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Free tools for HR leaders

Gender pay gap
calculator (Australia)

Measure your mean and median gender pay gap and benchmark it against the 21.1% national average.

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Your gender pay gap
 
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What is the difference between the mean and median gender pay gap?

The mean gap compares average pay for men and women. The median gap compares the middle earner in each group, which is less affected by a small number of very high salaries. WGEA reports both.

How we calculated this

The gap is average annual remuneration for men minus average annual remuneration for women, divided by the men's average, multiplied by 100. A positive number means men are paid more on average; a negative number means women are. We then show the difference in points against WGEA's national average total remuneration gap of 21.1%. Enter medians instead of averages and the same arithmetic gives you the median gap, which is less distorted by a few very high earners. The formula is the one WGEA uses. The working, the assumptions and the sources are below.

Your working
Assumptions
  • Averages, on the figures you enter. Use total remuneration (base plus super, bonuses, overtime and allowances) to match WGEA's 21.1%; base salary alone gives a smaller gap and a different comparison.
  • Full-time equivalent, annualised pay. If part-timers are entered at actual pay rather than annualised, the gap is inflated wherever women work part-time more than men, which is most workplaces.
  • One organisation-wide figure. Composition (who holds the senior roles), pay for like work, part-time mix and discretionary pay all sit inside it, and each needs its own cut before the number means anything.
  • The 21.1% benchmark is WGEA's average total remuneration gap for reporting employers in the 2024-25 Employer Census. WGEA's median is 16.4%, and the mid-point of individual employer average gaps is 11.2%. Compare like with like (average against 21.1%, median against 16.4%), and expect the employer mid-point to be the more realistic peer figure.
Sources

What to do about it

A gap is a symptom with several causes, and the causes are decisions someone in your organisation makes every week. These steps are for whoever prepares the WGEA submission or the pay review, whether or not they sit on the remuneration committee.

1

Run it four ways before you report it once

Average and median, on base salary and on total remuneration. Then by pay quartile and by level. A 15% average gap that is 3% within each level is a composition problem; a 15% gap that holds within levels is a pay problem. They need different fixes and different owners.

2

Decompose the causes and put a share against each

How much comes from who holds the senior roles, how much from part-time mix, how much from discretionary pay such as bonuses and overtime, and how much is left over as like-for-like difference. That last figure is the one that carries legal risk. Get it to zero first.

3

Know what is already public

If you have 100 or more employees, you report to WGEA and your employer gap is published on its data explorer alongside your industry's. Prepare the explanation and the plan before publication, so the number arrives with context rather than as news to your own staff.

4
Where a tool helps

Fix the decision points, with the same criteria for everyone

Gaps open at hiring, at the starting-salary negotiation, at promotion and at bonus time. Structured processes and consistent scoring close them, with a written reason for every exception; discretion reopens them. Audit those four moments each year and publish the results internally.

5

Set a target and a date, and re-run every year

Gaps close slowly, and only where someone owns them. Pick the number for next year and name who owns each cause, then rerun this calculator with the new payroll figures.

The gap is a number.
Its causes are choices.

Compono Hire is an applicant tracking system (ATS) that measures fit the same way for every candidate. It runs the process you already expect (job posting, pipeline, interview scheduling, offers) and adds a validated work personality and culture fit read, scored consistently and shown next to the skills screen, so the shortlist and the decision rest on evidence rather than on who interviewed best.

Step 4 asks for the same criteria for everyone at the moments where gaps open. Hiring is the first of those moments and the one that sets the starting point for everything after it. The gap above is measured on last year's decisions. This is where next year's start.

See how it works
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Common questions

How does my result compare to the national average?

WGEA reports a national gender pay gap of 21.1% on total remuneration in its 2024 to 25 scorecard, down 0.7 points. The tool shows your figure next to that benchmark.

Is the gender pay gap the same as equal pay?

No. Equal pay means equal pay for the same or comparable work, which is a legal requirement. The gender pay gap is the difference in average pay across all men and women in an organisation, and it is driven largely by composition and seniority.

Is my employer's gap published?

WGEA now publishes employer-level gender pay gaps for more than 10,500 organisations under its 2024-25 reporting. If your organisation reports to WGEA, your gap is publicly available.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the Fair Work Ombudsman or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.

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