Gender Pay Gap Report

Summary

Maurice Blackburn is Australia’s leading plaintiff law firm. We are proud of being a workplace that embodies the principles of fairness, equity, and inclusivity. 

This gender pay gap report is not just a reflection on where we stand today but also a roadmap for the future. It includes:

• An analysis of the median and average (mean) wage differences between our men and women employees.
• Key findings and analysis of the gender pay gap at a Firm level and by job classification.
• Priority areas for further reducing the gender pay gap.
• Key actions for gender equality as part of our broader diversity and inclusion strategy.

Maurice Blackburn’s gender pay gap is 31.4% based on median total remuneration and 20.5% based on average (mean) total remuneration, for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reporting period 2023-24.

The two main challenges driving the gender pay gap are the disproportionate number of women in the lower pay quartiles (in legal non-qualified, legal support and shared services support roles) and the under-representation of women in certain functions, which will be discussed further in this report.

Introduction

Maurice Blackburn has over 1,000 employees of which 77% are women – something we are very proud of. We have over 50% women representation on the Maurice Blackburn Board, with 6 of the 9 positions held by women. Women at the Firm also occupy 50% or more of roles across all WGEA managerial categories.

We are committed to paying all employees fairly based on their contribution to the Firm and its clients. We have transparent processes in place for pay, reward and promotions.

Gender equality is a key goal of the Firm as outlined in our ‘All In’ Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. The strategy sets out the Firm’s future gender and other equality objectives and how we will achieve them. 

The gender pay gap

At Maurice Blackburn, we recognise and acknowledge the existence of a gender pay gap within our workforce. The below table shows the gaps in terms of average (mean) total remuneration, median total remuneration, average (mean) base salary and median base salary.

Since 2022-23, the gender pay gap for median total remuneration has slightly increased by 0.7 percentage points to 31.4%, and the gender pay gap for average (mean) total remuneration moved by 1.6 percentage points to 20.5%.

The gender pay gap for average (mean) and median total remuneration is similar to those of 2021-22. The gender pay gap for median total remuneration in 2023-24 was 31.4% vs 31.3% in 2021-22, and the gender pay gap for average (mean) total remuneration was 2023-24 was 20.5% vs 20.8% in 2021-22.

Findings

Maurice Blackburn has a higher proportion of women than men across every pay quartile. Women outnumber men by at least 4 to 1 in our lower and lower middle pay quartiles and 9 to 1 in legal support roles specifically. This distribution skews the average pay for women employees compared to men employees, creating the Firm level pay gap.

By looking at the data in smaller groups and by job classification, further analysis provides us with a better understanding of where the gaps are occurring.

Analysis by job classification

Our job classification structure is designed to reward people for the roles they perform based on tasks, responsibilities, and skills, aiming to mitigate against gender-based discrimination and discrimination based on other attributes. Each classification level has a salary band with a start and top point, allowing for movement within the band to reflect different roles or experience levels. 98% of employees are covered by the job classification structure (see below); the remaining 2% of employees are covered by individual agreements.

The following chart shows the average (mean) and median total remuneration gender pay gap by job classification, as of 30 June 2024, excluding the CEO and Equity Principals:

_{* A positive percentage indicates men are paid more on average than women. A negative percentage indicates women are paid more on average than men.}

The chart shows the average (mean) and median total remuneration gender pay gaps for Legal Qualified roles have almost been eliminated, with the Legal Non-Qualified and Legal Support roles pay gap favouring women. The Shared Services classification continues to have a pay gap favouring men.

Challenges

The job classification structure has helped to almost eliminate the gender pay gap between women and men lawyers, however we are aware there is more work to do in narrowing the pay gap in our Legal Non-Qualified, Legal Support and Shared Services classifications. The two main challenges are:

1. Legal Non-Qualified and Legal Support: Women outnumber men in support areas nearly 9 to 1. The gender imbalance of this part of our workforce reflects occupational and industry-level challenges, where men are often under-represented in administrative and support roles. The Firm recognises it has a role to play in addressing these challenges.
   
   
2. Shared Services: Shared Services include multiple teams such as Marketing, Digital & Technology, People & Culture, Finance, Public Affairs, Client Support Team, Transformation, Business Development, and Risk, Compliance & and Enterprise Services. Within this classification, we have seven levels of salary bands. Almost 50% of women in this classification sit within the lower-level salary bands, whereas the majority of men (72%) are in the upper-level salary bands. A key challenge we have is the representation of women in technical, highly specialised and/or more senior roles within Shared Services such as Digital & Technology, where traditionally, these industries are dominated by men. 

Our action plan

We acknowledge the challenges we face in closing our gender pay gap and are committed to proactively ensuring our actions and business processes eliminate any form of bias based on gender and other attributes.

To address our challenges, the Firm has committed to:

• Targeted recruitment campaigns to attract diverse candidates for key areas, with the aim of achieving a more gender balanced workforce for these areas. As a result, we have observed a slight improvement in the pay gap within Shared Services between January 2024 and June 2024. The average (mean) gender pay gap for total remuneration has decreased from 16.5% to 15.2%, marking a 1.3 percentage point reduction within Shared Services.
• A proactive approach to attracting, hiring, upskilling and retaining women across the Firm.

We also plan to continue focusing on the implementation of key gender equality actions set out in our ‘All In’ Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2024-2026, which include:

• Increase recruitment, selection, and promotion of diverse talent.
• Improve gender composition of our workforce.
• Support for caring, including 22 weeks paid parental leave and paying employer superannuation contributions on the first 12 months of parental leave, including during unpaid leave.
• Embed a flexible working culture, including the majority of our teams working under a ‘hybrid model’.
• Continued recognition as a WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality.
• Prevent gender-based harassment and discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying.
• Continuous review of ‘People & Culture’ policies and processes to eliminate bias.
• Support for employees experiencing domestic and family violence.
• Increase inclusive awareness through education and training.
• Increase leadership accountability, including through key performance indicators for gender equality and targets for senior leaders and managers.
• Increase diversity and inclusion in business and supply chain, and civic and community engagement.
• Drive gender equality change beyond our workplace.

Read more about Inclusion & Diversity at Maurice Blackburn here.

The Firm is committed to providing a great employee experience and narrowing the gender pay gap is an important part of that commitment.