Earnings guide

Earnings by sex

Average Weekly Earnings, Australia provides estimates of weekly earnings by sex for full-time adults and all employees every six months.

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia provides timely estimates of week-to-week change in total wages and salaries paid by sex. Estimates are published monthly and provide insight into short term changes in the labour market.

Detailed data 

Employee earnings provides estimates of median weekly and hourly earnings, as well as distribution estimates by sex. Estimates are published annually and can be further broken down by education qualification and employment and working arrangements, including full-time and part-time status.

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia includes the most detailed earnings data by sex and is available every two years. It provides weekly and hourly earnings estimates by sex, as well as distributional estimates and measures of hours paid for. Sex data can be broken down further by a broad range of employer and demographic characteristics, including age range, managerial and non-managerial status, method of setting pay and employer size.

Personal Income in Australia provides annual income estimates by sex for more than 2,200 geographic areas, including local government areas and SA2s (areas of approximately 10,000 people).

Gender pay gap

The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female wages, expressed as a proportion of male wages. 

Many factors influence the gender pay gap, including labour force participation over time and experience, hours worked, industry of employment, occupation, and qualifications. While a measure from Average Weekly Earnings has traditionally been the most frequently cited, no single measure provides a complete view of the gender pay gap. Instead, a range of measures should be considered together to understand what influences the gender pay gap and what this means for comparative male and female earnings.

For more detailed information on the gender pay gap, see our Gender pay gap guide.

Advice for data users

Median estimates are the most representative measure of earnings of an "average" male or female, as median estimates provide the mid-point value in a distribution - with half of people above the value and half below it. Mean (average) estimates present an arithmetic average. Earnings data has a positively skewed distribution, due to the small number of people with very high earnings. A higher proportion of males have very high earnings than females.

Earnings estimates for longer time periods (such as weekly or annual) and broad groupings (for example, all employees) are also more likely to be affected by compositional factors influencing the gender pay gap. These measures provide insight into total earnings received by males and females.

Estimates of hourly earnings and for tightly defined groups of people (for example, full-time employees by occupation) provide a more common basis for comparison, reducing the impact of compositional factors, including differences in the amount of paid work. These measures allow for a purer assessment of the difference in male and female earnings. However, these comparisons do not account for a range of other factors contributing to pay differentials such as concentration in higher or lower paying industries or occupations or reflect the overall economic position of females compared to males.

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia includes both compositional and distributional estimates of weekly and hourly earnings by age range for several employer and employee characteristics. Finer level age groupings and additional breakdowns are available from Microdata and TableBuilder: Employee Earnings and Hours or through a customised data request.

Employee earnings includes weekly earnings estimates by age group by sex and full-time/part-time status. Finer level age groupings and additional breakdowns are available from Microdata and TableBuilder: Characteristics of Employment.  

Personal Income in Australia includes earnings estimates for 10 year age groups by sex for small geographic areas. Single year age groupings are available from Microdata and TableBuilder: Jobs in Australia.

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia includes estimates of change in total wages and salaries paid by to each 10 year age group by industry, state and territory and sex. The estimates are published monthly however include weekly data, providing timely insights into short term changes in the labour market by age group.

Personal Income in Australia provides annual income estimates for more than 2,200 geographic areas, including local government areas and SA2s (areas of approximately 10,000 people).

Census of Population and Housing data includes a 5 yearly point in time snapshot of personal, family and household income for a range of different geographic areas, down to the SA1 level (areas of between 200 and 800 people).

Employee earnings includes earnings estimates for greater capital cities (for example, Greater Melbourne) and the rest of state. SA4 level estimates (usually areas of more than 100,000 people) are available from Microdata and TableBuilder: Characteristics of Employment.

The Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) is used to classify Australia into a hierarchy of statistical areas such as SA1s and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas.

Employee earnings includes mean, median earnings and distribution estimates annually by educational qualification for a wide range of employer and demographic characteristics.

Average Weekly Earnings, Australia includes average weekly earnings for full-time adults and all employees every six months. 

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia includes composition and distribution of weekly (and hourly) earnings and hours paid for estimates every two years by:

• employment arrangement (permanent, fixed-term contract or casual)
• full-time and part-time status
• managerial and non-managerial status
• method of setting pay (award, collective agreement, individual arrangement)
• adult, junior, apprentice and disability rate of pay.

Employee earnings includes mean and median weekly (and hourly) earnings and distribution estimates annually by:

• employment arrangement (for example, various measures of casual employment, and fixed-term contract)
• full-time and part-time status
• working arrangements (for example, job stability measures, shift work, work from home, flexible hours).

Occupation

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia provides earnings data for more than 350 occupations by sex and method of setting pay every two years. Distributional data and additional cross-classifications are available for broader occupational groupings. Detailed occupation data broken down further by employer and demographic characteristics are available from Microdata and TableBuilder: Employee Earnings and Hours or through a customised data request.

Employee earnings includes mean and median earnings for 8 occupation groupings annually by sex, industry, status in employment and education qualification. Distribution data is also available for the 8 occupation groupings. More detailed occupation data is available from Microdata and TableBuilder: Characteristics of Employment.

The Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) is used to categorise occupations.

Skill level

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia and Employee earnings both also provide data on skill level, as each occupation is assigned a skill level in ANZSCO.

Skill level data provides insight into the range and complexity of tasks performed in a particular occupation. The skill level is applied to the occupation (not individuals) and measures the level or amount of formal education and training, previous experience in a related occupation, and on-the-job training required to perform the tasks of a particular occupation.

For more information, please see How ANZSCO works.

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia includes earnings data by method of setting pay, identifying how an employee’s pay is set. Methods are classified into four categories:

• award only,
• collective agreement,
• individual arrangement,
• owner manager of incorporated enterprise.

Method of setting pay data can be broken down further by employer and demographic characteristics.

Average Weekly Earnings, Australia provides estimates of weekly earnings by industry and public/private sector every six months.

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia includes compositional and distributional earnings data by industry, public/private sector, and employer size every two years. These employer characteristics can be broken down further by demographic characteristics including age, sex and state and territory.

Wage Price Index, Australia measures changes in the price of wages and salaries, and is available by industry and sector.

Industry only

Labour Account, Australia includes quarterly industry division and annual industry sub-division estimates of costs incurred by enterprises in employing labour, and the income received by people for working. The Labour Account is a recommended source for industry data as it brings together a range of labour market statistics into a single framework, providing a coherent and consistent dataset.

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia provides timely estimates of week-to-week change in total wages and salaries paid by industry. Estimates are published monthly and provide insight into short term changes in the labour market.

Sector by industry

Business Indicators, Australia provides quarterly estimates of employee wages and salaries for the private sector by industry.

Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia includes annual estimates of cash wages and salaries for the public sector by industry and level of government.