Women in leadership
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Progress toward target
Gender pay equity dashboard
In the gender pay equity dashboard published by the Public Sector Commission in June 2024, it is clear that the gender pay gap continues to close for the Queensland public sector. This gap continues to narrow due to concerted efforts in Queensland to address the drivers of gender equality.
The gap in earnings of 5.94% in the Queensland public sector is substantially lower than the national gender pay gap of 11.5%.
There has also been a reduction in the gender pay gap on base salary from 7.35% in 2021 to 5.1% in 2025.
This base salary calculation removes additional factors such as allowances and focuses on the core value or base salary of the job, which gives a clearer indication of where women are placed in the classification levels and career structures.
The Public Sector Commission has supported agencies to undertake their annual equity and diversity audit, allowing them to use evidence to tailor an approach to address inequities. The reduction of the gender pay gap is a result of their proactive actions and the strategies they continue to progress.
Attitudes towards gender equity are critical to understand if changes in gender pay equity are to be achieved. These attitudes reflect the systemic barriers to gender pay equity.
All metrics associated with attitudes towards the success, career progression and commitment to gender pay equity have improved between 2022 and 2024.
The perceived senior management commitment to gender equity has improved by five percentage points, while perceptions of executive group commitment has improved by seven percentage points.
Diversity in action
An Executive Women’s Network was established in 2022. The EWN focused on creating opportunities for the most senior women across the public sector to network and hear from sector leaders. Between June and December 2024, three EWN events were hosted for SES4 and SES3 women, and all First Nations’ SES women, with each event tailored in approach and agenda. Further opportunities to connect women in leadership across the sector are being explored.