parents.

In 2017, the United Kingdom made it compulsory for all firms with more than 250 employees to report the difference in salaries between male and female personnel. In March 2021, the European Commission also took a similar approach. It introduced EU Directive on Pay Transparency, aimed at enhancing existing equal pay rights. A lack of pay transparency has been identified as the primary hurdle to the appropriate application and enforcement of equal pay principles throughout the EU. In 2021, the gender pay gap in the EU was 12.7%, and it has remained relatively constant over the last ten years. This indicates that women earn an average of 13.0% less per hour than men.

Sources: 

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-passes-law-forcing-firms-disclose-gender-pay-gap-2023-03-29/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/companies-house-gender-pay-gap-report-and-data-2022#:~:text=Details,expressed%20relative%20to%20men’s%20earnings.

https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality/equal-pay/gender-pay-gap-situation-eu_en

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/global-hr/pages/eu-new-rules-for-pay-transparency.aspx#:~:text=Joint%20pay%20assessment%E2%80%94When%20pay,in%20cooperation%20with%20workers’%20representatives.