Tides turn for gender financial equality in the June quarter

After two consecutive quarters in decline, the Financy Women’s Index (FWX) has shown improvement in June, helped by the number of women appointed to ASX 200 boards. 

It rose to 76.5 points in June, up from 76.1 points in March. The index stands 0.4 points higher for the year to date.

The most impressive gain was seen in the number of women appointed to ASX 200 directorships, which rose to 36.4 per cent during the quarter compared to 36 per cent in March. There is now a 5.7 year wait for equality in board leadership.

Data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) in August flagged the national gender pay gap is 13 per cent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from February.

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On average, for every $1 men earn in Australia, women now make 87 cents, which is attributed to an improvement in the income of women in typically lower paid female-dominated industries such as education and training and health care and social assistance.  

Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, founder of Financy, reflected on the “Barbie and Matildas effect” as Australia undergoes a broader cultural shift.

“In many ways the events that are unfolding at the moment are similar to the 2017/2018 #MeToo and Time’s Up movements in terms of their ability to challenge and change social attitudes,” she said.

“However, the big difference is that the Barbie and Matildas effect has been indicative of positive cultural sentiment through entertainment.”

In the two years post #MeToo and Time’s Up, the FWX experienced its fastest pace of progress in 2019 and 2020, up 3 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. This was before momentum was disrupted by the pandemic in 2021 (1 per cent) and 2022 (-1 per cent).

According to Financy, there is now a 24.3 year wait for the gender pay gap to close, a slightly worse result than 24.2 years in March. However, the gender pay gap also fell to a historic low of 13 per cent during the quarter – an improvement on the 13.3 per cent pay gap reported at the start of this year. 

The improvement “provides hope that this should start to come down if that change continues”, the firm said.

Employment was the only FWX indicator where progress declined as the growth rate in monthly hours worked by men grew by 1.5 per cent in June compared to just 0.7 per cent for women.

However, WGEA chief executive, Mary Wooldridge, remarked now is not the time for Australia to be resting on its laurels.

“As we celebrate the incredible performance by the Matildas and the fact their semi-final was the most watched TV event in Australian history, we are also energised by the lowest ever national gender pay gap.

“This momentum is a springboard for renewed action for employers to prioritise gender equality and ensure that we continue to work towards closing the gender pay gap.”