Diversity and Equality Update
/Westpac employees can now talk about salaries
Westpac staff are now able to freely discuss how much they are paid without confidentiality clauses in contracts being enforced. Confidentiality clauses were removed from new contracts in December 2021. From 1 April 2022, all employees are confidentiality clause-free.
While it is illegal to have discriminatory rates of pay, for example, paying women less than men for the same work, confidentiality clauses have circumvented this law with impunity by stopping people from discussing their paycheques.
In financial services, the pay gap remains huge at 27 per cent for full-time workers. The Finance Sector Union has welcomed the move by Westpac but criticised how long it has taken.
Women own $44 of every $100 in superannuation
Despite women owning $1.2 trillion in superannuation savings in Australia, just $44 of every $100 in superannuation savings is owned by a woman. About 45 per cent of industry super fund assets belong to women, with 39 per cent in retail funds, and 41 per cent in self-managed superannuation funds. In public sector funds, 36 and 34 per cent respectively is owned by women.
Ownership percentages are the same regardless of age. Women make up 50 per cent of millennials, but these women own just 43 per cent of all superannuation. Women make up 53 per cent of retirees, yet still, they own just 44 per cent of all superannuation owned by retirees.
Gender diversity still lags on boards and in C-suite roles
Leadership positions in Australia’s biggest companies are still dominated by men, Australian Council of Superannuation Investor (ACSI) data shows, with a dragging pace on gender balance for the target of 40 per cent. ACSI analysis shows that women make up less than 10 per cent of board chair roles (9.5 per cent) and just 6.5 per cent of chief executives on the ASX200. Women hold over 36 per cent of board seats on the ASX 50 and nearly 35 per cent of seats in the ASX 200. There are still seven companies on the ASX300 without a single woman on the board, and three never having had a female director.
In 2019, ACSI released a policy urging listed companies to set a timeframe to achieve gender-balanced boards, which means 40:40 females and males with 20 per cent either.
Gender diversity stats on the ASX 200/300 include:
Sixty-five companies on the ASX 200 have 40 per cent or more female directors
There are above 30 per cent women directors in 170 ASX 300 boards
On the ASX 200 there are 19 one-woman boards
In 2015 there were 18 per cent women on ASX 200 boards; today there is 34.6 per cent
The ASX 300 has 33.1 per cent women on boards
Women CEOs on the ASX 200 is now 13, with one due to retire
The number of female chairs on the ASX 200 is 19, up from 11 in 2015, but down 5 on 2021
HESTA survey: women worried about financial penalties for having kids
A HESTA industry super survey has found a significant portion of women are stressed and anxious about the years of lost superannuation savings due to being the primary caregiver for children. Three in five HESTA of the surveyed members had taken parental leave and were concerned about the long-term impact on their financial security as they aged. A third of these were very or extremely concerned.
Nine out of 10 respondents agreed strongly that changes were needed in the superannuation system to boost women’s financial security in retirement, including closing the gender pay gap, provide better job security, fairer pay for women-dominated industries (health, education), improve accessiblity and affordability of childcare, and increase super savings for women who take time out of the workforce.
Anyone taking time out of the workforce has a fundamental disadvantage when preparing for retirement, resulting in financial stress.
