Status of Women Report Card 2024

This is the second Annual Status of Women Report card, and the first in support of Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality (the Strategy) released on Thursday 7 March 2024.

The Report Card includes the most recent available data on the social and economic equality issues facing women and girls in Australia and highlights key data on gender attitudes and stereotypes, gender-based violence, unpaid and paid care, economic equality and security, health, and leadership, representation and decision making.

The Report Card is an important reporting tool to track and measure progress of Working for Women. Each year it will report on the key outcomes and indicators and identify areas where more data is required and where more effort to improve outcomes is required.

A Status of Women Report Card will be released each year on International Women’s Day.

The Government recognises that limitations in current data availability impacts on our ability to measure all people’s experiences of inequality. It is committed to continually improving intersectionality and diversity in its data collection to help inform decision making and drive better outcomes for everyone in Australia.

Expanded data

Women in Australia

Women in Australia are diverse, educated and hard-working

• 3.8 per cent are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait IslanderNote 1 (expanded data)
• 28.3 per cent were born overseasNote 2 (expanded data) and 48.5 per cent have a parent born overseasNote 3 (expanded data)
• 29.3 per cent are under the age of 25 and 18.0 per cent are 65 and overNote 4 (expanded data)
• 17.8 per cent are women with disabilityNote 5 (expanded data)
• 27.6 per cent live in regional or remote AustraliaNote 6 (expanded data)
• 4.6 per cent identify as lesbian, gay or bisexualNote 7 (expanded data)
• 64 per cent hold a qualification outside school and 35.7 per cent hold a bachelor degree or aboveNote 8 (expanded data)
• Australia has the 4th highest level of tertiary educated women in the OECDNote 9 (expanded data)
• 60.4 per cent of women over the age of 15 are employedNote 10 (expanded data)
• On average, women aged 15 to 64 years do 55.4 hours of work a week, 2 hours more than menNote 11 (expanded data)

Gender Attitudes and Stereotypes

Community attitudes and beliefs about gender in Australia

• One in three (34.8 per cent) Australians hold a negative bias about women’s ability to participate fully economically, politically or in educationNote 12 (expanded data)
• Attitudes towards gender equality are not more progressive in younger Australians (aged 16 – 24 years old); their rejection of gender inequality is the same as the average AustralianNote 13 (expanded data)
• 43 per cent of young women (aged 16 – 24 years old) reject attitudes that underpin gender inequality compared to 20 per cent of young menNote 14 (expanded data)

Gender stereotypes

• In couple families where the youngest dependent is 0-4 years old, 90.6 per cent of male partners were employed compared to 69.5 per cent of female partnersNote 15 (expanded data)
• Women are less likely than men to hold traditional attitudes towards parenting and work, and show more support for female-breadwinning family models than menNote 16 (expanded data)

Gender based violence

• One in five women and one in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15Note 17 (expanded data)
• Over half of female victims of sexual assault are under 18 years old; one in three are aged between 18 and 34 yearsNote 18 (expanded data)
• One in six women and one in 13 men have experienced economic abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15Note 19 (expanded data)
• One in four women and one in seven men have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15Note 20 (expanded data)
• 57 per cent of women who recently experienced sexual harassment experienced it electronically (such as online or on a phone)Note 21 (expanded data)
• 68 per cent of migrant and refugee women have experienced at least one form of sexual harassment in the last 5 yearsNote 22 (expanded data)
• Women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or who used a different term such as asexual, pansexual or queer were more likely to have experienced sexual violence (13 per cent) than women who identified as heterosexual (2.4 per cent)Note 23 (expanded data)
• The rate of family and domestic violence hospitalisations for people living in very remote areas is 48 times higher than for those living in major citiesNote 24 (expanded data)
• The rate of family violence hospitalisations for First Nations women is 33 times higher than for non-Indigenous womenNote 25 (expanded data)
• 62.2 per cent of the Australian population have experienced at least one type of child maltreatmentNote 26 (expanded data)
• Girls are more than twice as likely to experience child sexual abuse as boys, and 1.5 times more likely to experience emotional abuseNote 27 (expanded data)
• People who have experienced childhood abuse were more likely to go on to experience violence and abuse by a partner as an adult (42.8 per cent) than those who have not experienced childhood abuse (17.4 per cent).Note 28 (expanded data) Research also shows a connection between sexual offences and adverse childhood experiences of male youth who offend.Note 29 (expanded data)

