Women in management ranks get paid as much as 45 per cent less than their male peers, new government data has revealed, which Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has labelled "depressing".
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A report by the Workplace Gender Equity Agency has found that women who work at the key management personnel level - including positions such as a head of finance or operations - have an overall gender pay gap of 28.9 per cent. Other executives and general managers - such as department heads - have a 27.5 per cent gap and senior managers - who are the next rung down - have a 23.5 per cent gap.
When the key management personnel category is split up by industry, women who work in administrative and support services have a gender pay gap of 44.7 per cent, while women who work in arts and recreation services have a pay gap of 35.1 per cent. Women managers in health care experience a 25.5 per cent gap.
Workplace Gender Equity Agency director Helen Conway said the the data "clearly showed" that women in management positions were not accessing the same earning opportunities as men.
She said this was partly due to the fact that women gravitated to roles "the market typically assesses as being of lower value".
This includes working in support roles like human resources rather than being the head of finance. But even in female-dominated areas, such as sales, community work and clerical roles, men earn more than women, the data shows.
Ms Conway said a lack of flexible work and the legacy of workplace cultures built on the male breadwinner model and gender bias "are likely to be among the barriers that need to be tackled".
The agency said that women faced a "double bind" when it came to negotiating pay.
"Attempts to assertively argue their value are viewed more harshly than when a man exhibits the same behaviour, which results in women being less likely to put forward their case for higher pay."
The data is based on the first year of gender reporting to the Workplace Gender Equity Agency, which was set up by the Gillard Labor government.
Under 2012 legislation, non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees must report to the agency against gender equality agency indicators each year.
The current data is based on the reports of 11,000 employers, covering 3.9 million employees, which represents about a third of the total labour force.
Data released by the agency last November showed that the gender pay gap across all industries was 24.7 per cent when based on total full-time remuneration.
Ms Broderick said she had known that the higher people went in the workforce, the larger the pay gap seemed to be.
She explained that at more senior levels, there was often a lot of individual negotiation for pay and conditions. "And we know that men and women negotiate differently."
But while she praised the high quality and detail of the new data, she added, "I have to say, it's depressing".
"Equal pay has been law for 40 years and it's not a reality for Australian women."
Ms Broderick called on employers to do a "gender pay gap audit".
"Just start asking the questions. Why is there a disparity there?"
A spokesman for Minister Assisting the Prime Minister Women Michaelia Cash said the government had "never shied away from the fact that there is a gender pay gap".
"The gender pay gap, under successive governments, is too large, whether you're looking at the Australian Bureau of Statistics data or the figures released today."
The spokesman said that improving gender equality and female participation in he workforce was "essential" to boosting Australia's productivity.
He said the government's commitment to gender equality could be seen in the Coalition's plans to reform childcare and the recent G20 commitment to reduce the gender gap in workforce participation by 2025.
