Women in Victoria’s public sector who face compounding forms of disadvantage are paid less and subject to more discrimination, a new report has found.
Victoria’s Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector released its report titled Intersectionality at Work: Building a baseline on compounded gender inequality in the Victorian public sector on Wednesday, revealing shocking data on pay gaps and discrimination at work.
While the average pay gap between men and women in the state’s public sector was 15.6 per cent, meaning men on average earn $19,000 more than women every year, the gap becomes even wider for women who are not white, young and able-bodied.
Women who come from culturally and racially marginalised backgrounds are paid 19 per cent less than their male colleagues, the research found. The gap is the same between women with disabilities and men without disabilities.
There is a 21 per cent deficit between First Nations women’s paychecks and their non-Indigenous male colleagues.
Dr Niki Vincent, the Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner, said the Australia-first study provides a much-needed insight into the impacts of gender and intersectionality in the workplace.
“For too long, gender equality initiatives have excluded those that do not fit the default mould of the straight, white, able-bodied woman – this is no longer acceptable,” Dr Vincent said.
“An intersectional approach to gender equality is no longer a nice to have, it’s a must have – without it, our work will continue to reproduce some of the very patterns of inequality we seek to address.”
The Commission’s report found, on average, lesbian women had higher salaries than bisexual men, pansexual men and women in all other sexuality groups. They also held managerial positions at a similar rate to both straight and gay men.
However, in 2022, nearly half of all LGBTQIA+ women experienced sexual harassment, which was a far higher rate than LGBTQIA+ men.
The rate of transwomen experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace was 16 per cent, according to the data. Sexual harassment for non-binary and gender diverse people was at a similar rate – 15 per cent. These figures are much higher than that of transmen (8 per cent), cisgender women (6 per cent) and men (4 per cent).
“Despite the existence of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the Victorian public sector, women with intersecting identities continue to experience disproportionate levels of workplace discrimination,” Dr Vincent said.
“Under the Gender Equality Act, public sector workplaces and senior leaders in particular, have a positive duty and responsibility to ensure that workplaces take action to achieve gender equality from the top-down.”
The Public Sector Gender Equality Commissioner was established under the state’s Gender Equality Act 2020, which came into effect on March 31 2021.
A recent report from the federal government’s Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce found the Australian economy loses $128 billion by perpetuating the barriers that women face in the workplace.