Gender Pay Gap Statement
Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH) Employer Statement – WGEA 2024-2025
At SASH we are committed to providing equal opportunity for all team members to thrive and build meaningful careers. The Workplace Gender Equity Agency (WGEA) annually reports on the Gender Pay Gap. The Gender Pay Gap is calculated by WGEA based on information provided by employers and is expressed as a percentage showing the difference between the earnings of women and men.
The WGEA has reported a median Gender Pay Gap for the SASH group (all hospitals) of 41.5% for 2024-2025 (reported in March 2025), compared to 43.3% in the prior year.
We recognise that our Gender Pay Gap reflects both structural factors within our industry and the composition of our workforce. Approximately 85% of the SASH workforce is female. A significant proportion (57%) of our team members are employed in nursing and client services roles, which are lower paid relative to veterinary and specialist roles in line with industry standards. This concentration of women in lower earning roles has a material impact on our overall Gender Pay Gap result.
Importantly, women are strongly represented across our veterinary, specialist and senior clinical leadership roles. When we review internal pay relativities between comparable veterinary roles, including senior clinical leadership positions, the Gender Pay Gap sits within the WGEA tolerance range of +/-5%.
Closing the Gender Pay Gap remains a priority for SASH. Our ongoing actions include:
- Gender balance in leadership: including within founder groups of new hospitals and the appointment of a female Chair of the SASH Board. Female representation is also present across the boards of our subsidiary hospitals.
- Investment in Development: continued investment in leadership development and career progression opportunities for all team members.
- Bias-Free Recruitment, Retention, and Promotion: ongoing review of recruitment, retention, and promotion practices to eliminate gender bias.
- Remuneration Reviews: annual remuneration reviews to ensure pay decisions are made fairly and without gender bias.
- Gender balance within our intern and resident programs, representing our future specialist pipeline.
- Flexible Work Arrangements: support for flexible work arrangements to accommodate different life stages and family responsibilities.
- Paid Parental Leave: industry leadingpaid parental leave, with equal access available to both parents.
We recognise that progress requires sustained focus and SASH remains committed to closing the Gender Pay Gap. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, achieve and make a difference so that we can continue to help pets and their families live their best life.
Modern Slavery Statement
At SASH, we acknowledge we have both a legal and moral responsibility to promote transparency in our operations and implement procedures that minimise the chances that modern slavery practices could exist within the business and broader supply chain. While this marks SASH’s first modern slavery statement, we are committed to improving our practices to identify and address modern slavery. The full document can be accessed here.