Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia

Latest releaseData download

Includes earnings and hours statistics for characteristics such as industry, occupation, sex, age, full-time/part-time, and method of setting pay

Reference period
May 2023

Key statistics

  • Median weekly earnings were $1,300.00 for all employees, $1,509.00 for males and $1,130.00 for females.
  • Occupations with the highest hourly earnings were Managers ($67.20) and Professionals ($60.60).
  • Individual arrangement was the most common method of setting pay (38.7%), followed by collective agreement (34.0%).

Additional data has been released on the use of restraint clauses in Australia. This content is published in the article Restraint Clauses, Australia, 2023.

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings, number of employees and proportion of employees - sex by employment status (a)

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings, number of employees and proportion of employees - sex by employment status (a)
 Average weekly total cash earnings ($)Number of employees ('000)Proportion of employees (%)
Full-time males2,074.204,526.035.9
Part-time males758.701,596.112.7
All males1,731.206,122.148.6
Full-time females1,814.902,884.022.9
Part-time females816.603,587.128.5
All females1,261.506,471.051.4
Full-time persons1,973.307,410.058.8
Part-time persons798.705,183.241.2
All persons1,489.8012,593.1100.0
  1. May not sum to totals due to rounding

All employees, distribution of weekly total cash earnings - employment status by sex

All employees, distribution of weekly total cash earnings - employment status by sex

Line chart with 3 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 303 to 2520.
End of interactive chart.

Industry

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - industry

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - industry

Bar chart with 19 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 750.5 to 3008.2.
End of interactive chart.

Full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, average weekly total cash earnings - industry by sex

Full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, average weekly total cash earnings - industry by sex

Bar chart with 3 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 1291.9 to 3068.5.
End of interactive chart.

Non-managerial employees, average weekly total hours paid for, average hourly total cash earnings - industry

Non-managerial employees, average weekly total hours paid for, average hourly total cash earnings - industry
 Average weekly total hours paid for (hours)Average hourly total cash earnings ($)
Mining42.569.10
Manufacturing37.540.80
Electricity, gas, water and waste services39.257.30
Construction38.445.00
Wholesale trade35.542.50
Retail trade25.331.40
Accommodation and food services22.829.10
Transport, postal and warehousing37.943.80
Information media and telecommunications34.956.60
Finance and insurance services34.751.50
Rental, hiring and real estate services34.541.00
Professional, scientific and technical services33.953.00
Administrative and support services30.540.40
Public administration and safety34.650.20
Education and training27.051.60
Health care and social assistance27.947.20
Arts and recreation services23.937.60
Other services29.835.10
All industries31.044.00

State

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - states and territories

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - states and territories

Bar chart with 9 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 1282.4 to 1704.8.
End of interactive chart.

Sector

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - sector

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - sector

Bar chart with 3 bars.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 1417.4 to 1832.4.
End of interactive chart.

Occupation

All employees, number of employees, average weekly total cash earnings - occupation

All employees, number of employees, average weekly total cash earnings - occupation
 Number of employees ('000)Average weekly total cash earnings ($)
Managers1,068.02,712.40
Professionals3,030.01,954.00
Technicians and trades workers1,451.11,614.20
Community and personal service workers1,763.6953.10
Clerical and administrative workers1,900.91,238.90
Sales workers1,390.3785.40
Machinery operators and drivers724.11,631.00
Labourers1,265.01,022.00
All occupations12,593.11,489.80

Full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, average weekly total cash earnings - occupation by sex

Full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, average weekly total cash earnings - occupation by sex

Bar chart with 3 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 1254.2 to 2864.8.
End of interactive chart.

Non-managerial employees, average weekly total hours paid for, average hourly total cash earnings - occupation

Non-managerial employees, average weekly total hours paid for, average hourly total cash earnings - occupation
 Average weekly total hours paid for (hours)Average hourly total cash earnings ($)
Managers36.867.20
Professionals32.260.60
Technicians and trades workers37.742.00
Community and personal service workers25.036.80
Clerical and administrative workers31.339.00
Sales workers23.830.90
Machinery operators and drivers39.440.30
Labourers29.832.20
All occupations31.044.00

Method of setting pay

All employees, proportion of employees - sex by method of setting pay

All employees, proportion of employees - sex by method of setting pay

Bar chart with 4 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying % of all Persons. Data ranges from 1.1 to 38.7.
End of interactive chart.

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - method of setting pay by sex

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - method of setting pay by sex

Bar chart with 3 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 817.1 to 1982.8.
End of interactive chart.

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - states and territories by method of setting pay

All employees, average weekly total cash earnings - states and territories by method of setting pay

Bar chart with 5 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying $. Data ranges from 730.7 to 2021.8.
End of interactive chart.

All employees, proportion of employees - method of setting pay

All employees, proportion of employees - method of setting pay

Bar chart with 4 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying % of all Persons. Data ranges from 3.3 to 42.
End of interactive chart.

(a) Data for 2016 is based on indicative comparable estimate proportions. For further information, see Appendix 1 in the 2018 Feature Article.

Data downloads

Data cube 1. All employees

Number of employees, average weekly total cash earnings, average age - rate of pay and age category: by employment status by sex, type of employee by sex, occupation, industry, states and territories, sector, employer size

Data cube 2. All employees

Number of employees, average weekly total cash earnings, average age - method of setting pay: by employment status by sex, type of employee by sex, occupation, industry, states and territories, sector, employer size

Data cube 3. All employees

Distribution, deciles and quartiles of weekly total cash earnings - age category, method of setting pay, employment status, type of employee, occupation by sex, industry, sector, states and territories

Data cube 4. Non-managerial employees

Number of employees, average weekly total cash earnings, average weekly total hours paid for, average hourly total cash earnings - rate of pay and age category: by employment status by sex, type of employee and status by sex, occupation, industry, states and territories, sector, employer size

Data cube 5. Non-managerial employees

Number of employees, average weekly total cash earnings, average weekly total hours paid for, average hourly total cash earnings - method of setting pay: by employment status by sex, type of employee and status by sex, occupation, industry, states and territories, sector, employer size

Data cube 6. Full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate

Number of employees, average weekly total cash earnings, average weekly total hours paid for, average hourly total cash earnings - age category: by type of employee by sex, occupation, industry, states and territories, sector, employer size

Restraint clauses

Given the increasing interest in understanding employment conditions and arrangements in Australia, the ABS has produced new experimental data on the use of restraint clauses in employment contracts. It can be found in Restraint Clauses, Australia, 2023.

Information was collected from employers on their use of restraint clauses relating to Non-disclosure, Non-compete, Non-solicitation of clients, and Non-solicitation of co-workers. This was collected through a short follow-up survey of employers responding to the 2023 Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours.

In 2023, 46.9% of Australian businesses reported that they had used at least one type of restraint clause.

Non-disclosure clauses were the most common type of restraint clause, used by 45.3% of employers, followed by:

  • Non-solicitation of clients (25.4%)
  • Non-compete (20.8%)
  • Non-solicitation of co-workers (18.0%)

Restraint clause use by employers

Restraint clause use by employers

Bar chart with 4 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Proportion (%). Data ranges from 11.2 to 66.6.
End of interactive chart.

Post release changes

21/02/2024

Distributional, decile and quartile data for States and territories added to Employee Earnings and Hours data cubes 3 and 8. See Data downloads section.

Data on restraint clauses added. This information was collected through the Short Survey of Employment Conditions, a follow-up survey of employers responding to the 2023 Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6306.0.