Miners slice and dice pay stats as new Workplace Gender Equality Agency data suggests disparity in median pay

Big miners have insisted a yawning gender pay gap in their industry reflects the types of roles within its largely male workforce, defending their record on gender equity. WGEA has, for the first time, publicly disclosed wage data displaying differences in median pay between the men and women, pitting the big miners either headquartered or with big operations in WA against each other on where they stack up, and setting the scene for tricky conversations among employees. South32 had an -11.1 per cent median pay gap in base salary in favour of women, which, based on WGEA’s interpretation that pay gaps within and including 5 per cent are neutral, means S32’s pay data is unusual for the industry. In the group’s total remuneration, there was a 10.6 per cent gap. WGEA works out a pay gap by using the remuneration of all employees in each company — regardless of the type of employment but excluding chief executive officers and ‘heads of business’ — and converting it into annualised full-time equivalent earnings. A median pay gap has been disclosed between men and women through base salary and total remuneration. The second metric paints a broader picture by including any bonuses, overtime or superannuation. Rio Tinto, which reported a -2.3 per cent median pay gap towards women on its base salary and a 13.5 per cent towards men in total remuneration, said its internal “equal pay gap measure” looked at whether men and women doing the same job get the same pay. “In 2023, the equal pay gap at Rio Tinto was less than 1 per cent in favour of men,” a Rio spokesperson said. “Factors affecting the total remuneration gap figure under WGEA methodology include that 80 per cent of men in our workforce work remotely, compared to just over half of women.” Rio’s vice president of people iron ore, Matt Kimball, said the company was putting a lot of effort into “ensuring that employees with similar skills, knowledge, qualifications, experience and performance” were paid equally. BHP coal division had a -1.4 per cent leaning towards women, and its total remuneration gap was 0.7 per cent. WA iron ore had a 13.9 per cent base gap, while its struggling Nickel West division had a 24.7 per cent gap. BHP chief people officer Jad Vodopija said raising the bar through global reporting standards would encourage positive action but also referred to its own metrics. “When we assess the base salaries for like-for-like roles, BHP’s gender pay gap in Australia is around 2 per cent.” Hancock Prospecting chief executive operations Gerhard Veldsman defended the company’s progress in hiring more women and said the WGEA data should be interpreted as an indication of the representation of women in senior positions rather than a query of equal pay. Hancock had a 25 per cent median gap in base salaries. Fortescue had a 9.4 per cent gap in base salaries and a 14.6 per cent gap in total remuneration. The company noted in a WGEA statement that “differences between male and female salaries at Fortescue are primarily driven by variation in the types of roles commonly held.” Mineral Resources’ median base gender pay gap was 19.1 per cent with WGEA, but the miner said it was “essential to highlight” its higher representation of women in entry-level positions, especially within village operational teams. “Unlike many industry peers who outsource this operational segment, MinRes actively chooses internal management of these teams.”