Viva Energy could be one of the 'bloke-iest' companies in Australia; it has a branded motor racing team and sells industrial lubricants and grease.The gender pay gap of every Australian business with more than 100 people will be published in early 2024Research suggests companies that take deliberate, long-term action get results
To reduce its gender pay gap, the company talked to other organisations about what works and what has been a challenge. "I'm proud of the changes that we've made in a relatively short space of time to drive to deliver a pay gap outcome that's half the national average," he says.Viva Energy boss Scott Wyatt says his company has worked hard to recruit women into roles and fields that were traditionally dominated by men.
But there's a stark divide within industries between the best-performing businesses and the worst performers, and soon we'll know who they are.A new report makes a seemingly obvious but important point: Companies that want to reduce their gender pay gap and take steps to do so — do. The report divided businesses into a "maturity framework" of how far along they are with progressing gender equality."You see that best-performing companies are multiple times more likely to adopt certain types of policies," she says.
Kristen Hilton, the former Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner, works with companies that are trying to reduce their gender pay gap.Ms Hilton, Victoria's former Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissioner, says the example of Viva Energy shows change can happen rapidly. "There's very few meetings I go to now where there's not good representation of men and women in the room," he says.The pay gap at Viva Energy has been even smaller than it currently is, getting down to 3.6 per cent in 2020 with salaries affected by COVID lockdowns, slumping fuel consumption and limited overtime.In 2023 the percentage of female staff on the site — in well-paid jobs that can involve shift work and penalty rates — lifted from 23 per cent to 26 per cent.