<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Major Australian brands are failing to turn the dial on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/gender-pay-gap" rel="" target="" title="the gender pay gap"><span>the gender pay gap</span></a><span>, with some even slipping backwards in the past year, a detailed new report has revealed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/employer-gender-pay-gaps-report" rel="" target="_blank" title="massive annual data dump"><span>massive annual data dump</span></a><span> by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reports on the gender pay gap for 10,500 </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/australia" rel="" target="" title="Australian"><span>Australian</span></a><span> employers in both the private and public sectors, accounting for 5.9 million workers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It shows an incremental overall improvement in the gender pay gap, with half of employers having a gender pay gap in favour of men larger than 11.2 per cent.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-attack-iran-live-updates-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines/95e0f1d7-cdf4-42ad-866d-569779885e71" rel="" target="" title="Trump says the 'big wave' is yet to come in war with Iran"><strong><span>Trump says the 'big wave' is yet to come in war with Iran</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This is down from 12.1 per cent last year, but well beyond the target range of five per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Among the worst performers was </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/qantas" rel="" target="" title="Qantas"><span>Qantas</span></a><span>, where the gender pay gap has crept up to 41.7 per cent - up 0.5 per cent compared to a year ago.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While women make up 44 per cent of the national carrier's workforce, they hold just one in seven of their high salary roles, which comes with an average total pay packet of $343,000.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/australian-companies-gender-pay-gap-2026-revealed-qantas-woolworths-coles-commonwealth-bank/24b3adee-e02c-4460-a89e-10c8f1732908" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In contrast, more than two-thirds of the carrier's low salary positions - where the average pay packet is $79,000 - are held by women.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At a national level, men are still 1.8 times as likely as women to earn a high salary in the top quartile of earners, averaging $221,000.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Women are also 1.4 times more likely to be low income earners, making an average salary of $60,000.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tropical-cyclone-queensland-moderate-chance-of-system-forming-in-coral-sea-weather-news/ba7fb3c7-3d60-4a6c-a680-d91f2d826274" rel="" target="" title="Cyclone threat puts northern Australia on high alert"><strong><span>Cyclone threat puts northern Australia on high alert</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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," WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Employers should treat gender equality like their other business goals. 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."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Employers in high-paying and male-dominated industries are more likely to have the largest gender pay gaps.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mining and resources company BHP pays its employees an average salary of $201,000, almost double the average Australian wage.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But just over a quarter of its top-earning employees are women, while women make up two-thirds of its lowest paid workers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>BHP has also seen its gender pay gap widen in the past year, from 11.2 to 12.8 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Banking and the financial sector has previously scored particularly poorly in the WGEA report, but this year has seen incremental improvements amongst the big four.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Commonwealth Bank, where the average annual remuneration is $167,000, has narrowed its pay gap by one per cent in the past year to 21.3 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was a similar story at other major banks, with NAB, ANZ and Macquarie Group seeing incremental improvements of 0.9 per cent, 0.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Large differences in discretionary payments, like performance bonuses and overtime hours, are a key driver of many organisations' gender pay gaps.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This is particularly evident for businesses that rely heavily on bonuses and commission, such as the financial sector.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For example, at Bell Financial Group the base pay for men and women differs by just 7.4 per cent, yet the overall pay difference is a stark 55.5 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Major healthcare providers also faired poorly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Advana Heartcare - which bills itself as Australia's largest provider of cardiology services with over 500 employees - has a gender pay gap of 69.2 per cent, up almost three per cent in the last year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of Australia's largest pathology and radiology providers with over 5000 Australian staff, Sonic Healthcare saw its pay gap rise from 36.2 to 39.9 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One notable exception however was pathology provider Healius Ltd, which has reduced its gender pay gap by 13.3 per cent in a single year, now sitting at 27.6 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nine, the publisher of this website, recorded a gender pay gap of 15 per cent, down from 17 per cent last year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chief People Officer Vanessa Morley said Nine was committed to closing the gap, saying "we have made some progress" but "acknowledge there is more work to be done".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>