The latest report from the federal government's Workplace Gender Equality Agency showed the ACT's pay gap stood at 12.4 per cent in May 2017, up from 10.9 per cent a year earlier.

An overall narrowing of the national pay gap in Australia now sees women now earning $26,527 a year less than men - representing a 15.3 per cent disparity.

The gap was 19.3 per cent in the private sector in May, well ahead of 10.8 per cent in Australia public sector.

Since 1997, the gap in the public sector has been considerably lower than in private employment - hovering between 17.4 per cent and 22.1 per cent among private organisations and between 13.5 per cent and 10.8 per cent in the public sector.

In June, the Community and Public Sector Union called for a "gender lens" to be applied to help close pay gaps in federal departments and agencies, after data showed female public servants were paid on average 8.6 per cent less than their male colleagues.

The 2017 Australian Public Service Remuneration Report considered the government gender pay gap for the first time, finding across the entire workforce the average base salary for women was $84,104, well below the $92,036 base salary for men.

Median base salaries for women were within 1 per cent of men's pay at eight public service classifications, coming as employees stayed twice as long at the same level of seniority when compared with 2008 levels.

The Australian Public Service Commission data showed women earn slightly more than men, on average, in five employment categories - the highest being the APS 6 level, where women make $88,194, compared with $86,844 for me.

The latest report, released by authority director Libby Lyons on Thursday, showed the pay gap has widened in retail, healthcare, education, accommodation and food services, while the territory's major employment category of public administration and safety had the lowest disparity at 5.3 per cent.

Industries with the largest pay gap included financial and insurance services, where men earn 32 per cent more than women, followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 24.3 per cent and construction at 23.3 per cent.

The report found more Australian employers were promoting flexible working arrangements for employees, but women were still significantly under-represented on company boards and in senior management roles.

The proportion of women on company boards remains stuck at just under 25 per cent while only 38.4 per cent of managers are women.

The findings were based on responses from 11,000 private companies that employ at least 100 workers.

ACTU president Ged Kearney said the federal government needed to find more and better solutions for working women.

"This scorecard shows how far we still have to go to achieve pay equality," she said.

"The full time pay gap stands at more than $26,000, women are under-represented in management, and even in new appointments to management positions."

"Keeping women in work for as long as possible is crucial to closing the gender pay gap. Secure flexible work arrangements must be enshrined in the awards."