23678 (2025). Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan to the Minister for Women

23678 (2025). Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan to the Minister for Women: When the Minister stated on 20 October 2024, that “at 6.1 per cent, the public service gender pay gap is the lowest it has ever been, and has halved since 2018”, was this reduction a result of the 14 pay equity settlements achieved in that same timeframe; if not, why not?

Hon Nicola Grigg: The Public Service gender pay gap is 6.1%. This represents a decrease of 1.0 percentage point in the last year, and 6.1 percentage points since 2018, when the public service started taking comprehensive action to close pay gaps. Since 2018, a total of 14 pay equity settlements have been finalized. The majority of employees affected by these settlements work in the health sector and the Education Service, with only a small number occurring within the Public Service. A combination of factors has contributed to the decline of the gender pay gap including deliberate initiatives by agencies in previous years to address similar gaps within their workforces, as well as the impact of strategies like prioritizing larger increases for lower-paid staff, all of which contribute to shifting the gap.