BPW Australia (the Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women) is marking Equal Pay Day 2020 by urging business leaders to change their habits and stay focused on equality as critical to economic recovery.

“Gender equality and gender diversity at work is not just nice to have. Gender equity is a basic human right, but its achievement also brings socio-economic benefits to everyone. In a global pandemic , now more than ever we must not risk the gain’s women have made. Empowering women increases productivity and growth and the broader community thrives” Jacqueline Graham, BPW Australia President said.

“The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has confirmed, with their recently released 2020 Gender Equity Insights Report in collaboration with Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre (BCEC), that more gender balanced leadership in an organisation delivers better company performance” Jacqueline said.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The Agency is charged with promoting and improving gender equality in the Australian Workplaces.

This year, Equal Pay Day 2020 will be on 28th August and remains unchanged from 2019 and 2018. The national gender pay gap released by WGEA is 14% and there are 59 additional days from the end of the previous financial year that women must work, on average, to earn the same amount as men earnt that year.

The impact of COVID-19 crisis has seen this year’s pay gap show a greater disparity between men and women. Every industry in Australia has a full time pay gap favouring full-time working men, even in female dominated industries such as health care and social assistance.

“To drive economic recovery, we need gender balanced leadership and action for a strong and thriving Australia,” Jacqueline said. To find out more , go to www.wgea.gov.au/