At STIHL Australia, we are committed to a fair, inclusive and high performing workplace where women and men have equal access to opportunity, reward and advancement. Publishing this Employer Statement provides context to our WGEA results and outlines the focused actions we are taking to address the structural drivers of our gender pay gap.
Over the past 12 months, we have have continued to conduct regular pay parity reviews and remain confident that employees performing like for like roles are paid in parity, with no systemic pay inequities identified within role families. This reflects STIHL’s ongoing commitment to maintaining equal remuneration.
However, mirroring national trends, occupational gender segregation has been identified as the primary driver of our gender pay gap at STIHL. Female employees are more concentrated in Clerical/Administrative roles, while Male employees are more concentrated in Sales, Management and Professional roles. Addressing this distribution is central to our sustainable improvement. Notably, the organisation’s Executive Team is evenly represented, with a 50/50 gender split that underscores our enduring commitment to balanced and inclusive leadership.
We have set a target to reduce our organisation wide gender pay gap from 9.2% to 8.2% by FY27, underpinned by the actions below.
1. Equal remuneration for equal work
We will continue to conduct annual like for like pay reviews and corrective governance. These reviews will continue to underpin our assurance that employees in comparable roles are paid equally.
We will implement Mercer aligned salary band controls in 2026 to ensure remuneration decisions are transparent, consistent and free from bias.
Measure: No unexplained like-for-like pay gaps >1% by December 2026.
2. Inclusive recruitment
We will review our recruitment processes to ensure that all job ads use inclusive, gender neutral language and imagery. We will diversify recruitment channels to where men and women respectively search, and will commit to gender balanced shortlists and interviews, with specific emphasis on Sales and Clerical/Administrative hiring.
Measure: Each recruitment process demonstrates full application of inclusive recruitment practices, including use of a gender neutral job advertisement, placement of the role in inclusive or mixed‑audience channels, use of a structured and consistent selection process, and documented proactive sourcing steps to support a diverse applicant pool. by June 2026.
3. Parental leave and shared caregiving:
We currently provide up to 18 weeks’ fully paid parental leave for eligible employees. While uptake has historically been predominantly female, we are seeing early positive shifts with male uptake increasing.
Having recently reviewed our Parental Leave Policy to ensure alignment with the government’s focus on supporting shared parenting for all genders, we will strengthen STIHL’s parental leave and flexibility culture by ensuring that leaders actively role model and champion gender equal caregiving, and by creating clear, practical options that make parental leave accessible, particularly in male dominated roles such as Sales based positions.
Measure: Develop, document, and implement a clear structure outlining how parental leave can be accessed and managed in male dominated roles, including at least three defined flexibility options such as coverage models, adjusted travel schedules, phased return-to-work, or other flexible work arrangements by December 2026.
4. Succession planning for critical roles
We have identified gender segregation across role families as one of the primary drivers of our gender pay gap.
We will ensure that every critical role in our organisation has gender balanced successor pools with clear, supported pathways applied consistently across all role families.
Measure: Where practical, each critical role should have a minimum of one male and one female potential successor identified, with documented development plans by December 2026.
5. Transparency, Measurement & Continuous Improvement
By June 2026, STIHL will introduce a quarterly gender equality dashboard to strengthen transparency and leadership accountability. The dashboard will track key workforce indicators by gender, including:
· Vacancies and the gender composition of applicant, shortlist, and appointment outcomes.
· Interview and selection data showing male vs female appointment rates.
· Training participation by gender (male vs female completion and access rates).
· Turnover by gender to identify any emerging disparities.
· Promotions and career progression, reporting male vs female representation in advancement opportunities.
· This action ensures consistent, organisation wide visibility of gender patterns and supports evidence-based decisions to improve gender balance across all role families.
The Executive Leadership Team will review progress quarterly, with oversight by the Board.
Approved by Leeson Brook, Managing Director – 18 February 2026