The content presented in these indicators may not be the most recent data available. Indicators will be updated as soon as possible following a relevant data release. Links on indicator cards will take users to the latest release information.
Gender indicators
Latest release
Key ABS economic and social indicators measuring equality between males and females, including gender pay gap and life expectancy
Key Indicators
Gender pay gap measures
Gender pay gap indicator notes
The gender pay gap is the difference in the earnings of men and women, expressed as a proportion of men's earnings. Analysing the gender pay gap is complex and there is no single measure that can provide a complete picture. For further information, please see Gender pay gap guide.
The two key ABS sources of data for these measures are Employee Earnings and Hours (EEH), which is published every 2 years; and Average Weekly Earnings (AWE), published every 6 months.
Presented are four ABS indicators that provide a high-level snapshot of the gender pay gap.
1. Median hourly cash earnings (EEH) – generally the smallest gender pay gap
2. Mean hourly cash earnings (EEH)
3. Median weekly cash earnings (EEH)
4. Mean weekly cash earnings (AWE) – generally the largest gender pay gap.
In addition, the following ABS indicators, based on the ordinary time earnings of full-time adult employees are also presented:
5. Mean weekly ordinary time earnings of full-time adult employees (AWE) - the commonly cited measure of the gender pay gap.
6. Mean weekly ordinary time cash earnings of full-time adult employees (AWE) - the 'cash earnings’ equivalent of the traditionally cited measure, which includes amounts salary sacrificed.
Median
- The median is the most representative measure of the average earnings of employees.
- The median is the midpoint of the earnings distribution where half of people earn more than the median earnings value and half earn less than the median earnings value.
Mean
- The mean is total earnings divided by the number of employees.
- Mean earnings show a positive skew, caused by a small number of people earning much higher incomes. This is more evident in male than female earnings.
Hourly
- Hourly measures provide a common period for comparison, removing the effect of differences in hours worked.
- Males work more paid hours each week, on average, than females.
Weekly
- Weekly measures are affected by differences in paid hours worked and work patterns.
- Almost half of all employed females work part-time.
- Based on mean weekly ordinary time earnings of full-time adult employees from AWE. These measures exclude part-time employees and overtime earnings. The commonly cited measure also excludes amounts salary sacrificed. For further information, see Gender pay gap guide.
Data Source: Employee Earnings and Hours (published and unpublished) and Average Weekly Earnings.
- AWE cash earnings (including salary sacrifice) series is available from May 2010.
- Excludes amounts salary sacrificed.
Data Source
Work
Work indicator notes
Employment to population ratio
- Seasonally adjusted estimates i.e., effects of normal seasonal variation have been removed.
- Employed persons 15 years and over as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over.
More information available in Labour Force, Australia methodology.
Participation in the labour force
- Seasonally adjusted estimates i.e., effects of normal seasonal variation have been removed.
- For any group, the labour force (employed plus unemployed people), expressed as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over in the same group.
- Selected time points were chosen for the labour force participation rate, seasonally adjusted by sex graph. For the full time series, see Table 1: Labour force status by Sex, Australia - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Origional ' in Labour Force, Australia publication.
More information available in Labour Force, Australia methodology.
Weekly hours worked
- Usual number of hours worked a week in all jobs, for persons 15 years and over.
- Original estimates used i.e., effects of normal seasonal variation have not been removed.
More information available in Labour Force, Australia methodology.
Participation in the labour force of people with disability
- The number of males/females with disability aged 15-64 years and in the labour force (employed persons plus unemployed persons), living in households, expressed as a percentage of the total male/female population in this group.
- In the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, a person has a disability if they report they have a limitation, restriction or impairment, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities.
More information available in Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia methodology.
People with disability who are employed
- The number of males/females with disability aged 15-64 years who reported that they had worked in a job, business or farm during the reference week (the full week prior to the date of interview); or that they had a job in the reference week, but were not at work, expressed as a proportion of the total male/female population in this group.
- In the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, a person has a disability if they report they have a limitation, restriction or impairment, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities.
More information available in Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia methodology.
Median superannuation balance
- For people ages 65 years and over.
- Superannuation account balance in 2019-20 dollars, adjusted using changes in the Consumer Price Index.
More information available in Household Income and Wealth, Australia methodology.
Data Source
Education
Education indicator notes
Fully engaged in work and/or study
- Includes persons aged 15-74 years who are working full-time, studying full-time, or both working and studying.
More information available in Education and Work, Australia methodology.