Unpaid and paid care

Unpaid work and care

• 83 per cent of one parent families are single mothersNote 30 (expanded data)
• Women do over 9 hours a week more unpaid work and care than menNote 31 (expanded data)
• Female parents do 1 hour and 15 minutes more unpaid child care a day than male parentsNote 32 (expanded data)
• Of the different types of child care provided by parents of children under 15 years:Note 33 (expanded data)
• 70 per cent of women engaged in the physical and emotional care of children compared to 42 per cent of men
• 51 per cent of women spent time playing, reading or talking with a child compared to 38 per cent of men
• 40 per cent of women participated in feeding and food preparation for children compared to 17 per cent of men

Barriers to work

• 35.7 per cent of women cite caring for children as the main reason they are unavailable to start work or work more hours, compared to 7.3 per cent of menNote 34 (expanded data)
• Of parents with children under 15 years, 67.6 per cent of mothers and 39.5 per cent of fathers reported the most important incentive to join or increase participation in the workforce was the ability to work part-time hoursNote 35 (expanded data)

Part-time and flexible work

• 43.3 per cent of women work part-time and 19.5 per cent of men work part-timeNote 36 (expanded data)
• 54 per cent of employed women with disability work part-time and 28 per cent of employed men with disability work part-timeNote 37 (expanded data)

Who is accessing paid parental leave

• 21 per cent of private sector organisations offer equal paid parental leave to women and menNote 38 (expanded data)
• 14 per cent of employer-funded paid primary carers leave is taken by men and 86 per cent is taken by women

Men’s representation in the care economy workforce

• Men make up 20.3 per cent of the care economy workforceNote 40 (expanded data)
• Men working in the care economy earn $104.40 a week more than women on average, a gap of 8 per centNote 41 (expanded data)

Economic equality and security

The gender pay gap

• The national gender pay gap, based on full-time average weekly earnings, is 12 per cent ($238 per week)Note 42 (expanded data); women would need to work an additional 44 days a year to earn the same as menNote 43 (expanded data)
• When comparing full-time equivalent total remuneration of private sector employees, which includes superannuation, bonuses, overtime and other payments, the median gender pay gap is 19 per cent ($18,461 per year)Note 44 (expanded data)
• The estimated median weekly total personal income for First Nations women is $517.47, a gap of 23.7% ($160.80) compared to non-Indigenous women and 47.8% ($473.73) compared to menNote 46 (expanded data)
• Women who change from partnered to single experience a 16.7 per cent reduction in household income (compared to a 0.2 per cent reduction for men)
  • Mothers who change from partnered to single mother households experience a 20 per cent decline in household incomeNote 47 (expanded data)

Industry and occupation gender segregation

• 54.2 per cent of all workers work in either male or female dominated industriesNote 48 (expanded data)
• Women are underrepresented in construction, making up 13.2 per cent of the workforceNote 49 (expanded data)
• Men are underrepresented in health care and social assistance, making up 23.6 per cent of the workforceNote 50 (expanded data)
• Women represent 17 per cent of STEM study enrolments and 10 per cent of architecture and building study enrolments in vocational education and trainingNote 51 (expanded data)
• Men represent 25 per cent of health study enrolments at university and 20 per cent of education study enrolments in vocational education and trainingNote 52 (expanded data)
• 60.8 per cent of managers are men, while 71.8 per cent of clerical and administrative workers are womenNote 53 (expanded data)

Workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment

• 79 per cent of employers have a general gender equality policy in placeNote 54 (expanded data)
• 98.5 per cent of employers have a policy or strategy on prevention and response to sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex or discriminationNote 55 (expanded data)
• 26 per cent of women who recently experienced sexual harassment experienced it at workNote 56 (expanded data)
• 46 per cent of migrant and refugee women have experienced at least one form of sexual harassment in the workplace in the last five yearsNote 57 (expanded data)
• 18 per cent of people who experienced workplace sexual harassment made a formal report or complaint about the harassmentNote 58 (expanded data)
  • Of people who made a formal report or complaint, 40 per cent said that no changes were made at their workplace. This was more common for complaints lodged by women (45 per cent), than by men (30 per cent)Note 59 (expanded data)

Retirement

• In 2020-21, the average age at retirement from the paid labour force was 54 for women and 59.3 for menNote 60 (expanded data)
• The gap in median superannuation balances for women and men approaching retirement (ages 60-64) is 25.1 per cent (or $53,190)Note 61 (expanded data)
• 34 per cent of retired women rely on their partner’s income to meet their living costs at retirement (compared to 7 per cent of retired men)Note 62 (expanded data)

