First State Super CEO joins Pay Equity Network

Workplace Gender Equality

First State Super chief executive officer Deanne Stewart was this week appointed as a Workplace Gender Equality Agency Pay Equity Ambassador. She joins a network of 158 high profile CEOs, heads of departments, and directors in the public and private sector who have committed to analysing their pay data at least once every two years, to address gender pay discrepancies and to advocate for action to support workplace gender equality.

Industry Moves found out more about the program and those who have made the pledge to become ambassadors.

"More than 40% of Australian women rely on their partner's income as their main source of funds in retirement and this is something that needs to change. I am committed to doing everything I can to reduce this gap, and to making sure that all Australians have the same opportunity to grow their superannuation savings throughout their working life."

Deanne Stewart

The Pay Equity Ambassador Network was begun in 2014 by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and, according to a spokesperson, whilst its current program is under review, the aim has been to provide a platform for chief executive officers, heads of department and directors in the public and private sector to champion pay equity and gender equality.

To become a Pay Equity Ambassador, an ambassador's organisation must have:

  • undertaken a pay gap analysis of its workforce in the last two years,
  • taken action on the results,
  • reported pay equity metrics to the executive and board, and
  • communicated their pay equity initiatives to their employees.

The announcement of Stewart's acceptance as an ambassador came as First State Super received its latest independent gender pay gap analysis undertaken by Aon. Stewart, who said she was delighted by the results of the analysis, said:

"Over the past several years First State Super has worked to remove gender inequality within our organisation and this independent research shows that the work we have done has achieved positive change for our team. We were particularly pleased to see that the participation rate for females at senior levels within our organisation was at, or above, market average.

More information on the program is included on the WGEA website which includes a list of the other 158 Ambassadors including the CEOs from Cbus, HESTA and TelstraSuper. 75% of the Ambassadors are male.