Gender Indicators, Australia

The key findings for 2019 Gender Indicators are presented below. Further discussion is available in the respective domain topics.

1. For parents with a dependant child aged 0-5 years, only 64% of women participated in the labour force, compared with 95% of men.
2. The median superannuation balance remains lower for women than men. In 2017–18, the median superannuation balance at, or approaching, preservation age (55-64 years) was $119,000 for women and $183,000 for men.
3. Lone parents with children are more likely than other parents to live in low economic resource households. In 2017-18. around half of lone mothers with children (46%) and more than a quarter of lone fathers with children (27%) were living in low economic resource households.
4. Young women were more likely to be buying their home than young men: 24% of women compared with 18% of men aged 15 to 34 years owned their home with a mortgage in 2017-18.
    

1. Over a quarter of females (29.7%) and around one-fifth of males (21.1%), aged 20-24 years in 2018, were not fully engaged in education and/or employment. These proportions have increased over the last decade.
2. Women are more likely than men to have attained a Bachelor degree or above qualification. This is unlikely to change in the near future as more women are currently enrolled in Bachelor Degree or above courses.
3. For graduates of most fields of study, females are paid less than their male counterparts.
    

1. Women are expected to live 4.2 years longer than men, though the gap is narrowing. Around 40 years ago, the gap was 7.0 years.
2. Ischaemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men, but has been overtaken as the leading cause of death for women by Dementia & Alzheimer's disease.
3. Women are more likely then men to have reported experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress or a mood (affective) disorder such as depression.
    

1. Proportionally, managers in the non-public sector were more likely than those in non-managerial positions to access parental leave, either in a primary or secondary carer capacity.
    

1. In 2018, the number of recorded incidences of female victims of sexual assault increased and was more than five times higher than males.
2. In 2017-18, illicit drug offences continued as the leading principal offence for females, while for males illicit drug offences and acts intended to cause injury remained the two leading principal offences.
    

1. More men (82.9%) occupy senior leadership positions in the non-public sector than women.
2. Women continued to be outnumbered by men in Parliament. In 2019, three in ten federal parliamentarians in the House of Representatives and almost two in five federal parliamentarians in the Senate were women.
3. In 2019, the proportion of women (51.2%) in Executive Level positions in the public service surpassed men (48.8%) for the first time.

The Key Series and associated Indicators for this publication are listed below.

Indicators with an update in 2019 are identified.

A list of tables supporting the Indicators are available below in the Data downloads section.

The key findings for Economic Security are:

1. For parents with a dependant child aged 0-5 years, only 64% of women participated in the labour force, compared with 95% of men.
2. The median superannuation balance remains lower for women than men. In 2017–18, the median superannuation balance at, or approaching, preservation age (55-64 years) was $119,000 for women and $183,000 for men.
3. Lone parents with children are more likely than other parents to live in low economic resource households. In 2017-18. around half of lone mothers with children (46%) and more than a quarter of lone fathers with children (27%) were living in low economic resource households.
4. Young women were more likely to be buying their home than young men: 24% of women compared with 18% of men aged 15 to 34 years owned their home with a mortgage in 2017-18.
    

The detailed data supporting the following insights are available from the Data downloads section of this publication:

• Data Cube 1: Economic Security - Working population
• Data Cube 2: Economic Security - Earnings, income & economic situation and Housing.
   

This section presents data that is available on request from Labour Force Survey, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

In 2018–19, two-thirds of women (67.4%) and more than three quarters of men (78.5%) aged 20–74 years old participated in the labour force.

In comparison, for parents aged 20–74 years, whose youngest child was under six years old, the difference between female and male labour force participation rate widened considerably: 64.2% of women and 94.6% of men (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.1). For those parents whose youngest child is 6-14 years old, female participation rate greatly increases (to 80.6%) while male participation rate remains relatively stable (93.3%), likely reflecting women re-entering the work force once their children reach primary school age.

While young women aged 15–19 years old were more likely to participate in the labour force than young men (56.7% women compared to 53.2% men), men were otherwise more likely to be in the labour force. The labour force participation rate for females was 60.6% compared with 71.1% for males, for those aged 15 and over, in 2018–19. The three age groups with the largest difference in labour force participation rates between women and men, in 2018–19, were:

• 30–34 years olds: 76.1% for women compared to 92.7% for men
• 35-39 years olds: 77.6% for women compared to 92.3% for men
• 60-64 years olds: 51.8% for women compared to 65.4% for men.

The gender composition of the workforce aged 20–74 years old also differs across occupations and industries. In 2018–19, the occupations with the highest proportion of females were clerical and administrative workers (73.8%) and community and personal service workers (70.4%). Those industries with the highest proportion of males were machine operators and drivers (90.5%) and technicians and trades workers (85.1%). These have remained largely unchanged over the last decade. Managers are still almost twice as likely to be men (62.7%) than women (37.3%) (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.6).

In 2018–19, the industries with the highest proportion of women were health care and social assistance (78.2%) and education and training (71.9%), while men dominated the construction (87.9%) and mining (84.1%) industries. The industries with the highest proportions of women and men have remained consistent over the past decade (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.3).
 

