Some Loopholes in Australia’s ‘Gender Pay Gap’ Report

Commentary It has been the law in Australia for many decades that people doing the same job are paid the same, regardless of their gender. A man or woman doing an identical job must be paid the same amount. This principle, embedded in the law, is beyond dispute. But reading the report of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency on the so-called “gender pay gap” would lead many to conclude that the law doesn’t exist. Indeed, the Agency’s report acknowledges that its data does not compare men and women doing the same job in a company! Various media reports regurgitated the claim that a gender wage gap exists in Australia without defining the so-called “gap.” The impression is that a male nurse, retail assistant, or miner are paid different rates than their female equivalent according to their gender. This is simply untrue....