ECU is committed to achieving gender equality and ensuring career opportunities are available to everyone.
On Monday, 29 August 2022, ECU recognises Equal Pay Day, an initiative of the Workplace Gender and Equality Agency (WGEA) which continues to highlight gender pay discrepancies in Australia.
With the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Agency used the latest Average Weekly Earnings trend series data to calculate that the current national gender pay gap has increased 0.3 percentage points over the last 6 months, to 14.1 per cent for full-time employees.
This has increased the full-time average weekly earnings gap between women and men to $263.90 per week.
Leader of gender equality
ECU is committed to achieving gender equality and ensuring career opportunities are available to everyone. This includes equal recognition for women, men and those from gender-diverse backgrounds.
As part of this commitment, ECU is proud to be one of the first institutions to have received the inaugural Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Athena Swan Bronze Award in 2018. On 4 August 2022, the University was also acknowledged nationally with the inaugural SAGE Cygnet Award, the first such award in Australia.
The Athena Swan Charter is an international institutional accreditation program that supports the recruitment, retention and promotion of women and gender diverse groups and is working to raise awareness of the value of gender equity, diversity and inclusion across the higher education and research sectors.
Institutions are awarded an Athena Swan Bronze Award for establishing a solid foundation to drive transformational change. The SAGE Cygnet Award recognises an organisation’s progress and impact in addressing a specific barrier to gender equity, diversity and inclusion.
The University is committed to striving for gender equality and continuing to work toward the Athena Swan Silver Award accreditation pathway.
ECU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve Chapman CBE, said he was proud to be part of a driving force promoting equitable access to flexible work arrangements and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces.
"It is important that leaders remain committed to not only addressing the gender pay gap, but in providing flexible work environments that allow everyone the opportunity to participate in the workplace, and grow their career," Professor Chapman said.
"What the gender pay gap statistics tell us is that inequity in our society continues to grow, particularly during times of global upheaval. It is imperative that education institutions like ECU be leaders in removing barriers for women in the workplace, and be modelling the change both Australia and the world, needs to see.
"We remain committed to actively addressing issues and encouraging greater equity, diversity, and inclusion across the University and beyond."
Find out more about Equal Pay Day and the national gender pay gap on the WGEA website or for more information about ECU's commitment to gender equality, visit our Gender Equality webpage.
