Equal Pay Day on August 19 marks the 50 additional days women must work on average to earn the same amount their male colleagues had by the end of the financial year.
The gap is driven by three main factors - gender segregation of occupations and industries, unequal distribution of caring and family responsibilities and workplace discrimination - research by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found.
Thousands of people have used the agency's pay calculator to work out their equal pay date at their employer.
It should be a call-to-action for employers and spark conversations about the gender pay gap in workplaces, the agency's chief executive Mary Wooldridge said.
"We can talk about pay gap percentages but when you see it in terms of actual numbers of days women need to work to earn the same as men, it makes it very tangible," she told AAP.
"For executives, this is an opportunity as leaders and people managers to take steps to understand what is driving pay gaps in the workplace, and can be a catalyst for starting that process.
"For employees, it's a chance to start a conversation that sometimes can be delicate, but the data enables them to be more informed in terms of having that conversation."
More than eight in 10 Australian employers - 84.7 per cent - have average gender pay gaps outside the target range of plus or minus five per cent.
"Every industry in Australia, including those that are women-dominated or that are gender-balanced, has a gender pay gap in favour of men," Ms Wooldridge said.
"Equal Pay Day reminds us that there is still significant work to do to achieve equal and fair workplaces for all people."
The timeline to reach pay equity in Australia is currently 21.5 years, according to analysis by the Financy Women's Index.
When the timeline was first measured in 2017, it estimated the gender pay gap would take 37.5 years to fix.
"Equal Pay Day is a stark reminder of the economic reality for women, and our 21.5-year time frame quantifies the long road ahead," index founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman said.
"While it's positive to see the number come down over the long term, it represents the median point in a much more complex journey.
"The fact that women have to work an extra 50 days into the new financial year just to catch up to men's earnings is unacceptable."
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