6305.0.55.001 - Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, Preliminary, August 2008 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/04/2009   
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April 7, 2009

Embargoed: 11.30 am (AEDT) 20/2009
One fifth of employees earn $1400 or more per week: ABS.

In August 2008, almost one in five (19.1%) employees earned $1400 or more per week, according to preliminary results from the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Full-time adult employees, who make up the majority of employees, received average weekly total cash earnings of $1258.60, compared to $964.80 for all employees. Average weekly total cash earnings was higher for full-time male employees ($1335.20) than for female employees ($1080.90). However, part-time female employees earned slightly more than part-time male employees ($448.50 compared to $421.00).

Three out of four employees had their pay set by either a collective agreement (39.9%) or a registered or unregistered individual arrangement (37.7%). Male employees were more likely to have their pay set by a registered or unregistered individual arrangement (42.1%) and female employees by a collective agreement (43.1%).

Across industries, average weekly total cash earnings for all employees ranged from $451.60 in the accommodation and food services industry to $2038.30 in the mining industry. The professional, scientific and technical services industry had the highest proportion of employees who had their pay set by individual arrangement, whilst the accommodation and food services industry had the highest proportion of employees who had their pay set by an award or pay scale (52.3%).

Details are in Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, Preliminary, August 2008 (cat. no. 6305.0.55.001) on the ABS website.

Final survey results are due for release in June 2009.

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      Tom Joseph (08) 9360 5123