THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

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The University of Sydney is making significant strides in addressing the gender pay gap both internally – through policies and good practice – and broadly across industry, government and the community, through research, education, advocacy and alliances.

In 1881 the University of Sydney became one of the first universities in the world to admit female students. By 1990 women students outnumbered men. By 2022 women made up well over half of our staff community – 57 percent in a total of 8000 staff. This year, over 50% of our senior leadership team are women.

In 2016, Sydney implemented the Women’s Career Acceleration and Leadership Strategy, to increase female representation at leadership levels. It encompasses professional development, gender targets and measurements; career development; equity; flexible work; capacity development.

Our university-wide diversity initiatives support a high performing, diverse, equitable and inclusive culture.  They include:

• Disability Inclusion Action Plan   
• Gender Equity Action Plan    
• Widening access to university   
• One Sydney Many People – (Indigenous Strategy)    
• Pride Network and LGBTIQ community   
• Cultural Diversity   

The University of Sydney is a gold employer of choice for the Australian Workplace Equality Index and achieved Gold accreditation for the second consecutive year in the 2022 Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards.

The University of Sydney has been leading research into equal pay and the gender pay gap for over ten years.

In 2006, the University launched the Women, Work and Policy Research Group which aims to expand knowledge and research expertise on women, work and policy in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Established in 2021, The University of Sydney’s Gender Equality in Working Life (GEWL) Research Initiative is a multidisciplinary whole of University research initiative leveraging research expertise on women’s working lives to establish an action-oriented, practical approach to building a gender equal future of work.

Led by Professor Rae Cooper AO and Associate Professor Elizabeth Hill, the initiative brings together our academics with industry leaders to build the vision for a gender equitable workforce that transforms research into policy and embeds that policy in organisations across sectors. The institute collaborates across sectors including infrastructure, utility, finance, investment and human service companies, as well as government, NFPs, professional associations and international institutions.

Through this coalition, the University of Sydney can play a key role in sharing best practices to address the gender pay gap and gender equality more broadly.

Through this community we will share knowledge, research and information and view this membership as a vital extension to our existing network of domestic and international stakeholders. Similarly, we are open and engaged to learn from other members and to work collaboratively to build a more equitable future for women and men everywhere.