Employment Policy: Pay Scale Equity

The University of Newcastle maintains both enterprise agreement provisions and a public Gender Pay Equity Statement that commit to equal pay for equal roles, pay transparency, regular review, and addressing gender pay disparities.

2024 Key Elements:

  • Enterprise Agreement (Academic Staff & Teachers)
    • Section 7.4 (“Our commitment to equity”) affirms that all staff in the same classification and performing equivalent work should receive the same pay, regardless of gender.
    • Schedule 3 lays out uniform pay scales for all staff in a given level, irrespective of gender; progression is determined by time in role or promotion, not by gender.
  • Gender Pay Equity Statement
    • The University has published a Gender Pay Equity Statement which sets out its approach to closing gender pay gaps:
      1. Equal remuneration (pay for equal work)
      2. Transparency in pay structures and access to salary bands
      3. Regular review of pay structures to detect and correct gender pay differentials
      4. Compliance with Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) indicators and reporting obligations
  • Institutional & Public Commitments
    • The University’s Progress to Equity Plan includes closing the gender pay gap as a priority, especially in senior leadership roles, and embedding accountability for leaders in gender equity efforts.
    • In its “Addressing Gender Gaps” communications, senior leadership notes that because most staff are covered by highly prescriptive enterprise agreements, the gender pay gap at UoN arises chiefly from under‑representation of women in senior ranks; the University commits to ensuring equal remuneration at those levels and supporting women’s progression.

These combined policies and practices demonstrate a robust institutional commitment to pay equity and mechanisms to monitor and reduce gender pay disparities.

Progress to Equity Plan

We are proud to be at the forefront of gender equity in the workplace but there is more we can and must do. Our Progress to Equity Plan focuses our efforts in the following areas:

  • Attract and retain more women in STEMM
  • Increase the number of women in senior and leadership positions
  • Support women’s careers through training, leadership and development
  • Close the gender pay gap
  • Foster an inclusive and equitable organisational culture
  • Embed accountability for leaders in gender equity
  • Maintain a flexible workplace culture

We are a SAGE Athena Swan Silver Accredited Institution

We are proud to be one of the first two Universities in Australia to achieve SAGE Athena Swan Silver Accreditation for gender equity, diversity, and inclusion (GEDI). This is an international award that reflects our efforts in this area undertaken since 2018, when we launched our Bronze Action Plan. Over the past seven years, we have been systematically working to implement our gender equity strategy and we have benchmarked our progress through rigorous, peer reviewed evaluation.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA)

In accordance with the requirements of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, on 28 May 2025 the University lodged its annual public report with WGEA. WGEA will also publish the gender pay gaps for every Australian employer with 100 or more employees, including universities, annually.

Each employer has the opportunity to provide an Employer Statement that gives context to their gender pay gap results.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) compliance Certificate (2023-2024)