This report examines the gender composition of industry and occupational sectors and analyses recent trends. 

It explores the role of minimum wages in shaping gender pay differentials and provides quantitative analysis of the possible causes of observed differences in the earnings of Australian men and women and the extent of the ‘unexplained’ gender pay gap. This is supplemented by qualitative data on bargaining over wages and employment conditions concerning low-paid women.

Women in Social & Economic Research (WiSER), Curtin University of Technology, were commissioned by the Australian Fair Pay Commission Secretariat to undertake research into gender pay differentials in the low-paid labour market. This report complements another commissioned piece of research undertaken by the National Institute of Labour Studies (NILS) (27). 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.