B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Cannes Lions
  • NRL
  • AFL
  • WPP
  • State of Origin
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Thinkerbell
  • Pinterest
  • imaa
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Meta
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • ARN
  • Foxtel
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Australian Women Effectively Work Free From 3:56pm Today
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Media > Australian Women Effectively Work Free From 3:56pm Today
Media

Australian Women Effectively Work Free From 3:56pm Today

Sofia Geraghty
Published on: 8th March 2023 at 12:37 PM
Sofia Geraghty
Share
4 Min Read
3D illustration of male and female symbols with 2 piles of coins a small one for women and a larger one for men.
SHARE

Aware Super has described 3.56pm on International Women’s Day as ‘National Pay Gap O’Clock’, because this is the time that women effectively start working for free.

Australian women will be working for free on International Women’s Day, according to one of the country’s largest industry super funds.

Data released by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has highlighted an average gender pay gap of 13.3 per cent in Australia. Applying this pay gap to a 9am – 5pm workday, Aware Super has calculated that Australian women are effectively working for free from 3:56pm each day.

Aware Super CEO Deanne Stewart said Pay Gap O’Clock symbolised the single greatest impediment to Australian women achieving their best financial position at retirement.

“Our own Commonwealth Government recently declared that Australian women will be underpaid $51.8 billion this year,” she said.

“Another way of saying that is, Australia’s female workforce will do $51.8 billion worth of work for free.

“It’s frankly not good enough and it’s not enough that we talk about this issue a few times throughout the year. That’s why we’ve designated 3:56pm as Pay Gap O’Clock – to put a daily reminder in the diaries of Australian workplaces that as of this time, your female workforce is essentially there for free.”

Using WGEA’s gender pay gap data across all Australian States and Territories, as well as 18 industry sectors, Aware Super has modelled the potential impact of the gender pay gap on the retirement balances of Australian women.

Ms Stewart said for most Australians, compulsory super contributions (currently 10.5 per cent of wages) was the largest portion of a superannuation balance at retirement.

“A gender pay gap affects more than your take-home pay,” she said.

”It directly reduces your super contributions, which in turn directly reduces your potential balance at retirement. What makes that eventual gap at retirement even worse is the lost opportunity for compounding returns over time – which can see a dollar invested in super at the start of your working life, worth four dollars by the time you retire.

“Women working in professional, scientific and technical services will experience the greatest impact on their retirement balance from the gender pay gap, with a current industry gap of 21.2 per cent. That translates into women retiring from jobs in this sector with around $149,000 less than their male counterparts.

“Our healthcare sector is just as concerning – a gender pay gap of 21.1 per cent in this sector leads to $131,000 less in retirement for Australia’s healthcare professionals.

“As the fund with more teachers than any other in Australia, we’re also deeply concerned to see the gender pay gap for the Education and Training sector sitting at 10.1 per cent, meaning a $61,000 deficit to women when they retire from this essential role in our communities.”

To demonstrate the impact of WGEA’s gender pay gap data on Pay Gap O’Clock around the country, Aware Super has published the full list of Pay Gap O’Clock times by both Australian State/Territory and Industry Sector.

Visitors to the site can also download a pay gap data table so they can see the potential impact of their State or Sector gender pay gap on their own retirement savings

*Based on WGEA and ABS data, 2022

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: gender pay gap
Share
Sofia Geraghty
By Sofia Geraghty
Follow:
Sofia is an award-winning B2B journalist with experience in investigative journalism and TV presenting. She worked as a journalist at the UK’s leading insurance publication before moving to TV presenting within financial services. She is passionate about equality and female empowerment and was awarded an industry-wide broadcast media award (and was shortlisted for another) for her work in promoting diversity within the insurance industry.

Latest News

Agency Scorecard: Special
09/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: iProspect
09/07/2025
Meet Adland’s Best Number-Whisperers In The Best Of The Best Data Scientists!
09/07/2025
State Vs State, Campaign Vs Campaign: Brands Go Head-To-Head In The Origin Decider
09/07/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?