Women in Australia are diverse, educated and hardworking
Of all women in Australia:
- 3.8% are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait IslanderNote 1
- 28.3% were born overseasNote 2
- 48.5% have a parent born overseasNote 3
- 29.2% are under the age of 25Note 4
- 18.3% are 65 years and overNote 5
- 21.8% are women with disabilityNote 6
- 27.6% live in regional or remote AustraliaNote 7
- 3.8% identify are estimated to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or use a different term such as asexual, pansexual or queerNote 8
What's changed
- Australia is ranked 24th for gender equality internationallyNote 9
- Australians are increasingly rejecting problematic beliefs about gender equality and Australians’ understanding of violence against women has improved since 2013Note 10
- The proportion of women who had experienced violence in the last 12 months from an intimate partner decreased from 1.5% in 2012 to 0.9% in 2021–22Note 11
- 3.9% of women had recently experienced emotional abuse in 2021–22, down from 4.7% in 2012Note 12
- 2.3% of women had recently experienced economic abuse in 2021–22Note 13
- Men are taking more parental leave; 17% of primary carer parental leave is taken by men, up from 5% in 2016–17Note 14
- 68% of employers now offer paid parental leave, up from 48% in 2015–16Note 15
- Use of paid childcare by couples with children under the age of 5 has significantly increased over the last 10 years; from 42% in 2010–12, to 55.2% in 2021–22Note 16
- Women’s workforce participation reached a record high of 63.5% in January 2025, compared to 58.6% 10 years agoNote 17
- Women make up only 39.6% of full-time workers, a small increase from 35.6% 10 years agoNote 18
- In 2024, 63.6% of women held a non-school qualification and 36.9% held a bachelor degree or above, up from 57.4% and 27.6% in 2015Note 19
- The national gender pay gap is 11.9%, down from a record-high of 18.6% 10 years agoNote 20
- Between women and men retirees, the gap in average age at retirement has decreased from 8.4 years in 2012–13 to 4.7 years in 2022–23. On average, women retire at 54.7 years and men retire at 59.4 yearsNote 21
- Between women and men, the superannuation gap has narrowed from 24.6% in 2014–15 to 21.3% in 2021–22Note 22
- At the opening of the 47th parliament in 2022, 44% of federal parliamentarians were women, up from 31% at the opening of the 44th parliament in 2013Note 23
- Women now hold 54.4% of all Australian Government board positions, up from 39.1% in 2015Note 24
- On private sector boards, women’s representation has increased from 23.7% in 2013–14 to 32% in 2023–24Note 25
Where are we now?
Gender-based violence
- 37 women were killed by a current or former intimate partner in 2024Note 26
- Nearly one in 3 female victims of homicide in 2024 identified as First NationsNote 27
- Women are 30-45% more likely to experience high financial stress if they had experienced sexual violence than women of the same age who hadn’t experienced violenceNote 28
- One in 2 women and one in 4 men working in retail have experienced sexual harassment, with young women under the age of 25 most likely to be targetedNote 29
Economic equality and security
- When comparing full-time equivalent total remuneration of private sector employees, which includes superannuation, bonuses, overtime, other payments but excluding CEO remuneration, the average gender pay gap is 21.1%Note 30
- 90% of large private sector employers have a policy or strategy to support gender equality in the workplaceNote 31
Leadership, representation and decision making
- In the private sector, the CEO and head of business gender pay gap is 27.1%Note 32
- In media, women make up 49% of the workforce, but hold only 30% of CEO rolesNote 33
- 39% of women participate in cultural activities, such as visual arts, music, dance and craft, compared to 25% of menNote 34
Unpaid and paid care
On average, women do 32 hours of unpaid work and care a week, 9 hours more than men. Women do more unpaid work than men across all demographics and the share is highest for:
- women in a couple family with a child under 15 years (47 hours a week)
- women in the lowest quintile of household income (40 hours a week)
- single mothers (40 hours a week)Note 35
On average, First Nations women undertake 11.5 hours per day caring for others and/or caring for Country and culture. Unpaid care is often viewed as strength and something to be deeply valuedNote 36
Health
- Women are more likely to use health care services than men and are more likely to face higher healthcare costs over timeNote 37
- 4 in 5 Australian women aged 18–44 years have experienced chronic menstrual symptoms in the last 5 years and almost half have missed days of work or study as a resultNote 38
- One in 4 women aged 45–64 years report that symptoms attributed to menopause make it hard to do daily activitiesNote 39
- The leading causes of loss of healthy life for women are dementia, anxiety disorders, and back pain. For men, they are coronary heart disease, back pain, and suicideNote 40
First Nations women
New analysis shows that First Nations women have strong connections to family, community and culture:
- 98% are proud of their culture and of being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- 76% recognise an area as a homeland or traditional country and of these, 29% live on homeland or traditional country
- 67% identify with a tribal group, language, clan, mission or regional group
- 46% are satisfied or very satisfied with the level of their own knowledge of culture
- 8% speak an Aboriginal language or a Torres Strait Islander language as their main language at homeNote 41 (expanded data)