Attainment of a non-school qualification
- Persons 15-74 years who have been awarded for educational attainments other than those of pre-primary, primary or secondary education (e.g. Postgraduate Degree level, Master Degree level, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate level, Bachelor Degree level, Advanced Diploma and Diploma level, and Certificates I, II, III and IV levels).
More information available in Education and Work, Australia methodology.
Attainment of a bachelor degree or above
- Persons aged 15-74 years who have completed a bachelor degree or above, such as a graduate certificate, graduate diploma, or other post graduate degree.
More information available in Education and Work, Australia methodology.
Persons with disability who attained a bachelor degree or above
- Persons with disability living in households. In the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, a person has a disability if they report they have a limitation, restriction or impairment, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities.
- Includes persons aged 15-74 years who attained a bachelor degree or above, such as a graduate certificate, graduate diploma, or other post graduate degree.
More information available in Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia methodology.
Persons with disability who attained Year 12 or equivalent
- Persons with disability living in households. In the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, a person has a disability if they report they have a limitation, restriction or impairment, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities.
- Includes persons aged 15-74 years who attained Year 12 or equivalent such as overseas qualifications comparable to the Australian Year 12 level of schooling, and other terms used to describe the final year of schooling in Australia, e.g. 'Year 13', '6th Form', 'high school certificate' and 'matriculation'.
More information available in Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia methodology.
Full-time starting salary in science and mathematics
- Median starting salary for persons in full-time employment who have completed their undergraduate qualifications in science and mathematics.
- Data published in table 7 of the 2021 Graduate Outcomes Survey, National Report, found on the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching website, funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
- All persons aged 15-74 with a non-school qualification.
- Includes certificates I-IV and n.f.d., diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees.
Data Source
- Persons aged 15-74 who were studying for a non-school qualification.
Data Source
Health and wellbeing
Health and wellbeing indicator notes
Life expectancy at birth
- Life expectancy at birth estimates represent the average number of years that a newborn baby could expect to live, assuming current age-specific death rates are experienced through their lifetime.
More information available in Life Tables methodology.
Prevalence of 12-month anxiety disorders
- Persons aged 16-85 who met criteria for diagnosis of a lifetime anxiety mental disorder and had sufficient symptoms of that disorder in the 12 months prior to the survey interview.
- Anxiety disorders include: Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Social Phobia, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
More information available in National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing methodology.
Prevalence of 12-month substance use disorders
- Persons aged 16-85 who met criteria for diagnosis of a lifetime substance use mental disorder and had sufficient symptoms of that disorder in the 12 months prior to the survey interview.
- Substance use disorders include: Alcohol Harmful Use, Alcohol Dependence and Drug Use Disorders.
More information available in National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing methodology.
Prevalence of asthma
- Includes persons of all ages who currently have asthma which has lasted, or is expected to last, for 6 months or more.
- Data has been sourced from the ABS National Health Survey.
More information is available in the ABS Asthma publication.
Prevalence of heart, stroke and vascular disease
- Heart, stroke and vascular disease encompasses a range of circulatory conditions including: Ischaemic heart disease (angina, heart attack and other ischaemic heart diseases); Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases); Oedema; Heart failure; Diseases of the arteries, arterioles and capillaries.
- Includes persons of all ages who reported they had angina, heart attack, other ischaemic heart diseases, stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases or heart failure but that these conditions were not current at the time of interview.
- Data has been sourced from the ABS National Health Survey.
More information is available in the ABS Health Conditions Prevalence publication.
Current daily smokers
- Current daily smokers aged 18 years and over.
- A current daily smoker status refers to the frequency of smoking of tobacco, including manufactured (packet) cigarettes, roll-your-own cigarettes, cigars and pipes. A current daily smoker was a respondent who regularly smoked one or more cigarettes, cigars or pipes per day. Smoker status analysis excludes chewing tobacco and smoking of non-tobacco products. It also excludes e-cigarettes (and similar vaping devices) which are addressed separately.
- Data has been sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Microdata: Smoker Status dataset (National Health Survey).
More information available in the ABS Smoking publication.
Exceeded Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline 2020
- The Australian Adult Alcohol Guideline 2020 is based on Guideline 1 of the Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol.
- Includes persons aged 18 years and over who either consumed more than 10 standard drinks per week, or more than 4 standard drinks on a single day at least 12 or more times in the last 12 months.
- Data has been sourced from the ABS National Health Survey.
More information available in the ABS Alcohol Consumption publication.
