Business leaders put pressure on parties ahead of November elections
A group of business leaders in New Zealand are calling on the country's political parties to make gender pay gap reporting a commitment in their 2026 election policies ahead of the November polls.
The non-profit group, Global Women, made the call to support mandatory gender pay gap reporting in an open letter published in The Post.
"We're calling for cross-party support to make gender pay gap reporting standard for New Zealand employers with 150 or more employees," the letter read, as penned by chair Dame Theresa Gattung and CEO Katie Bhreatnach.
"Why? For fairer workplaces and a stronger economy. Measure it. Manage it. Close it."
The call puts renewed pressure on the New Zealand government to mandate gender pay gap reporting, following the footsteps of neighbouring country Australia, and in the wake of growing pay transparency regulations overseas.
Pay gap reporting in New Zealand
In New Zealand, reporting the gender pay gap remains voluntary, with Global Women noting that some "leading employers" are doing it.
"Many of New Zealand's leading employers already report voluntarily because they recognise that transparency is good for business," Gattung said.
"Making reporting standard for large employers would create a consistent expectation and ensure more organisations have the information needed to measure, manage and close their gaps."
ANZ NZ, a member of Global Women, is among the list of employers that are reporting their gender pay gap, and has been doing so for the past five years.
Its average gender pay gap now sits at 18% favouring men, down from the 22.4% in 2021 when the firm first reported its pay gap.
"By measuring and reporting our gender pay gap we hold ourselves to account and ensure we are facing up to the challenge of addressing workplace inequality," said ANZ NZ chief executive officer Antonia Watson.
"As Chief Executive of ANZ NZ and a member of Global Women, I urge other large employers to seize the advantages of measuring and reporting the gender pay gap."
The overall gender pay gap in New Zealand is at 5.2%, according to the Ministry for Women, which has launched a Gender Pay Gap calculator to help organisations measure and close the pay gap within their organisation.
