Factsheet: Gender and the Australian labour market

Employment gender gaps have continued to narrow in the strong post-pandemic labour market, driven by increased female workforce participation. Most gender gap indicators are currently at or near their lowest recorded levels.

Headline gender pay gap

The headline gender pay gap was 11.9% in November 2024, slightly up from its record low level 11.5% in May 2024. This indicator offers an ‘apples to apples’ comparison of male and female employees, as it excludes gender differences in hours worked and overtime/bonuses.

Total earnings

The gender gap for total earnings – i.e. take-home pay – was 27.8% in November 2024. This indicator offers a more real-world comparison, as it includes gender differences in hour worked and overtime/bonuses. The total earnings gap has been steadily declining for the last decade.

Hours worked

The gender gap in hours worked rose to 17.9% in November 2024. This indicator measures how patterns of full-, part- and over-time work lead to gender differences in total hours worked.

Wages

The gender gap for wages – i.e. average hourly rates of pay – was 12.1% in November 2024. This gap reflects occupational differences, such as women being employed in lower-wage occupations, industries and/or less-senior roles. Except for a period of volatility during the pandemic, the gender wages gap has been relatively stable – oscillating between 11 and 13% – for the last decade.

Pay gaps by industries

The industries with the lowest gender pay gaps are public administration (5.1%), construction (6.6%), education (7.4%), transport, postal & warehousing (10.1%) and retail trade (10.9%). The gap is largest in health care & social assistance (27.5%), professional, scientific & technical services (25.3%), financial services (22.6%) and administrative services (21.7%).

Since the pandemic, the strongest improvements in the gender pay gap have occurred in two traditionally male-dominated industries: construction (down by 10.9% since 2019) and transport (down by 5.8%).

Unemployment

In March 2025, both female and male unemployment rates stood at 4.0%.  Following the pandemic, female unemployment has tended to be slightly lower than male reflecting strong employment growth in several female-dominated industries.

Under-employment

Female underemployment was 7.3% in March 2025, compared to 5.0% for males. The gender gap in underemployment has narrowed significantly in the tight post-pandemic labour market, falling from around a 4.0% gap prior to the pandemic to around 2.5% across the current cycle.

Labour market participation

Female labour market participation was 62.9% in March 2025, a new series high. Female participation has steadily increased for decades, but the tightness in the labour market post-pandemic has accelerated the increase. The current gender workforce participation gap is 8.1%.

Full-time employment

The share of female employees in full-time employment was 56.8% in March 2025, down slightly from a peak of 57.8% in June 2023. With the rate of male full-time employment declining very slightly, the gender gap for full-time employment has narrowed to 23.1%.

Sources

The data in this factsheet are derived from various ABS labour surveys. Data is collected on a monthly, quarterly or biannual basis, and is typically released two or three months following the reference period. Ai Group Research & Economics will update this factsheet as new data is released. Refer to notes in the charts for links to the source data.

Ai Group Research & Economics Team

Website: Research and Economics Resource Centre

Email: economics@aigroup.com.au