The latest scorecard on financial gender equality in Australia, the Financy Women’s Index (FWX), has recorded the strongest annual progress since December 2021, with Australia’s journey to equality gaining momentum in 2024 despite an uncertain outlook.
The FWX score rose to 77.59 points out of 100 in the December quarter, up from 76.83 points in December 2023.
The result was helped by three key data points: a record number of women on ASX 200 Boards; a narrowing of the gender gap in Unpaid Work; and female employment growth, with the FWX Employment sub-index rising to the highest it’s been since June 2023.
“The Financy Women’s Index showed further progress towards financial equality for women in Australia, but we have a lot further to go – particularly in areas like education and unpaid work,” says Dr Shane Oliver, Chief Economist at AMP.
“It’s also critical that the outcome of the upcoming Federal election maintains this progress and doesn’t see a backsliding in flexible working arrangements which risks making it harder for women to participate fully in the workforce.
“Making it harder for women to participate in the workforce would likely mean less female labour market participation which could mean lower economic activity than would otherwise be the case and a risk of higher inflation flowing from the smaller labour force. It could also threaten the economy’s ability to respond to the pressures of an aging population which will mean more consumers for each worker,” says Dr Oliver.
Over the past two decades, gender financial equality has been shaped by factors such as economic conditions, corporate sentiment, and government policies, says Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, author of the Financy Women’s Index.
She says that notably, the Workplace Gender Equality Act, introduced in 2012 under Julia Gillard’s government, laid the foundation for corporate-level change.
“Following this, we saw significant FWX growth in 2013 (3%), as the Act took effect, and again in 2018 (3%) during the Me Too movement, which spurred corporate action on gender equality,” Ms Hartge-Hazelman says.
“The current pace of progress in gender equality depends on consistent policy support and corporate commitment.
“We’ve seen over the past two decades how political shifts can influence outcomes, and the upcoming election will be critical in determining the trajectory for years to come.
“However, challenges remain with persistent cost of living pressures, a looming Federal Election, proposals to unwind flexible work in the public sector, and the re-election of US President Donald Trump. These factors -particularly Trump’s attack on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, mean there is greater uncertainty and concern about the outlook for gender equality,” Ms Hartge-Hazelman says.
Nicki Hutley, Consulting Economist, notes that at the last election, concerns about gender equity rose to the fore.
“Since then, we’ve seen the introduction of some great initiatives such as better pay for aged and childcare workers, more support for childcare and superannuation on paid parental leave.
“But we still have a long way to go, as this quarter’s FWX shows, and it’s critical that the next government continues to support gender equality progress, rather than undermining it,” Ms Hutley says.
Of the FWX sub-indices that drove the improvement, the FWX Employment sub-index rose to 73.6 points in December 2024 from 73.5 points in the previous year.
The FWX Unpaid Work sub-index rose to 69.8 points, compared to 67.8 points based on the latest available data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The latest data shows that whilst women still do the bulk of unpaid care and housework each week, they’re doing less, and men are doing more hours than before.
The FWX Gender Pay Gap sub-index barely changed in 2024 and stood at 88.1 points in the December quarter, versus 88 points in December 2023. Female wages grew slightly faster than male wages at the start of the year, before the end of the year saw men’s wages accelerate and the national gender pay gap widened to 11.9% from 11.5%.
Financy is home to the Women’s Index, Australia’s only quarterly scorecard on financial gender equality and timeframes to parity.
