The Federal Government has now committed a huge $17.7 billion to pay increases for aged care workers and nurses. The sector has a close to zero per cent gender pay gap according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). But this won’t be enough to deliver the workforce that will be required to support Australia’s ageing population.

With the country set to see an increase in the number of women with caring duties for children and ageing parents, the sector needs to do more to raise salaries and make careers in aged care more attractive, particularly for women.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA’s) latest data, released on 4 March 2025, revealed that the total remuneration gender pay gap (GPG) across all industries in Australia is now sitting at 21.8%.

In contrast, residential aged care has an average GPG of just 2.5%.