The National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, were commissioned by the Australian Fair Pay Commission Secretariat to investigate the size, trends in, and determinants of, the difference between male and female pay in Australia

focusing on occupations and industries with a high density of Pay-Scale reliant workers. The authors compare the wages of women with the wages of like men – who have the same observable attributes that might affect productivity/pay – to see if there is a systematic difference. 

This paper was presented to the Minimum Wage Research Forum held by the Australian Fair Pay Commission in October 2008 and complements another commissioned piece of research undertaken by Women in Social & Economic Research (WiSER) (28). While these reports differ in their data sources and methodologies, both confirm that while gender pay differentials are lowest within the lower paid sectors of the labour market, a gender pay gap persists, even after controlling for a variety of employee characteristics.