Baseline report
Data as at March 2024
This report provides sources and reference points for each indicator and measure listed in the reporting framework of Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality. As a baseline, this is a point-in-time data and reference set on the status of gender equality in Australia at the time of the Strategy's release on 7 March 2024.
This report lists the data the Government will monitor to assess the impact of Working for Women and progress towards gender equality over the next 10 years. These data points have been selected in order to track progress against the ambitions of Working for Women and provide insight into the experiences of women and men in Australia. This baseline report will inform the mid-point review of Working for Women to be conducted in 2029.
Data sources used in this report are reported on different cycles from monthly through to every five years. Some data sources are updated on an ad hoc basis. The mid-point review will include the release of a mid-point update to the baseline to track change towards gender equality. Data measures and sources may also be added over time where more appropriate data sets emerge.
Where available, the data includes disaggregated data for First Nations people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, people with disability, people of different ages, and LGBTIQA+ people. There are limitations to this data in some cases, particularly where there are small population or sample sizes. The Government will work to improve data to help inform better outcomes for all Australians.
In addition to this report and the mid-point review, the Government will continue to release Status of Women Report Cards annually, highlighting key statistics across the priority areas of Working for Women.
Where indicators are informed by targets from existing strategies, time frames and target levels have been included in this report. The remaining indicators outline directional goals, but are not targets with specific time frames.
Priority area 2. Unpaid and paid care: Balance unpaid work and close the gender pay gap
Ref. | Indicator | Measure | Baseline (2024) |
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2.1.1 | Average number of hours of unpaid work done each week for women and men | The difference in hours of unpaid work and care done by women and men each week on average |
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2.1.2 | Average number of hours of unpaid child care done each week for women and men | The difference in hours of unpaid child care done by women and men each week on average |
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Ref. | Indicator | Measure | Baseline (2024) |
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2.2.1 | Parent and carer access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) | ECEC participation by selected equity groups, including:
NB: if use of services is equitable, representation in services will be the same as representation in the total population. |
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2.2.1 | Parent and carer access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) | Family work-related needs for child care – The proportion of people aged 15 years and over not in the labour force due to caring for children, who report the main reason for not being in the labour force as child care service related |
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2.2.2 | Early childhood education and care is affordable and high quality | The average responses to questions on difficulty finding quality child care, availability of child care and cost of child care |
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Ref. | Indicator | Measure | Baseline (2024) |
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2.3.1 | Women and men working part-time | The percentage of women and men working part-time |
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2.3.2 | Women and men accessing flexible work arrangements | Proportion of employed with an agreement to work flexible hours; proportion of employed who work from home as part of flexible work |
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2.3.3 | Organisations supporting flexible work arrangements | The percentage of organisations which report having formal policies or strategies in place to support flexible working |
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2.3.4 | Organisations encouraging men's use of flexible working arrangements | The percentage of organisations which report targets to increase the number of men using flexible work arrangements |
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Ref. | Indicator | Measure | Baseline (2024) |
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2.4.1 | Women and men accessing the Australian Government's Paid Parental Leave scheme | The percentage of Government Paid Parental Leave recipients who are men and women |
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2.4.2 | Organisations providing employer funded paid parental leave | Proportion of employers offering paid primary carer's or universally available parental leave |
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2.4.3 | Weeks of employer funded paid parental leave provided | Average length of employer-funded parental leave. Also, proportion of employers offering paid parental leave by number of weeks offered. |
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2.4.4 | Organisations that report offering gender neutral parental leave policies (without using primary or secondary carer definitions) | The percentage of organisations which report offering parental leave without using the primary/secondary carer definition |
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2.4.5 | People accessing employer paid parental leave | The percentage of men and women accessing employer paid parental leave |
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Ref. | Indicator | Measure | Baseline (2024) |
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2.5.1 | Average earnings of men and women in the care and support workforce | The average weekly total cash earnings of women and men in care and support occupations, using the definition of care workforce from the NSC Care Workforce Labour Market Study |
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2.5.2 | Men represented in the care and support workforce | The number of men in the care and support workforce, using the definition of care workforce from the NSC Care Workforce Labour Market Study |
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2.5.3 | Men represented in health and education fields of study in tertiary education | The percentage of male enrolments in university health and education fields of study |
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2.5.3 | Men represented in health and education fields of study in tertiary education | The percentage of VET health study enrolments who are men. The percentage of VET education study enrolments who are men. |
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