Increased transparency is a vital step towards gender pay equality in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) welcomes the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Pay Gap Report and the contribution it makes to the national discourse on closing the gender pay gap.
The ABS is committed to building a workplace that enables all its employees to contribute and thrive. The Australian Statistician, Dr David Gruen AO, continues to support inclusion and diversity initiatives in his role as a member of the Champions of Change - STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and Health Group.
From 2017 to 2021 gender pay gap information was calculated for Australian Public Service (APS) entities by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) from data provided to the APS Employee Database. This calculation included only APS staff employed under the Public Service Act 1999.
In 2022, the ABS began reporting on its APS and non-APS (field interviewer) workforces to WGEA. WGEA will not publish average gender pay gaps for base salary or total remuneration for the public sector in 2025. To maintain consistency, these have also been excluded from the ABS employer statement. The ABS median base salary and total remuneration gender pay gaps for the 2024 reporting cycle were both 0.0%.
The median total remuneration gender pay gap was 1.9% for the comparison group of similar sized Australian Government agencies. The ABS is working to maintain a gender pay gap that is close to zero by ensuring gender equitable recruitment, selection and career progression practices that enable both women and men to develop and advance their careers.
Since June 2016, the ABS has maintained female representation at over 40% in its Senior Executive Service (SES). According to the Champions of Change Coalition Impact Report 2024, the ABS was the only organisation out of 15 members of the STEM and Health Group to maintain or achieve the target of 40% or higher female representation in identified role types.
There is gender balance in the ABS workforce, with the proportion of female staff in its combined APS (office -based) and non-APS (field interviewer) workforce at 53%. The ABS has also achieved gender balance by pay quartile, indicating a gender-balanced workforce at all levels.
Actions
The key actions the ABS is currently taking to drive and maintain gender equality in our workplaces are:
Identifying and addressing ‘tough spots
While there is an overall gender balance in the ABS workforce, there is a wide range in the proportion of female staff across divisions. In the ABS’ most male-dominated division (Technology and Security) the proportion of female staff members as of 31 December 2023 was just over 28%. As of 31 December 2024, this proportion had decreased to just over 26%.
The ABS actively encourages female staff to apply for roles by highlighting the strong representation of female staff currently employed, our commitment to diversity, flexible working arrangements, a supportive team environment and transparent and fair remuneration in recruitment information. The Technology and Security Division has also broadened recruitment processes to ensure more qualified female and non-binary candidates can participate in interviews for the ICT graduate program.
Moving towards separate and equal parental leave
The 2024-27 ABS Enterprise Agreement includes provisions to increase employer-paid parental leave for primary caregivers from 16 to 18 weeks. Employer-paid parental leave for secondary caregivers has increased from 2 to 8 weeks, and transitional arrangements are in place for secondary caregivers to increase to 18 weeks paid leave from February 2027.
Transparency and collaboration
The ABS publishes its gender pay gap and information about inclusion and diversity initiatives, challenges, and successes in its annual report. It contributes to a wider conversation about gender equality through the Australian Statistician’s membership of the Champions of Change – STEM and Health Group.