The gender pay gap accelerates across a woman's working life, peaking in her late-50s and leaving female workers millions of dollars short of men over their careers.

Women entering the workforce in their late teens earn slightly more than men - $376 on average equalling a gender pay gap of two per cent in favour of women - a Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) report has found.

But between 20 to 24 years, the gender pay gap switches to 1.1 per cent in favour of men and then rises significantly to a peak of 31.4 per cent between the ages of 55 and 59.

This is equivalent to a difference of nearly $53,000 between the average total remuneration of women and men.

The report - Ages and Wages - used information reported by more than 7000 employers to WGEA in 2024 and represents the experi

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