Met 2014 physical activity guidelines
- Physical activity refers to a combination of exercise and workplace activity. Exercise includes walking for transport, walking for fitness, sport or recreation, moderate exercise and/or vigorous exercise undertaken in the last week. Workplace activity is physical activity undertaken in the workplace which includes moderate and/or vigorous activity undertaken on a typical workday.
- The 2014 physical activity guidelines are based on the Australia’s Australian Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines (2014) and assessed against the respective age group for National Health Survey data.
- The 2014 Guidelines recommend that adults (18-64 years) should be active most days of the week, accumulate 150 to 300 minutes moderate intensity physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity (or an equivalent combination each week), and do muscle strengthening activities on at least two days each week.
- Data has been sourced from the ABS National Health Survey.
More information available in the ABS Physical Activity publication.
Leading cause of death
- Administrative data provided by state and territory Registries of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, supplemented with data from the National Coronial Information System.
- ABS code and compile administrative data into aggregate statistics, using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
The Causes of Death, Australia methodology contains more information on specific issues related to interpreting time-series and 2021 data.
Mortality rate
- Mortality rate is the age-standardised death rate from all-causes of death.
- Number of deaths in the reference year per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June (mid-year).
- The direct age standardisation method has been applied in order to compare estimates over time.
The Causes of Death, Australia methodology contains more information on specific issues related to interpreting time-series and 2021 data.
Suicide rate
- Number of deaths by suicide in the reference year per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June (mid-year).
- The direct age standardisation method has been applied in order to compare estimates over time.
The Causes of Death, Australia Methodology contains more information on specific issues related to interpreting time-series and 2021 data.
Overall life satisfaction
- Overall life satisfaction is a summary measure of subjective wellbeing against a scale ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 means "not at all satisfied" and 10 means "completely satisfied". It measures perceived level of life satisfaction in general for persons aged 15 years and over and doesn't take into account specific illnesses or problems the person may have.
More information available in the General Social Survey: Summary results, Australia methodology.
Experienced at least one personal stressor
- Persons aged 15 years and over who considered events or circumstances, such as serious illness, serious accident, or death of a family member or close friend to have been a problem for themselves or someone close to them in the last 12 months.
More information available in the General Social Survey: Summary results, Australia methodology.
Has family or friends to confide in
- Persons aged 15 years and over who have family or friends living outside the household to confide in.
More information available in the General Social Survey: Summary results, Australia methodology.
- Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June (mid year). See the Mortality tabulations and methodologies and Glossary sections of the Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 methodology for further information.
- Deaths registered between 2017-2018 from Victoria that were lodged with the ABS in the 2019 reference year have been presented by registration year to enable more accurate time-series analysis. See Technical note: Victorian additional registrations and time series adjustments in Causes of Death, Australia, 2019 methodology for detailed information on this issue.
- All causes of death data from 2006 onward are subject to a revisions process - once data for a reference year are 'final', they are no longer revised. Affected data in this table are: 2012 - 2018 (final), 2019 (revised), 2020 and 2021 (preliminary). See the Data quality section of the methodology and Causes of Death Revisions, 2018 Final Data (Technical Note) and 2019 Revised Data (Technical Note) in Causes of Death, Australia, 2020.
- See the Data quality section of the Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 methodology for further information on specific issues related to interpreting time-series and 2021 data.
Data Source
- To best reflect a more accurate time series, deaths due to suicide are presented by registration year. As a result, some totals may not equal the sum of their components and suicide data presented in Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 publication may not match that previously published by reference year.
- Care needs to be taken when interpreting data derived from Victorian coroner referred deaths including suicide. See Technical note: Victorian additional registrations (2013-2016) in the Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 methodology for more information.
- All causes of death data from 2006 onward are subject to a revisions process - once data for a reference year are 'final', they are no longer revised. Affected data in this table are: 2012-2018 (final), 2019 (revised), 2020 and 2021 (preliminary). See the Data quality section of the methodology in Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 and Causes of Death Revisions, 2018 Final Data (Technical Note) and 2019 Revised Data (Technical Note) in Causes of Death, Australia, 2020 (cat. no. 3303.0).
- The data presented for intentional self-harm includes ICD-10 codes X60-X84 and Y87.0. Care needs to be taken in interpreting figures relating to intentional self-harm. See the Deaths due to intentional self-harm (suicide) section of the methodology in Causes of Death, Australia, 2021.
- Age-standardised death rate. Death rate per 100,000 estimated resident population as at 30 June (mid year). See the Mortality tabulations and methodologies and Glossary sections of the methodology in Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 for further information.
- See the Data quality section of the Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 methodology for further information on specific issues related to interpreting time-series and 2021 data.
