New figures highlight significant ongoing Adland & Media gender pay gap – Today’s release of the 2024-25 WGEA pay gap figures has highlighted the ongoing pay equity gap within Australia’s advertising and media industries.
Leading marketing management consultancy TrinityP3 says this year’s data shows some notable improvements (for example, Foxtel, Nine Publishing, and Seven West Media), but the annual data release underscores the persistent pay gap across both advertising agencies and media owners. It further highlights the need for management and corporate boards in these organisations to take greater steps to close the gap.
Today marks the third consecutive year that the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released figures on the gender pay gap for private sector employers with a workforce of 100 or more employees.
Lydia Feely, General Manager of TrinityP3 and Darren Woolley Global CEO of TrinityP3
The annual data drop has revealed that there are average gender pay gaps as large as 26.2% in some of Australia’s major media companies and an average pay gap of 20%+ in a number of big multinational advertising agencies.
For the third year in a row, TrinityP3 has analysed the submissions of more than 30 major media/adland employers and included their results in the charts below, along with links to the media and marketing companies’ employer statements at the bottom of this release.
WGEA’s latest figures show that the mid-point for employer gender pay gaps across all industries was 11.2% – down 0.9 percentage points from last year. While many of Australia’s highest-profile media and adland businesses were following this trend and working to close the pay gap, Lydia Feely, General Manager of TrinityP3, says there remains an insufficient focus on the issue within the industry.
“After three years of this data, it is clear that the annual pay gap numbers release has definitely elevated this issue,”
– said Feely.
“Our challenge is: how do we get employers to care about the pay gap the other 364 days of the year? While we have definitely seen some improvements among some players, there is still not enough being done.”
Feely also noted the decreasing number of companies who have published their own pay gap reports – see below for statements or reports from News Corp, Nine, and REA – which are designed to provide far greater context to the WGEA figures.
Feely: Companies need to be actively benchmarking themselves against their competitive set
“It really surprises me that, in the third year of this reporting, so many companies are still allowing these complex and important numbers to go out without taking the opportunity WGEA gives you to make an employer statement or report. Making a statement and providing context demonstrates – to current employees, potential recruits, and to the wider industry – that you are taking this issue seriously.”
TrinityP3 says that adland and media players should do more, including actively benchmarking themselves, to ensure they aren’t moving backwards on the pay gap.
“We know that companies who benchmark and track their performance do better in areas such as the gender pay gap,”
– said Feely.
“When companies establish where they are, they also then need to look at what other ‘like-for-like’ players are doing and look for the opportunities to improve.”
TrinityP3 notes the WGEA numbers have shown that companies that had clear policies on the gender pay gap and who undertook regular payroll analysis performed better when it came to the gender pay gaps they reported.
The consultancy also includes pay equity as a major topic in its annual State of the Pitch report which looks at the state of pitching and what clients are looking for in their agency and media partners.
“Pay equity is an issue that impacts both men and women,”
– said Darren Woolley, CEO of TrinityP3.
“Each year we see around half of all pitches ask potential partners how they are addressing gender equality and the pay gap. This is why we make it a key part of our State of the Pitch research and why we are not also asking for it in our Agency Register. A growing number of corporations are rightly prioritising this issue across their own businesses and their suppliers.
“If our industry is committed to the principles of fairness and inclusiveness, then closing the ongoing gender pay gap must be a high, year-round priority. We need to see an ongoing focus on this by everyone from the board, C-suite, and shareholders down.”
Links to those media and marketing companies who provided employer statements below:
Media Release – TrinityP3
TV Central Other content HERE
New figures highlight significant ongoing Adland & Media gender pay gap
