The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released the latest gender pay gap information for Australian companies who have 100 employees or more and are required to report their data annually. This year’s gender pay gap information covers the reporting period of April 2023 to March 2024.
In 2023-2024 both the average gender pay gap and median gender pay gap have been reported, whereas for 2022-2023 only the median gap was reported. An average gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings for men and women, expressed as a percentage of men’s average earnings. The median is the value that falls exactly in the middle of a set of numbers when arranged from smallest to largest. The median gender pay gap is the difference between the median of what men are paid and the median of what women are paid within an organisation.
Nationally, for every $1 a man earns, women earn 78 cents on average and this adds up to a yearly difference of $28,425, but WGEA’s analysis did show 56% of employers reduced their gender pay gap in the last year. Just 1 in 5 (21%) of Australian employers have an average gender pay gap in the target range of -5% and +5%, according to the latest WGEA results and nearly 3 in 4 (72%) of all employers have a gender pay gap in favour of men.
Employers in men-dominated industries, such as the car retailing and car wholesaling industry classes, are more likely to pay men more, on average. This has once again been highlighted when Driven Women Magazine undertook an analysis of data reported by some of the largest car companies in Australia. On the positive side, this revealed that Ford, Inchcape, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Kia, and Volkswagen Group all improved their median remuneration gender pay gap over the previous reporting year.
The WGEA data showed that the Ford Motor Company of Australia had the best result for median remuneration (1.3%), average total remuneration (0.1%), median base salary (-1.4%), and average base salary (-1.7%) of all the car companies that reported to WGEA in 2023-2024. The number of resignations of women at Ford is also down to just 14%, the best result for any car company in Australia, and their percentage of women in the workforce has remained at 16%.
Inchcape Australasia employs over 1,400 team members across Australia and New Zealand, 29% of whom are women, and encompasses Subaru Australia, Subaru of New Zealand, Peugeot Australia, Citroën Australia, LDV New Zealand, KGM New Zealand, DEEPAL Australia, FOTON Australia, AutoNexus, Inchcape Automotive Retail, Inchcape Financial Services, and bravoauto. Inchcape saw improvement in both their Medium Remuneration gender pay gap (now 2.3%) and their average base salary gender pay gap, which has reached parity at 0%.
“At Inchcape, we recognise the powerful role that every member of our diverse team plays in driving our success and transforming our industry. Which is why at the heart of our Accelerate+ strategy is a commitment to fostering a high-performing, inclusive culture that empowers our team. To enable our female colleagues, targeted talent programmes such as Women into Leadership, Aspire Women, sponsorship and allyship programmes are put in place. Training programmes to leaders and the wider workforce are rolled out to engender awareness and ensure compliance to inclusion and diversity policies. We are happy with the progress we have made and recognise that more still needs to be done in this space,” said a spokesperson for the company.
Honda Australia are the only other car company within the WGEA target gap of -/+5% for average and median base salary and median remuneration for gender pay gaps. In Honda Australia’s workforce the percentage of women has increased from 36% to 42% and they have seen a reduction in the resignation rate among women, down from 38% to 31%.
“Honda Australia Pty Ltd is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and equitable work environment, where equality in all forms is not just a goal but a fundamental part of the Honda Philosophy. As a business, we have always and will continue to recognise the importance of diversity in all forms and will continue to work through opportunities for growth, advancement, and success for gender equality in the workplace,” said a Honda Australia spokesperson when Driven Women Magazine asked for a comment of their results.
Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) was one of the car companies who saw an improvement in both their total remuneration and base salary gender pay gaps over the first two years of WGEA reporting. They also saw a drop, by more than a half (72% to 35%), in the number of women resigning from the company, the best improvement in this stat of all of the car companies that were analysed.
“One of MMAL’s core visions is to raise the profiles of females in our business, and we are continuing to employ more females to create a more gender-balanced workforce. Over the past three years we’ve had a strong focus on reducing the Gender Pay Gap, and the data demonstrates our success to date, though there is more to do in an industry that has traditionally been male-dominated.
