BPW Australia advocated strongly for pay transparency over recent years, and it is now finally legislated as a workplace right.  We will monitor whether this leads to greater pay equity in Australia.

Research assessing the impact of pay transparency policy on Canadian universities reveals that disclosure led to a 4% pay increase for female staff that was not evident in universities that kept pay secret.  However, the reasons seem to be systemic rather than personal – when salaries are open to public scrutiny, the universities are more conscious of the negative implications of attracting and retaining staff if gender inequity was evident in their employment practices.