Overview

This Employer Statement relates to information submitted to the Federal Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) by the QANTM Group of companies (QANTM Group) for the 2023-2024 reporting period, based on data as at 29 March 2024. QANTM Group is the owner of intellectual property (IP) businesses operating in Australia and in several countries globally. For reporting to WGEA, the Group’s entities fall under the industry classification, “Legal Services”.

Since reporting to WGEA in 2023-24, Fox HoldCo is now the owner of QANTM Group. This change will be reflected in the 2024-25 report to WGEA.

Changes to the publication of gender pay gaps from 2024 to 2025

The second release of WGEA employer gender pay gaps (GPG) on 4 March 2025 reflected several changes to data published in 2024. From 2025, data includes CEO’s remuneration, the average (mean) gaps as well as the median, and the individual GPGs for entities with 80 or more employees within a corporate group in addition to the aggregated GPG of the group.

Group Structure

QANTM Group comprises five employing entities in Australia. Given the change to the publication of GPGs for employers from 2025, the only individual entity in the group with published data is Davies Collison Cave Pty Ltd (DCC). Each of the other entities employ less than 80 employees so are defined by WGEA as non-relevant for this purpose. Their data has been aggregated with DCC to form the QANTM Group data.

This Employer Statement primarily covers the QANTM Group given DCC, with 206 employees, is the largest employer in the Group and its data is comparable to the Group’s data overall. Below lists all employing entities and their number of Australian employees:

No. employees
Davies Collison Cave Pty Ltd (DCC) 206
Davies Collison Cave Law Pty Ltd 33
FPA Patent Attorneys Pty Ltd (FPA) 72
QANTM Intellectual Property Limited 3
QIP Services Pty Ltd 21
QANTM Group total: 335

Message from Managing Director of QANTM Group and Managing Principals of DCC & FPA

At QANTM Group we know that publishing gender pay gaps directs our collective focus to building equitable workplaces that reward high-performance and equal opportunities to progress for all employees.

Our strength is our people, and we are committed to making diversity, inclusion and belonging integral to the way we work. We recognise that diverse perspectives, where everyone is treated fairly, respectfully and equitably, are critical not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but it also enhances our ability to understand and respond to the needs of our stakeholders, be innovative and adapt.

As a group of companies that provides intellectual property (IP) legal services, an area that has been historically male-dominated, we are on a journey of change. We are pleased that we have made progress towards closing our gender pay gap over the past few years. Although this is a step in the right direction, we acknowledge there is still much work to do, both within our business and at an industry level. We recognise we all have a role to play in driving this change.

As we increase the representation of women in management and higher-paid roles, together with bringing more men into administration roles, our gender pay gap will continue to decline. We know that change takes time, ongoing focus, courage and continued effort. We remain committed to taking purposeful steps to achieving gender equality in our workplaces.

What is the gender pay gap?

A common misconception is that the gender pay gap represents men and women being paid differently for the same work (when comparing against differences such as skills, experience, and responsibilities).

In comparison, the WGEA GPG reflects the difference between the collective earnings of women and men across all roles in an organisation. The GPG is the result of social and economic factors, with a significant cause being the proportion of women and men in different occupational roles and management levels.

Understanding QANTM Group’s gender pay gaps

Even though women represent 68% of QANTM Group’s workforce, they are over-represented in all but the highest paid quartile, 42% compared to 58% for men (Graph 1).  Most of our female workforce occupy clerical and administrative roles which is reflected in their significant representation in the lowest quartile (83%) and second lowest quartile (86%). The highest paid employees are fee earners and are the equivalent of Partners in Partnership structures. As such there is a significant difference in remuneration between them and the remainder of our workforce which is a contributor to our gender pay gap.

Patent attorneys in the QANTM Group need a background in science or engineering, STEM areas that have historically been male dominated. This legacy continues to limit the pool of female candidates, particularly in engineering. In parallel, men have continued to develop greater experience given their longer tenure in the organisation and industry, resulting in their higher pay.

Another industry issue[1] is women wanting to move to in-house roles instead of staying in private practice, often due to a combination of factors including billable time expectations and juggling caring responsibilities.  In the QANTM Group, despite billable hours being adjusted proportionately in line with contracted hours, our aim is to understand the employee value proposition that creates a working environment that attracts candidates for these roles regardless of their gender or caring responsibilities.  These factors contribute to the lower participation rate of women and our gender pay gap.

