The bigger cohort, than the company size or 250 workers or more promised during the election campaign was quietly updated after last September's Jobs and Skills Summit, but it is entering the House now as part of government efforts to close Australia's gender pay gap.

The transparency move, if passed, would force companies - taking in about 40 per cent of working Australian women - as well as government agencies to report their gender pay gaps in the hope they then take action on equalising pay.

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"On average, women working full-time can expect to earn 14.1 per cent less than men per week in their pay packets," the Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said in a statement.

"The gender pay gap is also holding our economy back with $51.8 billion a year lost when it comes to women's pay.

"Women have waited long enough for the pay gap to close, let's not wait another quarter of a century."

Senator Gallagher said the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill is also designed to reduce business red tape for businesses by making it easier to report.

Current law requires non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit an annual report to the agency, but that does lead to public reporting.

It is planned that gender pay gap reporting would commence in 2024, with the data published on the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website.