Pressure is mounting on the Government to pass laws that would force businesses to disclose their gender pay gap.
This week, the Minister for Women, Jan Tinetti, announced her National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women would look into how it could work.
It coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, which requires women and men to receive the same pay for the same job.
Despite the legal framework, the wage gap has stalled at around nine per cent for the past few years.
But when it's broken down by ethnicity, it's much worse.
For every dollar a Pākehā man earns, Pākehā women are paid on average only 89 cents.
But Māori women only get 81 cents of that dollar, while Pasifika women earn just 75 cents.
Mind The Gap's Dellwyn Stuart has been campaigning for laws that would make gender pay gap reporting mandatory for all employers within both the private and public sectors.
She says to make any difference the government must act now.
"It's wonderful to have the government make a move on this, but an advisory group is not enough to put more money in people's wallets. We need much greater urgency," she says.
It recommended requiring companies to report employees' income on an intersectional basis for more transparency.
Senior History Lecturer Cybele Lock says the research needed for setting up a proper pay transparency system for the private sector is already there.
"It needs to be made really clear and transparent what employers are offering in their job hiring and promotion practices so that people can talk about this, and it can be really out in the open. That's when change will come," she says.
Senior History Lecturer Cybele Locke explains why the 1972 Equal Pay Act was just the start of an ongoing struggle for equal pay for women in the workforce.
When asked when the National Advisory Council would report back its findings, Tinetti said it would be sometime next year.
"We know that the gender pay gap has stalled. I always say as long as there is a gender pay gap, there is more work to be done, and we must get on and get that work done."
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