ANZ yesterday announced new measures that it claimed would help address the "structural bias" and subsequent financial disadvantage the bank's female staff face in the workplace and retirement.
The announcement follows ANZ's release of yet another research report into gender inequality in Australia which - like so many other similar reports - confirmed that full-time female workers are paid less than men.
On average, the difference works out at A$295 per week less than men, or $15,000 a year, across the board. The difference for financial services and insurance sector is even greater, notes the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, estimating the pay gap at about 30 per cent at the end of 2014, despite the genders being almost equally represented in the workforce.
"We know women are at a financial disadvantage, however this research also confirms what's really restricting the financial future of women is the inherent structural bias in the way the workplace, education, social and legal systems are established," Joyce Phillips, ANZ CEO global wealth, said.
ANZ's new measures include:
- Paid parental leave for up to 24 months, up from 12 months, to be made available for employees in ANZ's Australian businesses, on their return to work.
- Top-up superannuation payments of $500 per annum to ANZ's permanent and fixed-term female employees in Australia - almost 13,000 of them - to address the gap in retirement savings
- Free superannuation advice for customers with less than $50,000 in superannuation
- Specialist financial planners to advise on the needs and preferences of women.
The move has been welcomed by some influential players, such as actuarial firm Rice Warner, although Melissa Fuller, its deputy CEO, noted that as at 1 July 2013, her firm started offering its female employees a package of benefits designed to bring their expected retirement savings outcomes into line with those of male counterparts.
Rice Warner's female employees are provided with a package of benefits - including flexible working conditions, generous paid parental leave, superannuation payments and long service leave accrued during parental leave, access to an educational program - and an additional superannuation payment of two per cent of salary.