Gender pay gap employer statement – our commitment to inclusion, gender equality and diversity

3 March, 2025
Peter O'Sullivan, Partner, Chief People Officer, BDO in Australia

BDO is committed to an inclusive culture, one where our people feel like they belong and can bring their true selves to work every single day. We value the differences and unique perspectives of every individual in our team.

Gender equality, including closing the gender pay gap and ensuring all our people are equitably rewarded, is a key priority for our firm. Our Board-endorsed Gender Equality strategy aligns with our firm strategy and formalises our active commitment to gender equality in the workplace. Improving gender equality is critical to our success because it ensures an inclusive and safe environment for all our people, and it will strengthen our quality of thought, collaboration, and perspective. This all leads to even stronger ideas and solutions for our clients and a better experience for our people.

The firm’s Culture Council, led by our Chief Executive Partner Tony Schiffmann, in conjunction with the BDO Australia Limited Board, plays a vital governance role to ensure the firm is meeting its inclusive culture and gender equality objectives.

2023-24 WGEA Gender Pay Gap analysis

Gender pay gap over time

BDO’s average total remuneration gender pay gap (GPG) for 2023-24, as reported by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), is 17.9% and the median total remuneration GPG is 9.2%. The GPG midpoint in our Comparison Group (Professional, Scientific and Technical Services), as provided by WGEA in our industry benchmark report, is 15.6% for the average total remuneration GPG and 16.0% for the median total remuneration GPG.

The increase in our gender pay gap from the previous reporting period is the result of changes in the data set. For the first time in 2023-24, following legislative reforms, WGEA has included ‘CEO’, ‘Head of Business’ and ‘Casual Manager’ remuneration data in the GPG calculation for all reporting organisations. In line with our company structure (and noting we are not structured as a partnership in the legal sense of that term), the following roles are included in the WGEA GPG calculation at the CEO and Head of Business levels – Chief Executive Partner, Office Managing Partner, Partner-in-Charge and C-Suite. Whilst these roles are currently predominantly held by men, our goal is to increase the number of women in these senior roles by actively supporting our pipeline of future female leaders and reduce the GPG. We regularly monitor our progress and our internal analysis in 2024 shows we are making positive improvements and heading in the right direction.

Gender composition and average remuneration by pay quartile

The chart below divides the total remuneration full-time equivalent pay of all employees into four equal quartiles, by gender.

As at 31 March 2024, women represent 50% of BDO’s total workforce, however there is a disproportionate concentration of men in the upper quartile (63%). We are particularly focused on the lower and upper middle quartiles to progress more women through to the upper quartile range, particularly in partner roles, and ensure we achieve a better gender balance in key decision-making roles. 

Our representation of women in partner roles is currently at 22% (as at 1 February 2025). Although this is currently below our representation target, we are proud that a large proportion of women hold Shared Services leadership roles, including our Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Partner, Quality Management Leader. As outlined in our action plan below, we will continue taking proactive steps to ensure our women progress to leadership roles across our firm and develop their career with BDO.

Factors influencing our gender pay gap

Key factors contributing to the firm’s gender pay gap include:

• A higher representation of men in senior roles, particularly at partner level
• A higher representation of women in administrative/support roles
• More women than men taking periods of parental leave, meaning women are out of the workforce for longer.

Our Gender Equality Strategy and gender pay gap action plan

We are undertaking a multi-faceted approach to address our gender pay gap, guided by our Board-endorsed Gender Equality Strategy. Our goal is to tackle any systemic and cultural factors contributing to the disparity, and to ensure leadership accountability.

Key actions and measures include:

• Undertaking detailed gender pay gap analysis, which includes investigating and analysing our pay data before, during and after our remuneration review cycle, ensuring a gender lens is applied to all pay decisions
• Tracking pay data by other important factors, such as work status (full-time/part-time), location, service line, and where appropriate, addressing any discrepancies
• Adopting a firm-wide gender pay gap target to reduce the gender pay gap and communicating progress to our people
• Establishing targets of 30% women partners and 40% women directors by 2025. We have exceeded the director target (47% directors as at 1 February 2025) and have targets in other areas, including women candidates shortlisted for lateral hire partner roles and for internal promotions, to improve gender balance and help drive positive change at the partner level
• Holding annual remuneration transparency sessions to help our people understand pay ranges and how their pay is determined
• Conducting inclusive leadership training to equip our leaders with the knowledge and skills to reduce bias and take intentional action to drive an even higher standard of inclusion across the firm
• Piloting a Sponsorship Program to help our diverse talent realise upwards mobility within the firm. Commencing with a cohort of high potential women, the program enables our women to grow their impact and achieve their career aspirations, including progressing into more senior roles
• Launching two national inclusion networks in 2024 – Women@BDO and Families&Carers@BDO
  • Women@BDO gives our people an active voice when it comes to the experience of women at BDO, providing a forum for building connections, information sharing, and development opportunities, whilst empowering individuals to achieve their career aspirations
  • Families&Carers@BDO provides a forum for our working parents, family members and carers to connect and learn from others with similar experiences, and share supports available for balancing work, family and caring responsibilities
• A Family Support Policy that includes paid parental leave provisions and superannuation on all periods of parental leave, supplemented by additional support mechanisms for all our people with caregiving responsibilities
• Promoting formal and informal flexible working arrangements for all our people and providing support for successful implementation.

Removing barriers to the equal participation of women in the workplace resulting from historical, social and economic factors requires cultural change. We are making progress, but we know there is more to be done. This is why BDO’s commitment to inclusion and gender equality is formalised in our firm strategy and governed by our Culture Council, Executive Leadership Team and Board.