Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Women in Australia - statistics & facts
Women in Australia have gained significant ground in terms of workforce participation, reproductive rights, and representation in the past decades. The 13.69 million women in Australia make up just over 50 percent of the Australian population, and a large proportion of these women participate in the workforce in the country. However, entrenched gender bias still exists. Women are still more likely to earn less than their male counterparts and women’s health research is also underfunded and underrepresented.
The future for women in Australia looks promising as Australian society and policy makers continue to strive for gender equality with initiatives like the National Women’s Health Strategy. The Strategy aims to improve the health and wellbeing of Australian women over the next decade and will focus on maternal and infant health, chronic disease, mental illness, and aging. Australia is also slowly addressing the gender pay gap in the nation, though it may be some time before the country sees true gender equality.
The gender pay gap in Australia
Despite anti-discrimination on the basis of sex being legislated in the country in 1984, the gender pay gap has not changed significantly over the last 20 years. The gap varies across industries, with the financial and insurance services industry having the largest pay gap in 2024. Australia ranked 24th in the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report in the same year, which measures wages, employment, and workforce representation. While this is a better ranking than in previous reports, the nation still has work to do in reaching gender equality on the workplace. In terms of public opinion on this issue, less than half of Australians thought it likely that women would be paid the same as men for the same work in 2024.Women’s health
In 2023, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the Women’s Empowerment Index scores, showing Australia and New Zealand to have the highest overall score, in addition to having the highest score for life and good health in the world. The average life expectancy at birth of Australian females born in 2022 was estimated to be over four years older males born in the same year. While women in the country may tend to live longer than men, they still face considerable health issues, with the leading causes of death including dementia, ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer. Research into women’s health has been historically lacking, which has led to a large disparity in the healthcare available to women compared to men.The future for women in Australia looks promising as Australian society and policy makers continue to strive for gender equality with initiatives like the National Women’s Health Strategy. The Strategy aims to improve the health and wellbeing of Australian women over the next decade and will focus on maternal and infant health, chronic disease, mental illness, and aging. Australia is also slowly addressing the gender pay gap in the nation, though it may be some time before the country sees true gender equality.
