Jobs in Australia

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Information about the number and nature of filled jobs, the people who hold them and their employers

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Reference period
2015-16 to 2019-20
Released
8/11/2022
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Key statistics

During 2019-20 there were:

  • 20.0 million job relationships, down 0.7% on 2018-19
  • 14.3 million employed persons, up 1.1% on 2018-19

Jobs in Australia (JIA) is one of two releases containing data from the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset (LEED). Personal Income in Australia (PIiA) was also released today. The Microdata: Jobs and Income of Employed Persons, 2011-12 to 2019-20 TableBuilder product (previously called Microdata: Jobs in Australia) is intended for release next year and contains more detailed data from the LEED.

Differences between Jobs in Australia and Personal Income in Australia

JIA and PIiA publications present similar data on earners and income which comes from the LEED. However, there are a few small but important differences between JIA and PIiA that should be taken into consideration if comparing the two sets of statistics. 

The number of earners will be different between the two publications. In PIiA, anyone who earns income, whether from employment, superannuation, investment etc. is counted as an earner. This also includes individuals who only receive an employment termination payment without any regular income. In JIA, earners are restricted to those who receive payment from employment, which is either working as an employee or an owner-manager of unincorporated enterprise. JIA does not include individuals who only receive an employment termination payment. 

The median incomes reported in JIA are reported on a 'per job' and 'employed person' basis. However, individuals may work more than one job, either at the same time or throughout the financial year. For PIiA, the income is reported on a 'per person' basis which includes all income types, not only employment income, received in that financial year.  

Quarterly insights article

This release includes quarterly analysis of jobs and income changes throughout the 2019-20 financial year in an article titled "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employee jobs and income, June quarter 2020".  Additional download tables (Tables 16 and 17) which include the data underpinning this article were added to this release on 19 December 2022.

Migrants' jobs and income

Data on migrants living and working in Australia have been linked with the LEED for the 2019-20 financial year. Additional content and an additional data download have been added to this release on 19 December 2022. 

Guide to labour statistics

To learn more about our different labour measures, their purpose and how to use them, see our Guide to labour statistics. It provides summary information on labour market topics including Industry employment data.

 NumberChange in last yearChange since 2015-16
Jobs19,990,100-0.7%8.1%
 Held by men10,303,200-0.7%6.9%
 Held by women9,686,900-0.8%9.3%
Employed persons14,279,4001.1%7.7%
Median employee income per job (duration adjusted) (a)$45,6520.5%6.2%
Total employment income$920 bil4.0%18.4%
  1. 'Duration adjusted' is an analytical measure of employee income per job that seeks to put all jobs onto a comparable full-year duration basis.
  1. OMUEs are Owner-managers of unincorporated enterprises.

Jobs

During 2019-20:

  • There were 20.0 million job relationships
  • 17.9 million (89.3%) jobs were employees and 2.1 million (10.7%) jobs were owner managers
  • 15.3 million (76.4%) were private sector jobs and 3.2 million (15.8%) were public sector jobs. Some job records had missing or unknown sector information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100.

Employed persons

During 2019-20:

  • Persons aged 25-29 years held the highest number of jobs (2.7 million)
  • Males in this age group (51.8%) held a slightly higher proportion of jobs than females (48.2%)

Employee income

In 2019-20, after adjusting for the duration of the job, the median annual employee income per job was:

  • $45,652 for all persons
  • $55,348 for males
  • $37,253 for females
  1. 'Duration adjusted' is an analytical measure of employee income per job that seeks to put all jobs onto a comparable full-year duration basis.

Multiple job holders

A multiple job holder is a person who held more than one employee job at the same time, rather than one after another, during the year.

During 2019-20:

  • Approximately 16.6% of employed persons (2.4 million) were multiple job holders
  • Close to four out of five employed people (83.4%) held only one job
  • Women held a greater proportion of multiple jobs (53.0%)

Industry

During 2019-20, the industries with the most jobs were:

  • Health care and social assistance (11.3%)
  • Administrative and support services (9.5%)
  • Retail trade (8.8%)
  1. Some jobs records had missing or unknown industry information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100

To learn more about the different measures available, their purpose and how to use them, see our Industry employment guide.

Occupation

During 2019-20, the most common occupations were:

  • Professionals (19.1%)
  • Clerical and administrative workers (11.2%)
  • Managers (11.0%)
     

Differences in male and female occupations continue to be apparent. Almost all jobs worked by Machinery operators and drivers were held by males (88.4%), while most Clerical and administrative jobs were held by females (76.3%).

Employers

During 2019-20:

  • 5.8 million jobs (29.3%) were with small businesses (less than 20 employees)
  • 4.2 million jobs (21.2%) were with medium businesses (between 20 and 199 employees)
  • 8.3 million jobs (41.3%) were with large businesses (200 or more employees)

Some jobs records had missing or unknown business size information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100.

