Equal Pay Day: Why Boards Must Lead on Pay Equity
Today (19 August) is Equal Pay Day.
Equal Pay Day is designed to highlight the extra days women must work, on average, to earn the same annual income as men. This year, it is a reminder that despite decades of progress, the gender pay gap persists and closing it remains one of the most urgent cultural and governance challenges facing Australian organisations.
Pay inequity is not just a matter of fairness. It impacts talent attraction, retention, and engagement. Research consistently shows that organisations with greater gender equality, especially in leadership, achieve stronger financial performance, greater innovation, and deeper employee trust. In today’s competitive environment, where reputation and culture are closely tied to performance, pay transparency and equity have moved from optional to essential.
How does your employer measure up? When is your equal pay day?
This year’s theme is ‘How does your employer measure up? When is your equal pay day?’. This is something many employees will be looking at, and that all executive teams and Boards should already know.
We encourage you to use WGEA’s Equal Pay Day calculator to see how you measure up, and start asking questions about what you may need to change so that Equal Pay Day becomes a thing of the past.
New gender equality target requirement
The landscape is shifting quickly. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) now publishes employer-level gender pay gaps and, under amendments made to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth) earlier this year, employers with more than 500 employees are required to set and report against gender equality targets. This means boards are no longer observers in the conversation about pay equity. They are accountable for how their organisations measure, report, and improve on gender equality outcomes.
It’s a governance issue
For boards, this is a governance issue as much as it is a cultural one. A lack of gender balance or unexplained pay gaps are red flags that point to deeper systemic problems, from biased recruitment and promotion practices to insufficient pathways for women into leadership. Addressing these challenges demands more than compliance. It requires boards to interrogate the data, ask the right questions, and hold executives to account for both progress and outcomes.
Intersection’s Governance Series supports boards and senior leaders to navigate this changing environment with confidence. From understanding new reporting obligations to building the capability to lead on gender equality, our programs are designed to move organisations from compliance to best practice. By strengthening governance around workplace gender equality, boards not only meet their obligations, they help build the kind of culture where people and performance thrive together.
Equal Pay Day is a timely reminder that equity does not happen by chance. It is achieved through leadership, accountability, and action. Boards that take pay equity seriously are not just closing gaps, they are shaping workplaces where fairness, trust and performance go hand in hand.
Intersection has a range of advisory and education offerings to support you meet and exceed your leadership obligations. Reach out to Talk to us today.