Factsheet: Gender and the Australian labour market

Employment gender gaps have continued to narrow in the strong post-pandemic labour market, driven by increased female workforce participation. Most gender gap indicators are currently at or near their lowest recorded levels.

Headline gender pay gap

The headline gender pay gap was 11.5% in May 2025, returning to a record low level. This indicator offers an ‘apples to apples’ comparison of male and female employees, as it excludes gender differences in hours worked and overtime/bonuses.

Total earnings

The gender gap for total earnings – i.e. take home pay – was 27.2% in May 2025. This indicator offers a more real-world comparison, as it includes gender differences in hours worked and overtime/bonuses. The total earnings gap has been steadily declining for the last decade.

Hours worked

The gender gap in hours worked rose to 18.5% in May 2025. This indicator measures how patterns of full-, part- and over-time work lead to gender differences in total hours worked.

Wages

The gender gap for wages – i.e. average hourly rates of pay – was 10.7% in May 2025. This gap reflects occupational differences, such as women being employed in lower-wage occupations, industries and/or less-senior roles. Except for a period of volatility during the pandemic, the gender wages gap has been relatively stable – oscillating between 11 and 13% – for the last decade.

Pay gaps by industries

The industries with the lowest gender pay gaps are public administration (4.2%), retail trade (6.0%), construction (6.5%), education (7.0%), transport, postal & warehousing (7.5%) and manufacturing (10.1%). The gap is largest in health care & social assistance (29.9%), financial services (26.5%), administrative services (23.9%) and professional, scientific & technical services (23.8%).

Since the pandemic, the strongest improvements in the gender pay gap have occurred in two traditionally male-dominated industries: construction (down by 6.9% since 2019) and transport (down by 10.9%).

Unemployment

In July 2025, the male unemployment rate stood at 4.4% while female unemployment was 4.1%. Following the pandemic, female unemployment has tended to be slightly lower than male reflecting strong employment growth in several female-dominated industries.

Under-employment

Female underemployment was 6.7% in July 2025, compared to 5.0% for males. The gender gap in underemployment has narrowed significantly in the tight post-pandemic labour market, falling from around a 4.0% gap prior to the pandemic to around 1.7% across the current cycle.

Labour market participation

Female labour market participation was 63.5% in July 2025, reaching its series high level again. Female participation has steadily increased for decades, but the tightness in the labour market post-pandemic has accelerated the increase. The current gender workforce participation gap is 7.2%.

Full-time employment

The share of female employees in full-time employment was 57.4% in July 2025. With the rate of male full-time employment was 80.1%, the gender gap for full-time employment has narrowed to 22.7%.

Sources

The data in this factsheet are derived from various ABS labour surveys. Data is collected on a monthly, quarterly or biannual basis, and is typically released two or three months following the reference period. Ai Group Research & Economics will update this factsheet as new data is released. Refer to notes in the charts for links to the source data.

Ai Group Research & Economics Team

Website: Research and Economics Resource Centre

Email: economics@aigroup.com.au