Mercy Health is a Catholic organisation grounded in a 2,000-year tradition of caring for others. Established by the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Health is comprised of more than 10,000 people who provide acute and subacute hospital care, aged care, mental health programs, maternity and specialist women’s health services, early parenting services, home care services and health worker training and development
Mercy Health is built upon a foundation of strong, dedicated and empowering women, like our founder Catherine McAuley. Catherine recognised the needs of those who were marginalised and oppressed by unjust social attitudes and practices of the day. She responded by establishing a House of Mercy in Dublin which provided educational, religious and social services for women and children who were at risk of homelessness through exploitation and entrenched poverty.
To this day, we are passionate advocates for equity and gender equity. We are proud to have been recognised by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE), a citation we have held since 2008.
Our gender pay gap
Mercy Health has analysed our gender pay gaps (GPGs) for both reporting entities Mercy Hospitals Victoria Ltd (MHVL) and Mercy Aged and Community Care Ltd, which is based on snapshot data as at 31 March 2023. As reported, MHVL has a larger gender pay gap (GPG) than the ‘Hospitals’ (ANZSIC Code 8401) industry comparison benchmark. We attribute this in part to the fact that our WGEA submission included the salary data of our senior medical professionals. Unlike other private or faith-based hospitals in the comparison group, our operating model means that we directly employ many of our senior medical professionals, rather than engaging sessional Visiting Medical Professionals (VMOs).
Mercy Aged and Community Care Ltd is compared to an ‘Aged Care Residential Services’ (ANZSIC Code 8601) industry comparison benchmark. We are pleased that our GPG has reduced since 2021/22. Our current GPG is on par with other organisations in our benchmark group.
Our Gender Equity Plan to address the gender pay gap
We recognise that we have further work to do to create a gender equal environment. We have a comprehensive 2023 – 2026 Gender Equity Plan and have set ambitious new gender pay gap targets for the term of this plan. Our plan includes a number of actions to address the current GPG, including:
- Conducting a review of remuneration across the organisation including a like-for-like pay analysis and identification of pay anomalies;
- Setting targets for increasing the percentage of women leaders and managers, and regularly monitoring progress;
- In consultation with identified work units, setting gender composition targets to increase gender diversity in specific occupations; and
- Identifying and implementing advancement strategies for increasing diversity such as mentoring, scholarships, development, education pathways and secondment opportunities.
Read more about the WGEA Gender Pay Gap Report at www.wgea.gov.au.
Last reviewed February 27, 2024.
