AFCA is committed to supporting gender equality in the workplace and providing equal opportunities and outcomes for men and women at work. We want our people to have access to, and enjoy, the same rewards, resources and opportunities, regardless of their gender. 

Workplace gender equality aligns with AFCA’s culture and values as Australia’s independent financial ombudsman. Not only does workplace gender equality drive fairness, but it has also been linked to increased productivity, growth and organisational performance. Achieving workplace gender equality also helps us to attract and retain the best talent and grows our reputation as a great place to work. 

We recognise that men and women currently have different levels of access to power, resources and responsibilities in Australia. We firmly believe policies and strategies should be put in place to ensure men and women are able to operate on an equal playing field – this is gender equity. Gender equity leads to gender equality, where all can access the same rights and opportunities, no matter their gender. 

AFCA’s Gender Pay Gap (GPG)

AFCA’s median total remuneration gender pay gap (GPG) in 2022–23 was 3.5%. Our median base salary gender pay gap was 2.8%. 

The median total remuneration GPG for our industry group is 24.6% and the median base salary GPG for our industry group is 22.7%. The WGEA recommends that any gender pay gaps be either -5% (favouring women) or +5% (favouring men). AFCA is proud of our positive results and remains committed to closing the gap even further.  

AFCA’s gender pay gap per pay quartile is below. A disproportionate concentration of men in the upper quartiles and/or of women in the lower quartiles can drive a positive pay gap. 

WGEA has split the workforce into four equal quartiles based on average total remuneration. While these show equal concentration or a concentration favouring women, this does not mean we have a negative pay gap, or no pay gap, as these quartiles represent vastly different roles with varying scopes and responsibilities. 

At AFCA, women represent 54.7% of our workforce, while men represent 45.3% This is reflected in the concentration of the quartiles below. 

At AFCA, we analyse all like-for-like roles for any gender pay equity issues, while also considering performance and the responsibilities of the role.

Separate to the gender pay gap, we are also promoting and appointing women into new roles at a higher rate than men in order to reflect the gender composition of our workforce.

AFCA is ahead of its industry peers in the amount of paid weeks offered to parents (parental leave), and is always working on increasing the uptake of this benefit, not only for our female colleagues, but also our male colleagues.

To further enhance this benefit, AFCA are currently exploring the possibility of providing paid superannuation for the unpaid portion of Parental Leave.

AFCA’s Action Plan

AFCA is currently developing a Workplace Gender Equality policy. This policy will align with our existing Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging policy, and other internal policies relating to remuneration, recruitment, leave and workplace bullying, discrimination and harassment.

Our Workplace Gender Equality policy will address each of the six Gender Equality Indicators (GEIs) as recommended by the WGEA and will be published by 30 June 2024. The policy will enhance how we support our people and leaders to achieve gender equity at AFCA.

We will continue to analyse any gender pay gaps as part of our end-of-year remuneration reviews, and will be implementing a second gender pay gap analysis each year in April (alongside our WGEA reporting submissions which will help inform our annual remuneration review).

We will also continue to investigate how we can improve our existing benefits, such as offering paid superannuation for the non-paid part of parental leave.

Ultimately, our goal is to eliminate gender pay gaps at AFCA and achieve gender equity in all aspects of our organisation. This will help us provide equal access to opportunities for all our employees and ensure AFCA continues to be a truly great place to work.