- Global Women has today called for cross-party
support to make gender pay gap reporting standard for New
Zealand employers with 150 or more employees. - The
call is underscored by recent BERL research showing
reporting can drive action within organisations and deliver
significant benefits for women, businesses and the wider
economy.
Global Women, a collective of some of
Aotearoa New Zealand’s most influential leaders working to
advance equity and equality for women, is today calling on
political parties to include a commitment in their 2026
election policies to make gender pay gap reporting standard
for employers with 150 or more employees.
The call
appears today in a full-page open letter from Global Women
in The Post, underscoring that greater transparency would
support fairer workplaces, stronger businesses and a more
productive economy.
The move would bring New Zealand
in line with countries including Australia and the United
Kingdom. It would also reflect a wider global shift towards
stronger pay transparency, including new European Union
mandates requiring larger employers to report pay gaps and
address significant, unexplained
disparities.
Global Women Chair Dame Theresa
Gattung says gender pay gap reporting is a
practical lever that helps organisations identify where
inequities exist and take action.
“Gender pay gap
reporting is a practical tool that gives organisations the
information they need to identify inequities and act on
them.
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“Many of New Zealand’s leading
employers already report voluntarily because they recognise
that transparency is good for business. Making reporting
standard for large employers would create a consistent
expectation and ensure more organisations have the
information needed to measure, manage and close their
gaps.”
Global Women CEO Katie
Bhreatnach says making reporting standard would
give large employers a consistent framework for
understanding and addressing the drivers of their pay
gaps.
“Like all things in business, what gets
measured gets managed. Reporting gives organisations the
transparency and accountability needed to identify
inequities, understand what is driving them and take
measurable action.”
“Equality is good for
business: fairer workplaces support stronger retention,
productivity and performance, while reducing the gap would
put more money in women’s pockets and deliver wider gains
for the economy. If New Zealand is serious about closing the
gender pay gap, reporting must become standard for its
largest employers.”
Under the approach Global
Women is calling for, only organisations with 150 or more
employees would be required to report. It would not extend
to small or medium-sized businesses.
The open letter
published in The Post on Wednesday 22 July
reads:
What gets measured gets
managed.
New Zealand businesses that measure
their gender pay gap don’t just report it, they work to
close it. BERL research found nearly half of surveyed firms
that identified a gap adjusted salary as a
result.¹
The prize is real: reducing the
gender pay gap by 25% would mean around $1.8 billion more in
women’s pay, alongside stronger productivity and staff
retention.
This is not a call on small or
medium businesses. We are asking only the country’s largest
employers, those with 150 or more employees, to
report.
Transparency is good for business.
That’s why many of New Zealand’s leading employers already
report voluntarily.
We’re calling for
cross-party support to make gender pay gap reporting
standard for New Zealand employers with 150 or more
employees.
Why? For fairer workplaces and a
stronger economy.
Measure it. Manage it. Close
it.
Dame Theresa Gattung, Chair, and Katie
Bhreatnach, CEO, Global Women
¹BERL, The role of
pay gap reporting in reducing pay gaps (June 2026). Under a
central scenario of a 25% reduction in the gender pay gap,
the report estimates around $1,300 more per woman per year
(roughly $1.8 billion in additional earnings for women),
plus around $18 billion in additional economy-wide output
from better staff retention and modest productivity gains.
More than 80% of surveyed firms reported no external costs,
with reporting drawing largely on existing staff
time.
Statements of support:
Traci Houpapa
MNZM, Chair FOMA Federation of Māori
Authorities:
“Closing the gender pay gap is one
of the smartest investments New Zealand can make. It
strengthens families, grows businesses, lifts productivity
and increases national
prosperity.
“Addressing the gender pay gap is
not a cost – it’s an economic growth strategy. While NZs
overall gender pay gap is 5.2%, the pay gap for Māori women
is 12%, Pacific women 15.8% and migrant and ethnic women
experience persistent pay inequities that further limit
wealth and wellbeing opportunities.
“We can
no longer afford to ignore the economic potential of half
our population. It’s time to do the right thing New
Zealand, close the gender pay gap so women can help build a
stronger, more productive and prosperous Aotearoa New
Zealand.”
David McLean, Chair of Kiwi Group
Capital and Independent Chair of Financial Services
Council:
“Mandatory gender pay gap reporting is
a low-cost, high-return policy. BERL research shows that
nearly half of surveyed firms which measured their gender
pay gap went on to adjust salaries because of it: when
employers measure it, they see where discrepancies are, and
then they can fix them. The scale of the opportunity is
significant, not just in fair pay for women, but in
economy-wide gains from better staff retention and
productivity.
“The proposal is targeted
rather than sweeping. It applies only to New Zealand’s
largest employers leaving small and medium businesses
untouched. Many major employers already report voluntarily,
which shows that the practice is workable at
scale.
“The measurement is not at all hard to
do – message me on LinkedIn and I’ll explain how easy it is!
Over 80% of firms that already report say they incurred no
external costs, since the work draws on existing staff time
and payroll data most large employers already
collect.
“The initiative sits comfortably
within the broader logic that already governs corporate
transparency in New Zealand: financial reporting, health and
safety disclosure, and similar mandates all rest on the idea
that visibility changes behaviour.
“Most
similar countries have this sort of reporting already,
without problems – we are behind our peer nations. We are
proud that New Zealand was the first country to give women
the vote in 1893, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have
to keep working to ensure that everyone has equal
rights.”
Lyn McMorran, Executive Director,
Financial Services Federation:
“The gender pay
gap has existed for far too long and whilst it has narrowed
over time, now is the right time for us to do what needs to
be done to eliminate it once and for
all.
“Recognition must go to businesses that
voluntarily report on their gender pay gaps. They are taking
positive steps towards greater transparency and will likely
be seeing the very real benefits that recognising and
addressing pay gaps can bring, including stronger staff
retention and productivity.
“Making gender
pay gap reporting standard is the obvious and sensible thing
to do. It will give us the transparency needed to take
meaningful action and make the gender pay gap a thing of the
past.”
Antonia Watson, ANZ NZ Chief Executive
Officer:
“At ANZ NZ, we have reported our gender
pay gap for the past five years – and the latest data
shows we are making continued progress.
“For
2025, the average gender pay gap at ANZ NZ was 18% in favour
of men. This is down from 22.4% in 2021, when we began
reporting the pay gap.
“At ANZ NZ, we’re
focused on removing structural barriers and supporting
career progression to increase the representation of women
in senior and higher paying roles. As well as being fair,
creating a more diverse workforce means strengthening
decision making and operational execution which ultimately
benefits customers and shareholders.
“By
measuring and reporting our gender pay gap we hold ourselves
to account and ensure we are facing up to the challenge of
addressing workplace inequality.
“As Chief
Executive of ANZ NZ and a member of Global Women, I urge
other large employers to seize the advantages of measuring
and reporting the gender pay gap.
“It will
help build a better and more productive
workplace.”
About the Berl
research:
¹BERL, The role of pay gap reporting in
reducing pay gaps (June 2026). can be found here
Global
Women
Global Women is a
non-profit membership organisation that has been driving
diversity in leadership through promoting, encouraging and
facilitating the development of women for 15 years. The
organisation is proud to partner with and support some of
New Zealand’s most ambitious organisations, who are
committed to driving increased diversity and inclusion in
their workplaces. With over 400 Global Women members, the
community is recognised for their ability to influence and
impact, advocate for diversity, equality and leadership.
Global Women’s Breakthrough
Leaders and Activate leadership programmes have
catapulted forward the careers of over 400 women. www.globalwomen.org.nz
