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Women in the property sector still earn significantly less than their male counterparts, with a new study revealing a gender pay gap of 31 per cent, equivalent to a $57,000 annual shortfall.
A new report showed that women in property and real estate still earn 31 per cent lower wages than men, despite accounting for 45 per cent of the workforce.
The analysis by EvenBetter.ai, an AI-powered gender pay gap management platform, based on the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s (WGEA) latest data for 2023–24, revealed stark pay disparities across the industry’s major employers.
The report analysed the wages of 24,405 employees across 28 major real estate companies, management companies and property services, including Meriton Properties, Knight Frank Australia, M3 Property, Savills, Colliers, CBRE, Mirvac, and more.
The report found an average gender pay gap of 31 per cent, equating to a $57,000 difference in annual earnings.
Co-founder of EvenBetter.ai, Sorrel Kesby, said the data showed stark results that compounded at 3 per cent annually, adding up over the years.
“The reason this matters is because over the course of a 25-year career, this kind of gap compounds to nearly $2 million in lost earnings for women,” Kesby said.
“While external factors certainly play a role, organisations must understand what’s driving their internal pay gaps and take meaningful steps to address biases in hiring, promotion, and compensation.”
Kesby said that the property sector’s pay gap has recorded above the national average, exposing systemic barriers to pay equity, with more than two-thirds of companies showing a gender gap exceeding 25 per cent.
Of the 28 companies surveyed, Lendlease Corp recorded the lowest gender pay gap at 18.2 per cent, while Goodman had the highest at 66.8 per cent.
Kesby noted that the findings indicate the current pace of change is too slow, suggesting that many companies may be missing opportunities to make a real impact despite their good intentions.
Data showed that while the year-on-year gender pay gap data were unavailable across the whole cohort, around 33 per cent of companies saw their gender pay gap increase on average by -2.6 per cent annually.
The analysis also showed that about 75 per cent of the surveyed companies reported conducting a gender pay gap analysis and taking action, but only 66 per cent saw improvements in their pay gap over time.
Ayal Steiner, co-founder of EvenBetter.ai, said that the property sector needs to review its gender strategy.
“This tells us that while companies are engaging with the issue, many are focusing on surface-level metrics or implementing the wrong types of strategies,” Steiner said.
“Our national survey and hands-on work with employers confirm that without the right insights, organisations risk taking action that doesn’t shift the needle,” he concluded.
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