Jobs in Australia

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Information about the number and nature of filled jobs, the people who hold them and their employers

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Reference period
2014-15 to 2018-19
Released
26/10/2021
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Key statistics

During 2018-19 there were:

  • 20.1 million job relationships, up 2.9% on 2017-18
  • 14.1 million employed persons, up 2.4% on 2017-18
 NumberChange in last yearChange since 2014-15
Jobs20,138,1002.9%9.7%
 Held by men10,373,4002.0%8.1%
 Held by women9,764,8003.9%11.3%
Employed persons14,120,0002.4%7.7%
Median employee income per job (duration adjusted) (a)$45,4351.5%9.6%
Total employment income$884 bil4.9%18.1%

a. 'Duration adjusted' is an analytical measure of employee income per job that seeks to put all jobs onto a comparable full-year duration basis.

a. OMUEs are Owner-managers of unincorporated enterprises.

Jobs

During 2018-19:

  • There were 20.1 million job relationships
  • 18.0 million jobs (89.6%) were held by employees and 2.1 million jobs (10.4%) were held by owner-managers of unincorporated enterprises
  • 15.2 million jobs (75.4%) were in the private sector and 3.4 million (16.6%) were in the public sector. Some job records had missing or unknown sector information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100.
     

Employed persons

During 2018-19:

  • Persons aged 25-29 years held the highest number of jobs (2.7 million)
  • Males in this age group (51.8%) held a slightly higher proportion of jobs than females (48.2%)

Employee income

In 2018-19, after adjusting for the duration of the job, the median annual employee income per job was:

  • $45,435 for all persons
  • $55,343 for males
  • $36,743 for females

a. 'Duration adjusted' is an analytical measure of employee income per job that seeks to put all jobs onto a comparable full-year duration basis.

Multiple job holders

A multiple job holder is a person who held more than one employee job at the same time, rather than one after another, during the year.

During 2018-19:

  • Approximately 16.7% of employed persons (2.4 million) were multiple job holders
  • Four out of five employed people (83.3%) held only one job
  • Women held a greater proportion of multiple jobs (53.7%)

Industry

During 2018-19, the industries with the most jobs were:

  • Health care and social assistance (11.5%)
  • Administrative and support services (9.5%)
  • Retail trade (8.7%)

(a) Some jobs records had missing or unknown industry information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100

Occupation

During 2018-19, the most common occupations were:

  • Professionals (18.8%)
  • Clerical and administrative workers (11.3%)
  • Managers (10.9%)
     

Differences in male and female occupations continue to be apparent. Almost all jobs worked by Machinery operators and drivers were held by males (88.8%), while most Clerical and administrative jobs were held by females (76.3%).

Employers

During 2018-19:

  • 5.7 million jobs (28.3%) were with small businesses (less than 20 employees)
  • 4.4 million jobs (22.1%) were with medium businesses (between 20 and 199 employees)
  • 8.4 million jobs (41.7%) were with large businesses (200 or more employees)
  • Some jobs records had missing or unknown business size information and therefore these percentages do not add to 100

State and territory

During 2018-19, the three states or territories with the largest numbers of jobs were:

  • New South Wales (6.4 million jobs)
  • Victoria (5.2 million jobs)
  • Queensland (4.1 million jobs)

Regional comparison

In 2018-19, the local government areas (LGAs) with the highest number of jobs in each state and territory were:

  • New South Wales: Blacktown (299,000 jobs)
  • Victoria: Casey (271,000 jobs)
  • Queensland: Brisbane (1.1 million jobs)
  • South Australia: Onkaparinga (124,000 jobs)
  • Western Australia: Stirling (193,000 jobs)
  • Tasmania: Launceston (50,000 jobs)
  • Northern Territory: Darwin (84,000 jobs)

The Australian Capital Territory does not have any LGAs. 

a. Excludes local government areas with less than 1,000 earners.
b. The Australian Capital Territory does not have local government areas.

In 2018-19, the LGAs with the highest median employee income per job in each jurisdiction were:

  • New South Wales: North Sydney ($73,965)
  • Victoria: Yarra ($54,244)
  • Queensland: Weipa ($79,328)
  • South Australia: Roxby Downs ($84,851)
  • Western Australia: Ashburton ($80,225)
  • Tasmania: West Coast ($45,322)
  • Unincorporated NT ($60,220)

Parts of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are identified as Unincorporated, for example Unincorporated NT. For further information see Australia Statistical Geography Standard, Edition 3.

(a) Excludes local government areas with less than 1,000 earners.
(b) Parts of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are identified as Unincorporated, for example Unincorporated NT. For further information see Australia Statistical Geography Standard, Edition 3.
(c) The Australian Capital Territory does not have local government areas. 

Data downloads

Table 1. All jobs

Data files
Download xlsx [804.6 KB]

Table 2. Employee jobs

Data files
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Table 3. Employee jobs - Industry

Data files
Download xlsx [938.51 KB]

Table 4. Multiple job holders

Data files
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Table 5. Owner managers of unincorporated enterprises

Data files
Download xlsx [67.17 KB]

Table 6. Employed persons

Data files
Download xlsx [917.1 KB]

Table 7. New South Wales spotlights by local government areas

Data files
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Table 8. Victoria spotlights by local government areas

Data files
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Table 9. Queensland spotlights by local government areas

Data files
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Table 10. South Australia spotlights by local government areas

Data files
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Table 11. Western Australia spotlights by local government areas

Data files
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Table 12. Tasmania spotlights by local government areas

Data files
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Table 13. Northern Territory spotlights by local government areas

Data files
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Table 14. Australian Capital Territory spotlight

Data files
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All data cubes

Data files
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Post release changes

03/06/2022 - Footnotes updated for Table 4. 

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6160.0.

Methodology

Jobs in Australia methodology, 2014-15 to 2018-19

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