6310.0 - Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, Aug 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/03/2006   
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MEDIA RELEASE

March 28, 2006
Embargoed 11:30am (AEST)
25/2006

Employee earnings up 5% over 12 months to August 2005

Employees were earning on average just under $800 ($798) per week in August 2005, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This was a 5% ($40) increase since the previous year.

Full-time employees earned, on average, $979 per week in their main job in August 2005. The average weekly employee earnings for full-time males was $1047 and $854 for full-time females.

Part-time employees earned, on average, $366 per week in their main job. The average weekly employee earnings for part-time males was $342 and $374 for part-time females.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of employees had paid leave entitlements (i.e. were entitled to paid holiday leave and/or paid sick leave in their main job). The proportion of full-time employees with paid leave entitlements in August 2005 was 87% compared with 41% of part-time employees.

A higher proportion of male employees had leave entitlements than female employees (77% compared with 69%). The age group with the highest proportion of employees with leave entitlements was 25 to 34 (80%), while the lowest was the 15 to 19 year age group (33%).

The number of employees who were trade union members in conjunction with their main job was 1,911,900 in August 2005. This was an increase of 69,800 (4%) on the number recorded in August 2004. While the number of trade union members increased, the proportion of employees who were trade union members remained relatively stable (22.4% in August 2005 compared with 22.7% in August 2004).

The proportion of full-time employees who were trade union members was higher than for part-time employees (25% compared with 17%), and for employees in the public sector than those in the private sector (47% compared with 17%).

Further information can be found in Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, 2005 (cat. no. 6310.0).