Sydney, Australia – 10th February 2026 – Aquent, a global workforce solutions company, has released its 2026 Australian Salary Guide focused on marketing, design, and technology professionals, offering a data-driven view of remuneration trends from the past year, as well as insights into the current labour market.
The gender pay gap in Australia’s marketing, design, and technology sectors has narrowed significantly to 3.56%, outperforming the broader national average (21.1%) and signalling a major victory for pay equity initiatives.
Monique Richards, Aquent’s Managing Director in Australia, points out, “The narrowing of the gender pay gap to 3.56% in our sectors proves that pay transparency is far more than just an essential compliance measure. It’s a strategic retention lever that is actively correcting remuneration imbalances”.
The Aquent 2026 Australian Salary Guide analyses over 5,400 real-time salaries to provide hiring managers with a snapshot of a labour market in transition. While the national gender pay gap sits at 21.1%, the marketing, design, and tech sectors have seen their gap shrink by 1.77 percentage points year-on-year (down from 5.33% in 2025).
Key Gender Insights:
- The “WGEA-effect”: Aquent's salary guide attributes this rapid progress to increased policy pressure, specifically the Workplace Gender Equality Agency's (WGEA) reporting requirements. Transparency is forcing organisations to audit and report their pay scales, leading to incremental corrections.
- Women are out-earning men in some key roles: In a shift from historical trends, women in several high-demand mid-level roles are now out-earning their male counterparts.
- Marketing Managers: Women earn a median of $130,000, while men earn $123,000.
- Data Analysts: Women earn a median of $109,000, while men earn $105,000.
- The “glass ceiling” persists: Despite progress at the mid-level, a gap persists at the executive level. For example, female Heads of Marketing earn a median of $168,000 compared to men at $180,000, underscoring the need for continued vigilance in C-suite compensation.
Pay Transparency as a Retention Lever
For hiring managers, the 2026 Salary Guide identifies pay transparency not just as a compliance requirement, but as the year's most powerful retention tool.
With C-suite salaries growing at 5.3% (outpacing the 3.1% average for individual contributors), there is a risk of widening inequality at the top. Aquent advises leaders to implement competency-based pay frameworks.
By linking salary to “skill stacks” and measurable output rather than tenure or negotiation style, organisations can remove unconscious bias and retain top female talent who might otherwise leave for better equity elsewhere.
The Rise of Skill Stacks
Beyond gender, Aquent’s salary guide highlights a structural shift away from job titles toward “skill stacks.” With 90% of roles augmented by AI, employers are prioritising “hybrid talent” capable of steering strategy while AI handles execution.
To maintain the momentum in closing the gender pay gap, Aquent recommends that hiring managers audit job descriptions to ensure compensation is anchored to high-value skills, such as AI literacy and data governance, so that women acquiring these competencies are rewarded instantly and transparently.
About the Data
The Aquent 2026 Australian Salary Guide analysed 5,404 salaries on 17th December 2025, using real-time data from Aquent’s “Compare My Salary” tool and the Economic Research Institute.
Aquent's comprehensive Salary Guide is a resource for job seekers and employers alike. Further explore the data by accessing Aquent's 2026 Australian Salary Guide here.
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About the Aquent 2026 Australian Salary Guide:
The Aquent 2026 Australian Salary Guide is a comprehensive resource for hiring leaders in the marketing, design, and technology sectors, analysing 5,404 real-time salaries to provide statistical data on remuneration trends. Beyond listing base salaries for over 100 roles, the guide examines the “contradictory forces” of the current labour market, where workforce shortages persist despite stagnant wage growth. The guide explores the impact of AI augmentation, the narrowing gender pay gap, and the rise of hybrid “skill stacks” over traditional job titles. It combines quantitative data from Aquent’s real-time “Compare My Salary” tool and the Economic Research Institute with strategic recommendations to help organisations balance technology investments with employee development.
About Aquent:
Aquent is the leading global work solutions company specialising in marketing, design and technology. We partner with businesses to deliver the talent, technology, and resources they need to excel. From bespoke recruitment solutions and building scalable, on-demand teams, to creative strategy and project management, we’re making the future of work better for everyone.
Learn more at aquent.com.au