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Independent agency Little Real Estate has achieved a negative gender pay gap, with women in the organisation now paid the same or more than men.
The latest data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) showed more than half of Australian employers have a median gender pay gap larger than 8.9 per cent, and 72 per cent pay on average men an extra $28,425 each year more than women.
Nationwide, the report found that for every $1 earned by a man, women earn, on average, 78¢.
According to the report, only one in five Australian employers has an average gender pay gap of -5 per cent and +5 per cent in the target range.
The latest WGEA data showed that Little Real Estate has a median remuneration gap of nearly -2 per cent, which indicates that women are, on average, paid more than men within the organisation.
Little Real Estate chief operating officer, Rebecca Kerr, said the agency’s results were due to focused effort on gender equality and promoting women into leadership roles.
“We’ve made it a priority here at Little Real Estate to focus on promoting women into leadership roles. Last year our gender pay gap was zero and this year we’ve managed to surpass that,” Kerr said.
According to the data, 67 per cent of Little Real Estate workforce are women, with 71 per cent in leadership or top sales agent positions.
“There are so many benefits to having a diverse leadership team because we’re better able to make decisions that reflect the diversity of our society and our customers,” Kerr said.
The WGEA data showed that the real estate industry is more or less gender-balanced, with 40 per cent of the workforce being women and only 30 per cent holding high positions.
However, the report showed that the industry is still far from having gender equality in salaries.
Kerr said companies that want to achieve gender equality must be realistic about their workload and trust their female employees to work outside conventional hours.
“We have a strong focus on flexibility in the workplace because the best work isn’t always able to be done between the hours of nine to five,” Kerr said.
“I think it’s important for leaders to not just pay lip service to workplace flexibility, but to actually set an example in this.
“Nobody sees me in the office before 9.15 am because I drop my kids at school first. I work from home when I need to, and I encourage my team to choose the style of work that best fits their lives as well.”
Kerr said the industry also needs to encourage women to step forward for promotions and show them that career advancement can be achieved while maintaining flexibility.
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