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September 7 2010 - The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) marked Equal Pay Day in September 2010 by highlighting a widening gender pay gap.

Full-time women employees in Australia currently earn an average of 18 per cent less than their male counterparts, meaning they would have to work an additional sixty-six days before achieving parity. The principle of equal pay, agreed as long ago as 1972, has not been established in reality. ACTU argues that this failure is to the detriment of the Australian economy as a whole. The outcome of a current equal pay test case for community and social workers could help address inequalities in male and female dominated organisations where work undertaken is equal in value.

ACTU cites independent supporting research:

The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling within the University of Canberra has estimated that lifetime earnings for the average Australian woman will be almost A$1 million less than for the average male.

Female tertiary graduates earn A$2000 less than male graduates in their first job, the disparity increasing to A$7500 after 5 years.  

A recent survey of 1100 professional women by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia found that 47.4 per cent felt that their career progression had been affected by a male-dominated workplace culture.

Women are two and a half times more likely to experience poverty in old age.

ACTU president Ged Kearney commented:

"Women now make up half the workforce and are more skilled and educated than any other time in Australian history. Yet men are still paid more through overtime, penalty rates and bonuses. One worrying outcome is that women end up with less than half the superannuation savings of men when they retire, often after a lifetime of working and caring for family."