Pleasingly, since our report in 2022-23 there has been an increase in the representation of women in the highest paid quartile of 13.5% (5 percentage points [pp]), from 37% to 42%. The proportion of men in the lowest quartile has also increased from 14% to 17% (by 21% or 3pp).

Graph 1: Gender composition by pay quartiles 2023-24

Gender pay gaps

From 2021-22 to 2023-24 the mean (average) GPGs for the QANTM Group have reduced for base salary by 12.5% (6.3pp), and total remuneration by 14.6% (7.5pp) (Table 1).  During this time, median GPGs have also reduced for base salary by 19% (9.3pp) and total remuneration by 21% (10.55pp).

For DCC (Table 1), the reduction in GPGs for base and total remuneration, mean and median, has been even greater. The mean base salary GPG dropped by 14.7% (7.9pp) and for total remuneration dropped by 17.7% (9.8pp). The median base salary GPG dropped by 19.6% (9.8pp) and for total remuneration by 25.5% (13.8pp). 

Table 1: GPGs for QANTM Group and DCC

The decrease in GPGs mirrors improvements in key areas since our 2022-23 WGEA report. Specifically, for QANTM Group the proportion of women in management (Table 2) has increased by 31% (9pp, from 29% to 38%). The data shows 100% of Key Management Personnel are men, this reflects only one employee reported in this category.

  Key Management Personnel Managers Non-managers
Men Women Men Women Men
2023-24 100% 38% 62% 76% 24%
2022-23 100% 29% 71% 81% 19%

Table 2: QANTM Group gender representation

Industry comparisons

Although we have seen improvements, our GPG is high compared to the comparators in our industry classification, “Legal Services”.  Most firms in the “Legal Services” industry have Partners as their highest earners who are exempt from reporting their earnings to WGEA. Because QANTM Group operates as a corporate entity not a Partnership, their equivalent fee earners are employees so are required to report their remuneration. This difference results in higher GPGs for legal firms who operate as corporate entities. Regardless, we view the GPG as a useful measure as it highlights the financial impact this historical legacy has on women. We are committed to reducing our GPG and creating workplaces where women and all employees have equal opportunities for success at all levels.

Notably, this year the industry comparisons were only produced for DCC as the only employer in the group with 80 or more employees.  No industry data was produced for the QANTM Group. Because of this change, our comparators are also in a different size category than in 2022-23.

How we’re closing the GPG

At DCC we have taken significant steps to address gender inequality through the development of a robust DEI strategy. This strategy, launched in November 2021and our Gender Equity Action Plan established in 2023, covers a roadmap under four key pillars. These are supported by two committees, the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee and the Gender Equity Committee.  As part of our normal strategy development cycle, our DEI Strategy, along with QANTM Group’s strategy and action plans more broadly, are currently being reviewed and updated.

DEI strategy: 4 key pillars

  1. Promoting a culture of acceptance through fairness, respect and recognition.
  2. Ensuring our understanding of Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging is informed and highly developed and supports a psychologically safe working environment.
  3. Building momentum towards a more diverse and inclusive culture by focusing on supporting flexible working, engagement and well-being.
  4. Targeting areas of diversity to ensure we are leading in these areas.

We continue to drive improvements in our systems and processes to remove bias. Annually, we undertake gender pay equity reviews to identify and address pay inequity and to better understand the causes of our gender pay gap. As part of our remuneration review process, we actively deploy strategies so women’s remuneration does not, over time, inadvertently fall behind the remuneration of men in the same role.  We also monitor and report on critical areas such as pay equity metrics (including gender pay gaps) to the executive and governing body.

It is essential for us to understand where gender barriers exist and the levers we can pull to remove these barriers and improve the experience of all our employees. We have a multi-pronged approach to achieving this. Across the Group, examples include collecting feedback from staff through employee engagement surveys and other consultation forums; proactively engaging with our industry e.g. we participate in the Australian Legal Sector Alliance, an industry association aimed at promoting best practice and inclusive workplaces, and we proactively engage with women in STEM to promote IP as a career option and give women access to role models. We recognise it is difficult to be what you cannot see.