- See the Classifications and Mortality coding sections of the methodology in Causes of Death, Australia, 2021 for further information on coding of 2021 data.
Data Source
Crime
Crime indicator notes
Victims of sexual assault
- Number of persons, all ages, as recorded by police for the reference period 2021.
- Sexual assault, for the purposes of the Recorded Crime - Victims collection, is defined as physical contact, or intent of contact, of a sexual nature directed toward another person where that person does not give consent, gives consent as a result of intimidation or deception, or consent is proscribed (i.e. the person is legally deemed incapable of giving consent because of youth, temporary/permanent (mental) incapacity or there is a familial relationship).
More information available in Recorded Crime - Victims methodology.
Experienced sexual violence since the age of 15
- Persons aged 18 years and over who experienced the occurrence, attempt or threat of sexual assault since the age of 15.
More information available in Personal Safety, Australia methodology.
Experienced physical violence since the age of 15
- Persons aged 18 years and over who experienced the occurrence, attempt or threat of physical assault since the age of 15.
More information available in Personal Safety, Australia methodology.
Experienced stalking since the age of 15
- Persons aged 18 years and over who experienced stalking since the age of 15.
- Stalking involves various behaviours, such as loitering and following, which the person believed were being undertaken with the intent to cause them fear or distress.
More information available in Personal Safety, Australia methodology.
- Cohabiting partner refers to a partner the person lives with or lived with at some point, in a married or de factor relationship.
- Refers to the number of males/females who have experienced cohabiting partner violence/emotional abuse/economic abuse since the age of 15 expressed as a percentage of all males/females aged 18 years and over.
- Violence is defined as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt, or threat of either sexual or physical assault since the age of 15.
- Emotional abuse includes behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling a person’s behaviour, causing them emotional harm or fear. These behaviours are characterised in nature by their intent to manipulate, control, isolate or intimidate the person they are aimed at.
- Economic abuse includes behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling a person’s access to economic resources, causing them emotional harm or fear.
Data Source
Work-life balance
Work-life balance indicator notes
Parental leave taken by primary carer in non-public sector
- Primary parental leave is defined as leave taken by the primary carer (being the person who most meets the child’s needs, including feeding, dressing bathing and otherwise supervising the child).
- Non-public sector employers are employers with 100 or more employees
More information available in the Australia’s Gender Equality Score Card produced by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).
Participation in unpaid work
- Average time spent per day, of persons aged 15 years and over who participated in domestic activities, childcare activities, adult care activities, and voluntary work by hours and minutes.
More information available in How Australians Use Their Time, 2020-21 methodology.
Participation in domestic activities
- Average time spent per day, of persons aged 15 years and over who participated in domestic activities by hours and minutes.
- Domestic activities include food and drink preparation/service, shopping, housework, grounds and gardening, home and vehicle maintenance, household management, pet and animal care and travel associated with domestic activities.
More information available in How Australians Use Their Time, 2020-21 methodology.
Parental participation in childcare activities
- Average time spent per day, of persons aged 15 years and over (with children under 15 years of age), who participated in childcare activities by hours and minutes.
- Childcare activities include physical and emotional care of children, teaching/helping/reprimanding children, playing/reading/talking with children, minding children, accompanying children to school or extra-curricular activities, feeding and food preparation for children, and travel associated with childcare activities.
More information available in How Australians Use Their Time, 2020-21 methodology.
Participation in housework
- Proportion of persons aged 15 years and over who participated in activities, including indoor house cleaning or tidying, dishes and clean up after meals, and clothes washing, laundry and ironing.
More information available in How Australians Use Their Time, 2020-21 methodology.
Parental participation in physical and emotional care of children
- Proportion of persons aged 15 years and over (with children under 15 years of age), who participated in activities for their children, including bathing, dressing, toileting children, changing nappies, brushing their teeth, putting children to bed, waking children up, settling babies, and getting children ready e.g., for bed, school or outings.
More information available in How Australians Use Their Time, 2020-21 methodology.
Participation in unpaid voluntary work through an organisation
- Persons aged 15 years and over undertaking unpaid voluntary work through an organisation in the last 12 months.
More information available in the General Social Survey: Summary results, Australia methodology.
Other information
External sources
These data sources provide additional information for measuring equality between males and females in Australia:
- The Gender Pay Gap - Workplace Gender Equality Agency
- Gender composition of Australian parliaments - Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Library
- Gender balance on Australian Government Boards - Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Office for Women
- Summary data of employment in the Australian Public Service - Australian Public Service Commission
- Judicial gender statistics - Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration.