Liberal state government are more likely than Labor state governments to have reduced their gender pay gap stories, new data shows.
The mining-heavy Liberal state of Western Australia headed by Mark McGowan has been found to be the worst offender when it comes to its actual gender pay gap, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures for May, as reported in August shows.
It’s not surprising given that it’s also the highest paying sector for full-time working women and male-dominated, particularly in senior management.
WA together with New South Wales, headed by Premier Gladys Berejiklian, South Australia headed by Premier Steven Marshall and Tasmania headed by Premier Peter Gutwein, all saw they respective gender pay gaps narrow in the latest data.
By comparison, Victoria headed by Daniel Andrews, Queensland headed by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Northern Territory headed by Premier Michael Gunner which are all Labor states, have seen their respective state gender pay gaps widen. But compared to WA, they also have much lower gender pay gaps.
The only exception is the Australian Capital Territory, headed by Premier Andrew Barr, which lowered its gender pay gap and has a more balanced gender representation across its workforce which is largely employed in the Public Administration and Safety sector.
It comes as data crunched for the upcoming Financy Women’s Index June quarter report, also shows that Mining is one of the four highest paying sectors for women, which also increased their gender pay gaps in May, as reported in August by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Indeed the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has published statistics from the ABS today which provide a clear breakdown of the state by state gender gaps as well as which state appears to be on the front-foot to reducing pay inequalities for women.
Table 1: Full-Time Adult Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings gender pay gap by state and territory, May 2020 – May 202112
