Businesses urged to address the gap this Equal Pay Day

Published 5:00pm 29 August 2022

Businesses are being encouraged to step up and address the issue of fair pay for women on Equal Pay Day (August 29).

Today marks 60 days since the last financial year, and the extra days women need to work, on average, to earn the same annual pay as men.

The Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW Australia) is marking Equal Pay Day 2022 by joining forces with Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to call for other business leaders to commit to taking immediate action.

North Harbour Community Engagement Manager and BPW Caboolture president Vicki Wood said we need to drive change in the community to reach a fairer and more equal society.

“Women are earning less than men but are still spending the same to maintain their homes,” Vicki said.

“It is placing stress on households, and our future is not looking bright for women in the workforce.”

According to Disruptive Publishing CEO and BPW Caboolture Vice President Policy Deborah Fay, “equality is not just about pay rates - it's about opportunity”.

“Unequal distribution of responsibility when it comes to someone having to leave the workforce to care for elderly relatives and children leads to much bigger issues for women later in life,” Deborah said.

The average weekly earnings data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on August 18, shows that men are earning an average of $263.90 more than women a week giving Australia a new gender pay gap of 14.1%.

With inflation rising, WGEA is calling attention to the disproportionate effect this persistent pay gap has for Australian women as they juggle the increased costs of daily living.

They say women are making tougher decisions with the latest monthly household spending indicator released by ABS for June showing an increase of more than 10% - leading to substantial differences which impact the financial freedom and future financial independence of Australian women.

Networking breakfast

BPW Caboolture will be hosting an Equal Pay Day breakfast at the Caboolture Sports Club from 6.30am on Friday, September 2.

Author Carol Lawes will be the guest speaker at the breakfast and will share her own personal journey of how she overcame many challenges to be the woman she is today.

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite.