RESOURCE industry employees remain the highest paid of all Australian industry groups, earning an average $2597.30 per week*.

According to latest Australian Bureau of Statistics biannual average weekly earnings data, full time ordinary time earnings (which excludes overtime and bonus payments) in the resource industry increased by 2.4% over the year to May 2016 and 2.9% over the past six months.

This outpaced growth in average full time earnings across the Australian population of 2.2% over the year and 1% over six months to now sit at $1516 per week.

Women’s wage growth strong but pay gap remains

As a sign that more women are working in higher earning roles in the resource industry and/or employers are taking steps to address pay imbalances, women’s average earnings increased 9.8% over the past two years and 3.4% over the year – outpacing earnings growth for men of 2.9% and 2.2% respectively.

However, the gender pay gap remains a challenge.

As of May 2016, full time male employees in the resource industry were earning on average $2659.50 per week compared to $2162.60 per week for women. This equates to an 18.7% pay gap – 1.5 percentage points higher than a year ago.

The gender pay gap for full time employees across all industries narrowed by 1.7 percentage points over the year to 16.2%.

AREEA’s gender diversity initiative the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) can provide information and advice on conducting a pay gap analysis within your organisation. Visit www.awra.org.au or call 1800 627 771.

*For consistency, all figures are sourced from the data group ‘original, full time adult ordinary time earnings’. Click here to view the full ABS data set including trend, seasonally adjusted and total earnings (including overtime and bonuses).

Delivered directly to AREEA member inboxes, the AREEA Resource Industry Market Outlook provides further analysis and forecasts of labour trends and wages growth. Keep an eye out for the Spring 2016 edition this Thursday!