• * CSU’s current gender pay gap is 14.2 per cent, less than the national average of 14.6 per cent for full-time workers
• * CSU has a number of initiatives in place the address this gap
• * CSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Vann is a current Pay Equity Ambassador with the national Workplace Gender Equity Agency.

While the gender pay gap among Charles Sturt University (CSU) employees is currently below the national average, Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew (pictured left) believes CSU and Australia can still do more to provide gender equality and pay equity.

Professor Vann’s comments are in support of Equal Pay Day on Friday 31 August, the day on which Australian women on average earn the same wage compared to their male workmates during the 2017-18 financial year which concluded on 30 June.

“While this is an improvement and the lowest gap in 20 years, it is an indictment of our system that women still have to work an extra two months doing the same job to earn the same wage as their male counterparts,” Professor Vann said.

“The University’s current gender pay gap sits at 14.2 per cent. Although it is below the national average, this figure is still too high.

“We have various mechanisms being implemented to address gender pay equity, including the development of a Workplace Gender Equity Strategy due to be released later this year.”

As a current Pay Equity Ambassador with the federal Workplace Gender Equity Agency (WGEA), Professor Vann believes pay equity is in the hands or all institutions and businesses.

“Gender bias can creep into performance, talent development and pay decisions and so create pay gaps between genders,” Professor Vann said.

“Charles Sturt University analyses and monitors its talent management data, including pay, by gender, and we take action, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.”

“As Vice-Chancellor it makes me proud that as a University we are geared to support gender equity through our operations on a daily basis. The way the University positions its policies and processes, continually enable CSU to improve its position on moving towards pay equity for our workforce.

“We also have dedicated working groups and forums to support women and gender equity. We are committed to doing more in this space,” Professor Vann said.

Using the latest Average Weekly Earnings data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, WGEA has calculated the national gender pay gap as 14.6% for full-time employees, a difference of $244.80 per week.

WGEA is a statutory agency of the Australian Government that aims to promote and improve gender equality in Australian workplaces.