Understanding the Gender Pay Gap & BLP’s journey to Gender Equity:
Firstly, what is the gender pay gap and where are BLP on our journey to reducing the gender pay gap? The gender pay gap reflects the overall disparity in compensation between men and women, primarily driven by the uneven distribution of roles and seniority levels. For example, the low representation of women in leadership roles or traditionally male dominated industries can impact a pay gap.
At BLP, we recognise that addressing the gender pay gap is a critical priority, but more importantly, it is to address the organisational, structural and societal issues nationally and worldwide, that are indicative of long term and systemic issues that we collectively must address to build a better future.
BLP’s Gender Pay Gap:
BLPs average gender pay gap is 17.1% and median is 20.6% for the reporting period of 1 April 2023 to 30 March 2024.
While we have made significant progress on improving the overall representation of women in senior leadership positions at BLP, our gender pay gap data shows that we still have work to do. This comes down to two key drivers:
- BLP has more than 50% representation of women in the lower middle and lower quartile roles (Student’s, Grads, mid-level support roles). It’s important to note that while this situation is a key driver of our gender pay gap, it shows promising signs of progress in our commitment to develop and create pathways to leadership roles for our female employees who progress through our career progression planning & promotions processes.
- BLP has less than 50% of women represented on the Leadership Team (Executive, Principals, Senior Associates & Associates) and Board of Directors. BLP is above our comparison group as per the below WGEA report in the representation of women on the Leadership teams which demonstrates our commitment to achieving gender equity.
| Your workforce | Comparison group | |||
| Women | Men | Women | Men | |
| Key Management Personnel (KMPs) | 38% | 63% | 30% | 70% |
| Managers | 45% | 55% | 39% | 61% |
| Non-Managers | 61% | 39% | 51% | 49% |
What have BLP done so far to address the gender pay gap?
- The recent round of leadership (Principals, Senior Associates & Associates) promotions increased the representation of women on the Leadership Team from 38% to 40%.
- BLP’s Parental Leave Policy offers up to 14 weeks of leave at full-pay for both primary and secondary carers along with other industry-leading benefits. In the last 12 months, seven employees have taken 14 weeks of BLP’s paid parental leave which includes three of our recently promoted female Associates. This uptake not only shows the positive impact this policy has had on primary and secondary carers (male & female) but also demonstrates our dedication to ensuring that parental responsibilities do not impede career advancement, particularly for our female BLP’ers.
- BLP worked closely with our industry peers on the Champions of Change coalition, Property Council and Parlour Collective to focus on shifting the systems of gender inequality within the architectural practice. Our focus has been to build respectful and inclusive workplaces by engaging leaders and addressing the acute underrepresentation of women in the senior levels of the architecture profession.
- Our Working Better guidelines continue to encourage culture, connections & learning, while also ensuring everyone has a health work life blend that allows them to do their best work with the right level of support and flexibility.
- Two of our female senior leaders accepted leadership roles with the UIA Public Health Group as Australian Representatives – committing to its global mission to share knowledge and experience with other architects, engineers, consultants, health care organisations and governments for world public health.
BLP’s Commitment in 2025!
- To continue working towards lowering the gender pay gap through improving the representation of women on the Leadership Team (Principals, Senior Associates & Associates) and Board of Directors.
- Embed a Leadership Capability Framework which provides a structured approach to identifying and nurturing leadership potential within the practice for all genders.
- BLP’s offers up to 14 weeks of paid parental leave for either parent irrespective of gender. This policy not only reduces the amount of unpaid leave that women typically take but also encourages men to uptake on the parental leave policy, which has traditionally been less common. As a result, women have the flexibility to return to work sooner if they choose, promoting greater gender equality in childcare.
- Leading with Sponsorship Initiatives involves practical actions to break the habit of favouring people like us in gender and race. BLP supports inclusive gender equality and formal sponsorship initiatives to disrupt bias in recruitment, development, and promotion, level the playing field, accelerate women’s careers, and enhance the diversity and capability of senior leadership.
- Continue working with the Champions of Change coalition to further implement key initiatives and strategies in each practice to advance gender equity in Australia.
- To continue to support the lower and lower middle quartiles through the annual Career Progression Process by furthering career development at BLP and continue identifying pathways to leadership
Our journey towards gender equity is ongoing, and we are dedicated to making meaningful, lasting changes that will build a better future for our employees, our organisation, and society as a whole.