Building safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces

We know that having a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace is critical to the attraction and retention of women in historically male-dominated industries and roles. We have developed a strong program to ensure our workplaces are free from discrimination and harassment and that promotes safety including psychological safety. This includes face-to-face training to ensure staff understand the importance of a respectful and safe workplace, training people-managers in addressing gender bias (including unconscious bias) and understanding inclusive behaviours, regular reinforcing communications from senior staff, and “up-stander” training to all staff. Governance and oversight of programs within this strategy are in place.

We monitor and report on a number of critical areas related to workplace sexual harassment risks, prevention and response to our leadership teams and Board.

Increasing representation of women in management and higher-paid roles

Important to increasing the representation of women in leadership and higher-paid roles is attracting and retaining women from science and engineering and legal backgrounds. To this end we offer a patent internship program that gives university students hands-on experience in the IP field. This internship is bespoke in the market, giving all participants in these STEM fields, including women, the opportunity to gain skills in an environment they may not have considered previously.

We have set targets to increase the representation of women in management and to increase the number of men in female-dominated roles. During 2023-24, there were five women appointed (including promotions) to management positions, comprising 100% of all management appointments.

At DCC our recruitment, promotion and talent management practices have been reviewed to identify and remove implicit and explicit biases. This is currently being incorporated into FPA’s recruitment practices. Actions taken include using anonymous recruitment processes where CVs are first screened by removing identifying factors (such as names or photographs) to remove the possibility of gender or other biases. We have also sourced recruitment agencies that promote DEI that aligns with our commitment to diversity.

To support the development of women, at DCC we have introduced a formalised research-based sponsorship and leadership program where sponsors are taught how to effectively invest in the careers of emerging women leaders. Our intention is to roll this out throughout the group in the next 12 months. As we actively recruit women and develop their careers, we will see greater progression into senior and higher-paid roles, ultimately reducing the pay gap.

Embedding flexible working arrangements

We recognise the importance of a workplace culture that explicitly supports flexible working, including part-time hours in senior roles; to support our staff and as a tool for attracting and retaining top talent.  We believe this is also important for men, many of whom want to take a more active role in their family or have caring responsibilities. This is supported in our updated paid parental leave policy providing all parents access to 20 weeks’ full pay parental leave taken in the first two years’ following the birth of their child.

We remain committed to a hybrid model of working so have not mandated ‘in-office’ days. This gives our workforce a significant amount of flexibility to balance their work and other commitments. We have set targets to increase the number of men utilising flexible working arrangements, ensuring flexibility is not perceived as a “women’s issue” but available to all.  Additionally, we track and report key metrics on the usage and impact of these measures to the executive team and governing body.

In DCC, 47% of female managers, and 12% of male managers work part-time. In the most senior roles at DCC and FPA, there are women and men who work part-time.

Supporting parents and carers

At QANTM Group, we know the critical role we play as an employer to support working parents, including at senior levels. We are committed to providing a workplace culture where men and women are supported during this critical time of change. To this end, and as part of our attraction and retention strategy, we have made some significant changes to our Parental Leave Policy.

We have increased our employer-funded paid parental leave from 12 to 20 weeks at full-pay regardless of gender. On commencement, we have also reduced the eligibility period to access this leave from 12 to six months.

For QANTM Group, we include superannuation payments on paid and unpaid leave for the first 12 months of leave. We have a comprehensive keep-in-touch program, a recent outcome being an employee who was promoted while on parental leave. Fee earners are supported to return to work with adjusted billable hours to help reduce the stress that can occur in the return-to-work process. We also provide a $250 emergency childcare payment.

We are trialling a substantial, formalised parental leave coaching program to prospective parents provided by an independent specialist so employees have the resources needed to maximise the successful transition to parental leave and back to work. This support spans three phases of leave – preparing for leave, during leave, and returning from leave.

Over the next 12 months, we will explore ways to raise awareness of and mitigate unconscious biases that impact working mothers compared to the premium fathers can receive, e.g. during performance reviews and promotion assessments. We will also be reviewing feedback and other data to ensure there is no parenting penalty for those who access parental leave.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we are committed to genuine, ongoing improvement and creating a workplace culture that is safe, respectful, diverse and inclusive. We have made some progress but acknowledge we have a way to go. We are committed to this challenge and creating real change.

Signed:

 

 

[1] Female patent attorneys and movements around the profession: achieving non-gendered decision-making
Jessica C Lai *, Ronelle Geldenhuys, Maryam Khajeh Tabari and Mark Summerfield.