Closing the Gender Pay Gap

The Government has released new educational resources to help small and medium-sized businesses better understand how they can act to close the gender pay gap.

Minister for Industrial Relations Tim Pallas launched a range of materials developed by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) to support businesses in their understanding of equal pay.

The three videos with interactive features and three short e-learning modules are tailored to the characteristics and needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

The Government and VEOHRC have previously released the “Equal pay matters: Achieving gender pay equality in small-to-medium enterprises” report. The report noted that the drivers of pay inequality at smaller organisations include limited understanding about the concept of equal pay and how it applies to them.

Recent data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows the national gender pay gap continues to widen, now sitting at 14.1 per cent, which is an increase of 0.3 percentage points over the past six months. This means men on average earn $263.90 a week more than women.

As part of the Victorian Budget 2022-23 the Government invested $1 million to promote gender pay equity workplace initiatives and the functions of the Equal Workplaces Advisory Council.

To access the videos and e-learning modules, go to humanrights.vic.gov.au.