Employer Statement - WGEA Gender Pay Gap (QLD)

Commitment to Gender Equality

As leaders in the provision of healthcare to rural and remote Queensland communities, the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (Queensland Section) (RFDS) recognises the importance of fostering gender equality.

RFDS aims to create an organisation that not only recognises the unique contributions of every individual but actively works to eliminate gender disparities, ensuring a workplace that is fair, inclusive, and supportive for all. 

At the core of this commitment is a pledge from leadership to actively champion gender equality and foster an inclusive workplace culture that values diversity.

Progress towards Gender Equality

In the 23-24 Reporting Period, the RFDS made positive progress in reducing the organisation’s average (mean) and medial total remuneration and base salary gender pay gap.

The RFDS is pleased to see the gap reduce two years in a row across all metrics, with the exception of the median total remuneration that increased in 2022-23 before dropping again.

In pursuit of the organisations commitment to achieving gender equality, the RFDS has adopted a holistic approach that spans organisational culture, policies, and operational practices.

In the 2023-24 Period, the RFDS:

• Conducted a thorough review of the organisations Parental Leave, Flexible Working Arrangements and Recruitment and Selection Policies, scrutinising language to ensure it is gender-neutral and free from inadvertent biases.
• Offered both primary and secondary caregiver leave types and commenced paying superannuation to employees during periods of paid RFDS parental leave.
• Assessed recruitment processes to ensure they remain unbiased and inclusive.
• Offered flexible working arrangements in excess of industry standards.
• Ensured through the negotiation of five (5) Enterprise Agreements, that pay, benefits and opportunities are equally accessible to all employees, regardless of gender.
• Consistently enforced a zero-tolerance policy for gender-based discrimination, harassment, or bias.

Gender Pay Gap Analysis

The gender pay gap observed at RFDS is shaped by a range of factors. Among these, the following factors are likely to have the most significant influence on the gender pay disparity identified at RFDS.

Proportion of women in part-time and casual workforce

• Women are significantly overrepresented in part-time and casual work at RFDS, representing 65% of the part-time and casual workforce.
• This trend underscores significant gender disparity in the distribution of part-time and casual roles within RFDS which is consistent with trends in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry overall, as depicted in the WGEA report.
• Factors like caregiving responsibilities are seen to be a significant contributing factor to this disparity, which can ultimately affect earning capacity and career advancement opportunities.

Flexible Work Arrangements

• We acknowledge that significantly more women than men at RFDS engage in Flexible Working Arrangements.
• This trend also underscores the significance of offering flexible work arrangements as a means of supporting gender diversity and accommodating the diverse needs of the workforce.

Gender composition of the RFDS workforce driven by social and external factors

• There are noticeable differences in the gender composition of key roles at RFDS, with noteworthy disparities in fields such as Medical Officers and Aviation, where males account for 59% and 83% of the workforce, respectively.
• These two professions not only play a pivotal role in RFDS’ operations, but also represent the highest-paid operational roles in the organisation.
• RFDS’ gender pay gap is highly skewed by the dominance of males in these roles.
• It is further worth acknowledging that many of the Medical Officers at RFDS are employed on fractional, non-full-time arrangements, meaning that more Medical Officers are required to fill our Medical Officer FTE. This serves to further complicate and skew the available data, as data is represented only as the full time equivalent for each position at RFDS.
• Conversely, the nursing workforce at RFDS is predominantly women, with women constituting close to 88% of the Nursing workforce at RFDS. The Nursing cohort at RFDS is substantial, constituting over one quarter of the RFDS workforce overall.
• These roles attract lower wages than the above-mentioned roles.
• This trend is reflective of a broader industry-wide pattern where nursing, caregiving and administrative roles are, on balance, predominantly occupied by women.

Women in leadership positions at RFDS

• Women represent 58% of the whole RFDS workforce, however this does not correlate to Key Management Personnel (KMPs), where 58% are men. It is worth noting progress from the previous reporting period where men made up 67% of KMPs.
• The RFDS has seen an improvement of more women in leadership positions in the 23-24 Reporting Period, with 53% of managers being women, compared to 47% in the 22-23 Reporting
  Period. This is further supported by a greater representation of women made successful during recruitment processes, with 58% of appointments to manager and non-manager positions being women.
• Finally, The Gender Composition of the Governing Body has improved, with 38% of Board members are women compared to 36% from the previous reporting period. This is consistent with the industry comparison group.

Actions and Monitoring progress

In the 2023-24 Reporting Period, the RFDS headcount exceeded 500, moving it into a new comparison group for industry benchmarking WGEA results. Moving into the next reporting period, the RFDS will review the Comparison group data and continue to work towards improving gender equality within the organisation.

At a high level, the RFDS will strategically prioritise the following initiatives to ensure progress is made in fostering gender equality:

Enhance Data Collection and Reporting

• Improve the transparency of pay data, ensuring that it is regularly collected, analysed, and reported.

Remuneration Framework and Policy

• Introduce a Remuneration Framework for non-Agreement employees to support Remuneration decisions and ensure negotiation processes do not inadvertently perpetuate gender biases.
• Majority of the RFDS workforce is underpinned by five Enterprise Agreements. These roles are all paid equally regardless of gender.

Address Occupational Segregation

• RFDS is working towards breaking down occupational segregation by continuing to encourage and support women in pursuing higher-paying and leadership roles within the organisation.
• Additionally, RFDS is committed to creating tangible opportunities for career advancement. This involves fostering an environment where merit and skills are the primary factors for progression in a particular discipline and ensuring that women have equal access to professional development and growth pathways.

Collaboration with Industry Initiatives

• Engage in industry initiatives and establish collaborations with external organisations is integral to RFDS's commitment to advancing gender equality to position the organisation at the forefront of progressive practices, influence industry standards and stay informed about the latest advancements in fostering gender equality, including in reducing it’s gender pay gap.

Continuous Monitoring and Adjustment

• RFDS will set up continuous monitoring to track progress on closing the gender pay gap as far as is possible within RFDS and adjust strategies as needed. This includes regularly soliciting feedback from employees to ensure that initiatives are effective and well received.

The RFDS is also committed to continuing and amplifying successes in these areas:

Leadership commitment

• Maintain and improve a culture that values diversity and inclusion, where gender equity is seen as integral to the organisations success.
• Champion mentorship and sponsorship programs that facilitate the professional development of women, helping to narrow the gender pay gap by ensuring equal opportunities for advancement.

Continue to promote work-life balance and flexible working

RFDS will continue to offer and support employees to undertake activities and schedules that support a greater work-life balance where available, such as:

Enabling workers to undertake part-time work hours on request (where possible), remote work options and maintaining family friendly policies.

• Continuing to offer parental leave provisions in excess of industry, and further support these through the use of flexible working arrangements on returning from parental leave and at other times as required to best support the workforce.
• Supporting women and men in effectively managing their professional and personal responsibilities and to decrease barriers that prevent women from participating in the workforce.
• Furthermore, the RFDS will focus on ensuring that flexible working options do not inadvertently disadvantage women in terms of promotions or salary growth.

Progression Opportunities within RFDS

• RFDS will also continue to ensure that any applicable criteria or requirements governing salary determinations, promotions or any other pay impacting factors within the organisation are clearly communicated and understood by employees.

Fair, equitable and unbiased recruitment processes

• RFDS recruitment strategies are, and will continue to be, designed not only to attract diverse talent but to ensure the workforce reflects the diversity of the communities it serves.
• RFDS also acknowledges that as part of this, it is important to enable open discussions about remuneration and ensure that negotiation processes do not inadvertently perpetuate gender biases.