Our commitment and gender equality
As the leading consumer advocacy group in Australia, CHOICE is committed to building a diverse, equal and inclusive organisational culture. We recognise and respect the diversity of our workforce and ensure our staff feel valued and respected, and have equal access to resources and opportunities to contribute to our organisation's growth.
We are an organisation founded by a woman, a trailblazing consumer advocate 60 years ago, and we are proud of the progress we are making in gender equality.
CHOICE gender pay gap
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) annual gender equality reporting highlights the existing gender inequities in today's workplace, emphasising disparities between men and women. In 2024, WGEA released Australia's Gender Equality Scorecard total remuneration gender pay gap, which is 21.8%.
By comparison, at CHOICE, our total remuneration gender pay gap (GPG) result for the 2023–24 reporting period is 11.5%, with a median of 6.3%.
WGEA calculates the national gender pay gap using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Average Weekly Earnings released in February and August every year. This data comes from a sample of employers selected from the Australian Business Register, with a slightly different sample taken each time.
Our total workforce gender composition for the 2023–24 reporting period shows a breakdown of 50% women and 50% male.
The WGEA Industry Benchmark compares CHOICE with other organisations under 'Information, Media and Telecommunications' Industry. These graphs show that CHOICE's average total remuneration GPG at 11.5% is 2.3% lower than the midpoint of 13.8%, which is all employer GPGs in the Comparison Group.
While our results are pleasing and positive compared to the industry (Information, Media and Telecommunications) and the national average, we recognise that we still have work to do to improve this.
| Primary measure | CHOICE | Comparison group |
|---|---|---|
| Average total remuneration gender pay gap | 11.5% | 13.8% |
| Median total remuneration | 6.3% | 9.3% |
| Average base salary | 11.5% | 10.0% |
| Median base salary | 6.3% | 9.4% |
Gender pay gap drivers
Our workforce composition in the 2023–24 reporting period shows that women are slightly underrepresented in both manager and non-manager levels; however, are well represented in our governing body.
Gender composition of workforce
| Your workforce | Comparison group | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | Men | Women | Men | |
| KMP* | 40% | 60% | 37% | 63% |
| Managers | 45% | 55% | 41% | 59% |
| Non-Managers | 52% | 48% | 43% | 57% |
*Key management personnel.
Gender composition of governing body
CHOICE Board:
- Women – 78%
- Men – 22%
We recognise that a certain percentage of senior and technology roles within CHOICE typically attract a more male-dominated talent pool. In light of this, we continue to ensure that our recruitment and retention strategies highlight our commitment to providing equal opportunities to all genders during the hiring process and throughout the employment cycle.
Our current policies and strategies also provide equal opportunities for men and women to access benefits and opportunities such as flexibility, parental leave, training and career progression.
Our strategies and initiatives
CHOICE has met the majority of WGEA's recommendations with regards to having formal policies, strategies and consultation in place that supports gender equality, flexible working and parental leave. We also have strategies and policies in place to support staff impacted by domestic and family violence, sex-based harassment and/or discrimination, along with providing support for their managers.
At CHOICE, we are proud of our overall results and are committed to continue to implement initiatives, and review and improve our policies and strategies to ensure we maintain our great results, and keep up our good progress towards closing the gender pay gap. We are currently in the process of pursuing opportunities to improve gender equality further through our ongoing review of internal policies and strategies, improving pay transparency initiatives, and the ongoing review of gender pay gaps across our organisation.
We're on your side
For more than 60 years, we've been making a difference for Australian consumers. In that time, we've never taken ads or sponsorship.
Instead we're funded by members who value expert reviews and independent product testing.
With no self-interest behind our advice, you don't just buy smarter, you get the answers that you need.
You know without hesitation what's safe for you and your family.
And you'll never be alone when something goes wrong or a business treats you unfairly.
Learn more about CHOICE membership today
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