State and territory

During 2019-20, the three states or territories with the largest numbers of jobs were:

  • New South Wales (6.3 million jobs)
  • Victoria (5.2 million jobs)
  • Queensland (4.0 million jobs)

Regional comparison

In 2019-20, the local government areas (LGAs) with the highest number of jobs in each state and territory were:

  • New South Wales: Blacktown (296,000 jobs)
  • Victoria: Casey (276,000 jobs)
  • Queensland: Brisbane (1,060,000 jobs)
  • South Australia: Onkaparinga (123,000 jobs)
  • Western Australia: Stirling (195,000 jobs)
  • Tasmania: Launceston (52,000 jobs)
  • Northern Territory: Darwin (84,000 jobs)

The Australian Capital Territory does not have any LGAs. 

  1. Excludes local government areas with less than 1,000 earners.
  2. The Australian Capital Territory does not have local government areas.

In 2019-20, the LGAs with the highest median employee income per job in each jurisdiction were:

  • New South Wales: North Sydney ($74,764)
  • Victoria: Yarra ($56,171)
  • Queensland: Weipa ($73,862)
  • South Australia: Roxby Downs ($80,800)
  • Western Australia: Ashburton ($77,577) 
  • Tasmania: Burnie ($45,281)
  • Northern Territory: Litchfield ($56,462)

Parts of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are identified as Unincorporated, for example Unincorporated NT. For further information see Australia Statistical Geography Standard, Edition 3.

  1. Excludes local government areas with less than 1,000 earners.
  2. Parts of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are identified as Unincorporated, for example Unincorporated NT. For further information see Australia Statistical Geography Standard, Edition 3.
  3. The Australian Capital Territory does not have local government areas. 

Employed migrants

Jobs

During 2019-20:

  • 5.3 million jobs were held by migrants
  • 3.0 million (56.6%) jobs were held by permanent migrants and 1.6 million (29.5%) jobs held by temporary visa holders
  • 4.3 million (82.4%) were private sector jobs and 528,700 (10.0%) were public sector jobs
  • 1.5 million migrant jobs (29.2%) were with small businesses (less than 20 employees)
  • 1.2 million migrant jobs (23.0%) were with medium businesses (between 20 and 199 employees)
  • 2.1 million migrant jobs (39.5%) were with large businesses (200 or more employees)

Some job records had missing or unknown sector information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100.

Jobs held by migrants
 Number
Jobs5,265,900
Held by men2,795,700
Held by women2,470,200
By type of legal organisation 
Private sector4,337,500
Public sector528,700
By employer size 
1-19 employees1,536,200
20-199 employees1,212,900
200 or more employees2,079,000

 

Industry

During 2019-20 the industries with the most jobs held by migrants were:

  • Administrative and support services (14.1% of migrants or 742,000 people)
  • Health care and social assistance (12.1% of migrants or 636,500 people)
  • Accommodation and food services (11.3% of migrants or 595,200 people)

The Administrative and support services industry includes Labour supply services.

a. Some job records had missing or unknown industry information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100

Changes in this release

Following user feedback, an extra data download table has been added containing summary information for the entire time series (2011-12 to 2019-20). More detailed data for earlier years can be found in previous issues of this release.

Post release changes

19/12/2022 - Commentary on migrants' job outcomes and a new data download were added. The methodology section was also updated with further information about migrants. Two data downloads (Tables 16 and 17) containing quarterly data referenced in the article The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employee jobs and income, June quarter 2020 were added. 

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6160.0.

Data downloads

Table 1. Jobs and employment income by sex, age, employer characteristics and geography, 2015-16 to 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [807.2 KB]

Table 2. Employee jobs and employee income by sex, age, employer characteristics and geography, 2015-16 to 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [1.17 MB]

Table 3. Employee jobs and income, by industry and geography, 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [941.47 KB]

Table 4. Multiple jobs holders and employment income, by sex, age, concurrent job characteristics and geography, 2015-16 to 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [93.67 KB]

Table 5. Owner managers of unincorporated enterprises and income, by sex, age, business characteristics and geography, 2015-16 to 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [68.04 KB]

Table 6. Employed persons and employment income by sex, age, occupation, job holding characteristics and geography, 2015-16 to 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [920.29 KB]

Table 7. New South Wales spotlights by local government areas, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 8. Victoria spotlights by local government areas, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 9. Queensland spotlights by local government areas, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 10. South Australia spotlights by local government areas, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 11. Western Australia spotlights by local government areas, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 12. Tasmania spotlights by local government areas, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 13. Northern Territory spotlights by local government areas, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 14. Australian Capital Territory spotlight, 2019-20

Data files
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Table 15. Summary statistics for all jobs, employee jobs and employed persons, 2011-12 to 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [165.69 KB]

Table 16. Quarterly employee jobs and employee income by sex, age, business characteristics and geography, 2018-19 and 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [152.09 KB]

Table 17. Quarterly employed persons and employee income by sex, age, occupation, industry of main job and geography, 2018-19 and 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [119.94 KB]

Table 18. Jobs and employee income for Migrants, 2019-20

Data files
Download xlsx [963.1 KB]

All data cubes, 2019-20

Data files
Download zip [23.81 MB]

Methodology

Jobs in Australia methodology, 2015-16 to 2019-20

Articles

Media releases