Super funds’ gender pay gaps exposed

Qantas Super has been exposed as one of the funds with the biggest pay gaps.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that financial and insurance services were among the worst gender pay gap offenders, with data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) pointing to a gap of 26.1 per cent in the sector compared to the national average of 19 per cent – based on an employee’s total remuneration including base salary, superannuation, overtime, and bonuses.

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The data was compiled based on a survey of some 5,000 businesses with 100 or more employees, which was the result of amendments to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 passed by Parliament in March 2023.

Namely, Australian workplaces with 100 or more employees are now mandated, for the first time, to disclose both the base salary and total remuneration median gender pay gap to WGEA.

While WGEA’s data revealed that every industry had a median gender pay gap in favour of men, some firms performed better than others.

Among the superannuation funds, Qantas Super and Mine Super emerged as funds with some of the largest pay gaps, while Aware Super topped the list of industry super funds with a pay gap of 23.6 per cent.

AustralianSuper was the best performer among the big funds with a gap of 8 per cent, while CareSuper performed best overall with a pay gap of 6.8 per cent. 

WGEA’s analysis further revealed that out of the 63 firms operating in the superannuation and insurance sector, the upper pay quartile is predominantly composed of men, accounting for 57 per cent, whereas the lower quartile is predominantly occupied by women, constituting 72 per cent.

Furthermore, the analysis revealed that within the sector, a mere 18 per cent of chief executives and 35 per cent of heads of businesses are women.