The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has published its data on the nation’s gender pay gap.

The data is based on more than four million employees across Australia between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021. It shows that women, on average, earned almost $26,000 less than men.

The WGEA total remuneration data for all workers, including the full-time equivalent of part-time and casual employees, equates to men earning $25,792 more on average than women. 

But the data also reveals 3 in 5 employers are now offering paid parental leave, the vast majority of those making paid leave equally available for both parents.

Six per cent of employers offer more than 18 weeks, although the most common length of paid primary carer’s leave is between 7 to 12 weeks (23 per cent of employers).

Half of the organisations in male-dominated industries do not offer any form of paid primary carer’s leave, compared to only 1 in 4 organisations in female-dominated industries.

Female-dominated industries were found to be more likely to make paid leave available regardless of gender. 

For the first time in 2020-21, WGEA collected data on whether employers pay superannuation during periods of parental leave.

Of the employers offering paid parental leave, 81 per cent pay superannuation for parents while on paid leave: 74 per cent pay superannuation during the employer-funded parental leave, and 7 per cent pay superannuation on both employer-funded and government-funded parental leave as well.

WGEA Director Mary Wooldridge encouraged Australian businesses to further invest in and expand access to paid parental leave.

“Employers can send an unequivocal message to their staff that they are valued and important for the future, and in return employees will have increased job satisfaction, productivity and loyalty,” she said.

“Having access to paid parental leave also has significant health and well-being benefits for families and the community more broadly. Studies show that adequate parental leave can lead to lower infant mortality rates, increased breastfeeding rates, improved health outcomes for mothers and higher female labour force participation.”

The latest WGEA dataset will soon be available to view on a new interactive data visualiser.