We regularly analyse gender distribution within our business and we are making bold commitments to increase female representation in MMAL, with a strong focus across senior and middle management positions. We aim to do this through our recruitment processes, succession planning and targeted leadership development.
It is a progressive journey and one that we are passionate about, and we remain focused on continuing to close the Gender Pay Gap and increase female representation across our business. We look forward to updating you again in future,” said Director of People and Culture at MMAL, Carla Kruger.
Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific (8.4%) and Toyota Motor Corporation (10.6%) both have an average total remuneration gender pay gap below the industry average of 14.7%, but both also did see an increase in their gender pay gaps for the metrics reported over the previous years. Toyota’s median remuneration gap went from 7.3% to 7.9% and Mercedes-Benz saw an increase from 9.5% to 11.7%. For the median base salary Toyota’s gap increased from 7.8% to 8.2% and Mercdes-Benz went from 9.5% to 11.7%.
“Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific has been proud to be recognised as an Employer of Choice for gender equality for over 8 years. As a Board of Management, we prioritise fostering an inclusive workplace where diversity is celebrated, and all employees are empowered to thrive. As an organisation we embrace the importance of gender equality through a diverse culture and highly engaged workforce, resulting in improved decision making, a creative mindset and an overall positive impact on our workplace culture and broader society.
Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific continues to closely examine our recruitment, promotion and learning and development processes to ensure they are free of any gender bias and promote equal opportunity for all genders. Several of our initiatives such as our flexible working arrangements, 26 weeks paid parental leave and paid superannuation whilst on parental leave has contributed towards a more gender balanced workforce. Gender equality remains an essential part of our culture and workplace priorities by continuing to monitor and implement best practice initiatives,” said the Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific statement provided to WGEA.
Toyota saw a slight increase to the percentage of women in their total workforce (30% to 31%) with 42% of their external appointments being women and 41% of promotions were awarded to women for the reporting period. The resignation rate of women also slightly increased from 36% to 37%.
“Toyota Australia is committed to fostering gender equality and has a range of actions and programs in place to better attract, retain and promote female talent to help us achieve our gender balance ambitions. Gender composition is one of the biggest challenges for our industry and addressing that is at the core of Toyota’s 2025 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) strategy.
While we are pleased to report a result of 10.6%, against an industry average of 14.7%, there is still more work to be done. Increasing female representation and closing the gender pay gap remains a fundamental value of our organisation. More information can be found in Toyota Motor Corporation Australia’s Employer Statement here,” a Toyota Australia spokesperson shared with Driven Women Magazine.
At Hyundai Motor Company Australia the percentage of women in their workface has increased from 32% to 34%, but there are now no women in key management personnel roles or listed as technician or trade workers at Hyundai. Both measures of gender pay gaps at Hyundai Australia increased with median remuneration going from 22.5% to 30.6% and median base salary from 22.5% to 24.1%.
“We acknowledge these results and understand that they are not where they should be. However, we are confident that the changes we are making – and will continue to make – will lead to an improvement for next year’s cycle and in the years ahead,” a Hyundai Motor Company Australia spokesperson told Driven Women Magazine.
As at 10 March 2025, Don Romano will become the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Motor Company Australia and Advisor for Hyundai Motor Asia & Pacific Region. A 40-year veteran of the automotive industry, Don joins the Australian operation after a highly successful ten-year term as President and CEO of Hyundai Auto Canada (HAC), where he oversaw a period of record growth.
While working at HAC Romano championed several initiatives with a focus on developing a fair and inclusive corporate culture and strong employee engagement. He has won many awards, including North American Champion for Diversity and Automotive All Star for Process Architecture, and last year was honoured with Canada Black Book’s Industry Icon Award as well as a Women’s Executive Network Alliance Ally of Excellence Award.