Housing and homelessness

• 122,494 people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness on Census night in 2021; 44.1 per cent of these people were womenNote 63 (expanded data)
• The majority of homelessness services clients are women (59 per cent)Note 64 (expanded data)

Women-owned businesses

• 41.6 per cent of small businesses are owned by womenNote 65 (expanded data)
• 18 per cent of total start-up capital was invested in start-ups with at least one woman founder in 2023Note 66 (expanded data)

Health

Health care

• 52.3 per cent of competitive grants funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council in 2023 went to womenNote 67 (expanded data)
• Almost one in four women (23.8 per cent) and one in five men (19.9 per cent) have multiple chronic health conditionsNote 68 (expanded data)
• Women are more likely than men to see a GP (86.9 per cent compared to 77.6 per cent) or medical specialist (40.5 per cent compared to 35.1 per cent)Note 69 (expanded data)
• 73.9 per cent of women and 73.9 per cent of men over 65 years report their health as good or excellent/very goodNote 70 (expanded data)
• 55 per cent of women experiencing menopause symptoms reported negative impacts on their mental and emotional wellbeing, while 32 per cent reported negative impacts on their relationship with their partnerNote 71 (expanded data)
• 24 per cent of women did not discuss symptoms they attributed to menopause with a doctor because they didn’t think anything could be doneNote 72 (expanded data)

Access to maternal, sexual and reproductive health care

• On average, endometriosis takes between 6 and 8 years from onset of symptoms to diagnosisNote 73 (expanded data)
• 5.7 per cent of women reported problems with their fertility; 63.1 per cent of these women sought helpNote 74 (expanded data)
• The average out-of-pocket expense for assisted reproductive technologies is $7,535 per womanNote 75 (expanded data)

Mental health

• Almost a third of women aged 15 to 34 years were diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety in 2021, with rates increasing, particularly for women and young people, between 2009 and 2021Note 76 (expanded data)
• Women are more likely than men to see a health professional for their mental health (21.6 per cent of women and 12.9 per cent of men)Note 77 (expanded data)
• Women have higher rates of recent self-harm (2.2 per cent) as well as self-harm over the lifetime (10.4 per cent) than men (1.2 per cent recently and 6.8 per cent over lifetime)Note 78 (expanded data)
• In 2022, the highest suicide rates for men occurred in those aged 85 and over, and those aged 45–49 (32.7 and 32.6 deaths per 100,000, respectively). The highest suicide rate for women was in those aged 85 and over (10.6 per 100,000)Note 79 (expanded data)
• The rate of death by suicide for First Nations women is 2.5 times the rate for non-Indigenous womenNote 80 (expanded data)

Leadership, representation and decision making

Women’s representation in leadership and decision making

• Women hold 51.6 per cent of Australian Government board positionsNote 81 (expanded data)
• The proportion of women in Parliament is 44.7 per centNote 82 (expanded data)
• 9 per cent of CEOs in the ASX300 are womenNote 83 (expanded data)
• 18 per cent of CEO pipeline roles in the ASX300 are held by womenNote 84 (expanded data)
• Two in five managers are women (40.2 per cent)Note 85 (expanded data)
• 13.8 per cent of all managers work part-time and 59.5 per cent of those are womenNote 86 (expanded data)
• 44.9 per cent of judicial officers are womenNote 87 (expanded data)
• 60.4 per cent of the Australian Public Service are women, with women holding 53.4 per cent of Senior Executive Service rolesNote 88 (expanded data)

Women’s participation and representation in sport and the media

• 32 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men participate in sport at least once a weekNote 89 (expanded data)
• In July 2022 women represented 30 per cent of sources and experts quoted in news mediaNote 90 (expanded data)
• In 2019, 24 of the top 100 songs played on Australian radio across 58 stations were by solo female artists, compared to 55 by solo male artistsNote 91 (expanded data)
• 2023 was the first time ever that there were more works by women (30) than men (27) in the Archibald Prize finalistsNote 92 (expanded data)

Women and the Australian honours system

• In the 2024 Australia Day Honours List, women received 50.5 per cent of Order of Australia awardsNote 93 (expanded data)
• In the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours List, women received 50.5 per cent of the Order of Australia awardsNote 94 (expanded data)
• Australia is ranked 26th for gender equality internationallyNote 95 (expanded data)