Women, Wages and Industrial Agreements

This paper focuses on the gendered effects of the current combination of industrial agreements in Australia - both in the sense of the distribution of men and women across different types of agreements, and gender inequality within agreement types. We draw on Australian Bureau of Statistics data to illustrate the uneven distribution of men and women between different methods of setting pay and conditions, and consider implications of this for gender earnings equity. We also investigate gender differences in pay increases and working conditions within a recent sample of collective enterprise agreements. Overall, the paper illustrates some of the on-going risks for gender equity under current wage bargaining arrangements.