Of those car companies who were among the poorer performers in 2023-2024 was Porsche Cars Australia (PCA) with the highest average base salary gender pay gap (40.4%) and the highest average total remuneration gender pay gap (41.6%) of all car companies who reported to WGEA. PCA increased the percentage of women in their workforce by 10%, now at 33%, with 71% of external appointments being women. This countered PCA’s resignation rate, which was the highest among the car companies for 2023-2024, at 63%. PCA are one of the two car companies that do not to have a formal policy or strategy on equal remuneration between men and women, something WGEA states is critical first step all employers need to take to end their gender pay gap.
The other car company that does not have one of these formal policies/strategies is Isuzu Ute Australia, who have improved slightly their gender pay gaps since the previous reporting period, but are still among the lower performing car companies. Isuzu has seen a small increase in the percentage of women in the workforce (32% to 35%) with 56% of external appointments being women and resignations of women down from 71% to 56%.
In a statement provided to WGEA, Reiko Sato, the Deputy Managing Director at Isuzu UTE Australia (IUA) said, “Our ambition is to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that fosters an environment where our people can thrive authentically and deliver their best performance. This not only enhances our ability to serve our customers effectively but contributes to the overall success of our business and most importantly mirrors the diverse community we serve.
IUA’s gender pay gap is influenced by the lower proportion of females in senior leadership positions and a higher proportion in our lower paid roles. Knowing this, we are actively working towards addressing this imbalance. We recognise this could take time due to the diverse challenges of our industry and organisation. We do however realise that an organisation committed to equality must continually evolve and address disparities, such as gender and ethnicity pay gaps, if they want to create a fair and inclusive workplace.
I am confident that we have the right strategy in place to build a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or background.”
Below is a snapshot of the data that has been collected by WGEA in 2023-2024 for some of the largest car companies in Australia.
| Company | % Median Base Salary | % Average Base Salary | % Median Remuneration | % Average Remuneration | % Women in Workforce | % Women Internal Appointments | % Women External Appointments | % Women Promotions | % Women Resignations |
| Ford | -1.4 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 16 | 23 | 29 | 21 | 14 |
| Inchcape | 0 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 9.3 | 29 | 42 | 30 | 40 | 29 |
| Honda | 4.9 | 4.3 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 42 | 55 | 58 | 40 | 31 |
| Tesla | 2.5 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 11.8 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 22 | 18 |
| Toyota | 8.2 | 9.1 | 7.9 | 10.6 | 31 | 35 | 42 | 41 | 37 |
| Volkswagen Group | 7.7 | 14.6 | 10.1 | 18.7 | 28 | 17 | 42 | 31 | 53 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 11.7 | 7.5 | 11.7 | 8.4 | 38 | 46 | 43 | 50 | 45 |
| Mazda | 17.9 | 9.8 | 13.7 | 14 | 28 | 18 | 37 | 44 | 34 |
| Mitsubishi | 10.6 | 21.2 | 19.3 | 26.2 | 30 | 0 | 34 | 25 | 35 |
| Stellantis | 19.4 | 18.7 | 23.3 | 23.3 | 25 | 25 | 35 | 36 | 39 |
| Nissan | 20.7 | 16.5 | 28.9 | 22.9 | 27 | 33 | 41 | 15 | 52 |
| Hyundai | 24.1 | 22 | 30.6 | 26.1 | 34 | 39 | 33 | 21 | 30 |
| Kia | 26.5 | 37.3 | 30.8 | 39.4 | 22 | 7 | 43 | 0 | 29 |
| Isuzu | 35.5 | 24.2 | 35.9 | 29.1 | 35 | 0 | 56 | 36 | 56 |
| Porsche | 33.5 | 40.4 | 39.9 | 41.6 | 33 | 33 | 71 | 60 | 63 |
If you want to explore the data in even more depth then head to the WGEA Data Explorer here.
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.