Australia's gender pay gap drops to 11.3%
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released on Thursday showed that the gender pay gap in average weekly ordinary time earnings narrowed to 11.3% in May 2026, down from the 11.5% in November 2025.
According to the ABS report, full-time adult male employees were earning $2,181 on average per week, while full-time adult female employees were earning $1,934.50 on average per week.
This is the basis of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) in deciding when to mark the Equal Pay Day, which signals the end of the extra time that women need to work, on average, to earn what men earned in the previous financial year.
"In 2026, the gap amounts to 48 days, which places Equal Pay Day on 17 August," WGEA said on its website.
What happens on Equal Pay Day?
Equal Pay Day is an opportunity for employers to demonstrate leadership, communicate progress, highlight action, and reinforce a commitment to workplace equality, according to WGEA.
On this day, the agency said employers can:
- recognise progress in reducing the gender pay gap
- understand the drivers of pay differences
- demonstrate leadership and accountability
- start conversations about workplace equality
- commit to further action to improve outcomes for women and men
"Equal Pay Day highlights that gender-based differences in earnings remain a reality in Australian workplaces," it added.
"It's an opportunity for employers to show leadership, demonstrate accountability, and communicate their commitment to workplace equality."
Lowest-ever gender pay gap
The country's lowest-ever pay gap comes in the wake of various initiatives aimed at uplifting women's wages.
"We are tackling the gender pay gap from every angle, including by delivering pay rises for minimum wage workers, boosting wages in the early childhood education and aged care sectors, expanding Paid Parental Leave, and paying superannuation on Paid Parental Leave," said Katy Gallagher, Minister for Women, in a statement.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) also attributed the narrowing pay gap to wage gains for women in lower-paid work, including in the health care sector, off the back of key reforms to end the practice of undervaluing the work in female-dominated occupations.
"At this rate of progress, a girl born today could expect the gender pay gap to be eliminated by the time she is 16 years old and perhaps looking for her first job," ACTU president Michele O'Neil said in a statement.
