Achieving gender pay parity has been more than a day’s work at tradie marketplace, hipages

A dedication to growth, innovation and top-level buy-in has helped online tradie marketplace hipages become one of the most diverse and inclusive technology companies in Australia and New Zealand.

Workplace diversity is a topic new to nobody, yet it has remained one of the most enduring challenges for Australian companies to address. This year’s mandatory gender pay gap reporting by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found that just one in five Australian businesses had eliminated the gap, with an average yearly difference of just over $28,000. 

But some companies are playing an outsized role, and one such leader is online tradie marketplace hipages.  

A wide-ranging diversity, equity and belonging strategy flows from top management through to every facet of the company’s operations, dovetailing with a focus on employee well-being. 

hipages has had measurable success across some of the most difficult areas of the diversity agenda, such as female representation in STEM roles and gender parity on the board. 

This has earned hipages accolades, such as #1 on the WORK180 list of the top 101 places for Australian women to work, along with #2 (2021 and 2022) and #3 (2023) at the Australian Best Places to Work Awards; Great Place to Work Certified 2024 & 2025 and GPTW Best Workplaces™ for Women 2025. 

Jodette Cleary, hipages chief people and culture officer, has led a ten-year journey with diversity, equity and belonging at the company.  

“It comes down to having an intentional program that is consistent over time,” Cleary says. 

Long-term focus, wide-ranging initiatives

Born in 2004 as a garage start-up, hipages grew to become Australia’s number one place to connect to tradies, with 12 million home improvement jobs posted and 33,000 tradie members. It also has a leading presence in New Zealand after acquiring tradie marketplace Builderscrack. Its board sets targets which inform the company’s People & Culture strategy with initiatives across sourcing, hiring, engaging and developing talent from diverse backgrounds. The company’s Diversity, Equity and Belonging committee then engages employee representatives. 

An accelerated women’s leadership development program includes five scholarships for First Nations women and also female tradies, with external participants. hipages also jointly sponsors a scholarship at the University of New South Wales to support female students pursuing STEM degrees. 

Job ads on hipages acknowledge research that women and minority groups are less likely than men to apply for jobs when they do not meet 100% of the criteria. This encourages them to apply nonetheless, leading to a steep increase in female candidates. 

“A diversity, equity and belonging strategy flows from top management through to every facet of the company’s operations.” 

Jodette Cleary

The company’s efforts are paying off with a $0 gender pay gap in the same roles and a 2.3% total median pay gap – well below the technology industry average of 14.7%. There is 41% female representation in management and 50% female representation on the board, with a female chair. hipages also has extremely high levels of employee engagement and low levels of attrition. 

“The greatest feedback I’ve had at hipages is from people in minority groups telling me they’ve never felt safer to be themselves,” Cleary says. 

Learn more at hipagesgroup.com.au