Women in Business Webinar: Balance the Scales this International Women’s Day

Persistent Gender Inequity

The 'Balance the Scales' framing for International Women's Day 2026, prominently adopted in Australia by UN Women Australia, underscores the need for fair, inclusive justice so every woman and girl can be safe, heard, and free to shape her future. This comes against a backdrop of ongoing disparities, particularly in economic opportunities.

In Australia, the latest Workplace Gender Equality Agency data for 2024-25 shows the total remuneration gender pay gap at 21.1%, a 0.7 percentage point improvement from the prior year. This means women earn 78.9 cents for every dollar men earn, equating to an annual difference of $28,356 based on average earnings. While base salary gaps have improved in some metrics—with ABS data indicating a full-time ordinary time earnings gap of 11.5% in May 2025—the broader picture including bonuses, overtime, and superannuation reveals stubborn inequality.

Recent developments include increased transparency and employer action, with some sectors showing faster narrowing. However, KPMG analysis estimates the gap costs the economy $1.26 billion weekly in lost earnings, and projections suggest closure might not occur until 2054 without sustained commitment. New reforms require large employers to publicly commit to gender equality targets from 2026, raising the stakes for compliance and potential reputational or regulatory consequences for inaction.

Non-obvious tensions include the gap between headline progress and lived experience: improvements often concentrate in certain industries or roles, while occupational segregation, caregiving responsibilities, and biases in promotion persist. Globally, women hold far fewer leadership positions and face discriminatory legal barriers in many countries, amplifying the call for systemic overhaul rather than incremental gains. In Australia, the alignment of business-focused events with IWD 2026 highlights how workplace equity intersects with broader justice, where inaction risks entrenching economic disadvantage across generations.