The gender pay gap has narrowed by 0.7 percentage points to 21.1% over the past 12 months, driven by a larger increase in women's average base salary (up $3,419 or 4%) than achieved by men ($2,895 or 2.8%), the annual WGEA Gender Equality Scorecard reveals.
Rates of pay excluding bonuses have ticked up in both the private and public sectors and are continuing to outpace inflation, according to new ABS data.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has conceded the tribunal can juggle only so many balls, placing on ice its scrutiny of potential gender bias in awards' overtime provisions after the publication of an internal research paper.
The Albanese Government should force companies to share productivity gains with employees via higher pay rises, extra leave or shorter hours, according to research using the retail sector to challenge "conventional wisdom" that productivity growth flows through to workers.
New university research says "intermediaries" play a crucial role in holding employers to account under gender pay gap reporting regimes such as Australia's, that unlike Europe's, don't require laggards to take corrective measures.
The first public policy changes to boost workers' power in more than 30 years - under the Albanese Government - have coincided with an increase in nominal and real wages and a rise in workers' share of the fruits of the economy, according to the Centre for Future Work's David Peetz.
Growth in private sector rates of pay is continuing to ease, falling from 3.6% a year in trend terms to 3.3%, while public sector growth has also dropped, according to the ABS.
Private sector bargained pay rises have fallen below 4%, while the public sector has recorded the slowest growth in 18 months, according to new DEWR data.