This section presents data that is available on request from Labour Force Survey, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

Women are more likely than men to be working part-time, in 2018–19, with 43.4% of employed women and 16.0% of employed men aged 20–74 years old working part-time.

The differences in part-time working arrangements were even more pronounced for parents with dependant children:

• For parents whose youngest child was under six, three in five employed mothers (59.3%) worked part-time compared to less than one in ten employed fathers (7.6%)
• For parents with older children (youngest dependant child between 6-14 years old), half of all employed mothers (49.8%) worked part-time, compared to less than one in ten employed fathers (8.3%) (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.9).
   

The average number of hours worked by both women and men working part-time was the same (18.2 and 18.0 hours per week). However for those working full-time, women worked fewer hours on average than men; 36.9 hours per week for women compared to 40.8 hours per week for men (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.10).

Women are also more likely to work in casual jobs than men. In 2018, 27.0% of female employees aged 15 years and over did not have paid leave entitlements, compared with 23.0% of male employees. Younger people were most likely to work in jobs without leave entitlements, with around one third of both women and men aged 15-34 in this type of employment (36.9% of women and 31.8% of men) (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.12).

This section presents data that is available on request from Labour Force Survey, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

In 2018–19, the average unemployment rate was similar for women and men aged 20–74 years old (4.5% and 4.3% respectively). While the unemployment rate for young women aged 15–19 years old was lower than young men (15.0% compared to 18.3%), men aged 30–44 years old had lower unemployment rates than women of the same age. For parents with a child under six the unemployment rate for mothers aged 20–74 years old is about double the unemployment rate of fathers: 4.8% of mothers compared to 2.2% of fathers (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.14).

In 2018–19, women were more likely to be underemployed than men (9.4% and 5.6% respectively): that is people in the labour force who wanted, and were available for, more hours of work than they currently had (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.15).

Adding people who are either unemployed or underemployed together creates an underutilised labour force population, from which an underutilisation rate can be derived. The labour force underutilisation rate in Australia in 2018–19 for those aged 20–74 years old was higher for women (13.9%) than it was for men (10.0%). (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.16).

This section presents data that is available on request from Labour Force Survey, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

In 2018–19, a third of women (32.6%) and just over one in five men (21.5%) aged 20–74 years old were not in the labour force. The largest difference was for people aged 30–34 years old, where women (23.9%) were around three times more likely than men (7.3%) to be out of the labour force (see Data Cube 1, Table 1.17). This may reflect the age group of women more likely to be having children, and taking a major role in their care, since the median age of mothers at birth in 2017 was 31.3 years, as detailed in Births, Australia, 2017 (cat. no. 3301.0).

This section presents data that is available on request from Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (cat. no. 6306.0) and Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).

The gender pay gap (GPG) measures the relative position of women and men in the economy. The measures given below present the percentage of a women's wage/earnings over that of a man's wage/earnings using three different methods. All methods show a gender pay gap that favours working men over working women.

• In 2018 the average adult hourly female wage was 87% of the average adult hourly male wage for non-managerial employees (see Data Cube 2, Table 2.1)
• In 2018 the average adult weekly female earnings were 69% of average adult weekly male earnings and this has also been fairly stable over the last decade. While this measure only includes full-time employees it also includes both ordinary time earnings and overtime earnings (see Data Cube 2, Table 2.3)
• Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data for 2017-18 presents a full-time total remuneration gender pay gap of 21.3%. This means men working full-time earn $25,717 on average per year more than women working full-time. For these data and further discussion, see the WGEA website.
   

For further discussion on the gender pay gap see the following articles:

• Understanding measures of the gender pay gap, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Gender Indicators article, 23 January 2019
• The gender pay gap, Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
   

This section presents data that is available on request from Household Income and Wealth, Australia (cat. no. 6523.0).

In 2017–18, a superannuation pension or annuity was the main source of income for around one in six women (15.5%) and about one in four men (24.4%) aged 65 years and over, who were not in the labour force. While these proportions have increased for both women and men over the past ten years (these proportions were 9.2% and 19.3% respectively in 2007–08), the difference between women and men has persisted. Government pensions and allowances, on the other hand, were the main source of income for the majority of people aged 65 years and over who were not in the labour force, with more women (69.4%) reliant on this income source than men (63.0%), in 2017-18). (see Date Cube 2, Table 2.6).

The median superannuation balance at, or approaching, preservation age (55–64 years) for women has increased by around 60% between 2009–10 and 2017–18. In the same period, the median superannuation balance for men has increased by around a third. However, the median superannuation balance remains substantially lower for women than men. In 2017–18, the median superannuation balance was $118,556 for women and $183,000 for men aged 55-64 years (see Data Cube 2, Table 2.7).

Just under a quarter (23.5%) of women aged 15–64 years old had no superannuation coverage at all in 2017–18, compared to one in five men (20.5%) of the same age. The gap between women and men with no coverage has narrowed in the last decade (from a 5.4 percentage point gap in 2009–10 to a 3.0 percentage point gap in 2017-18). (see Data Cube 2, Table 2.8).

The two age groups with the largest percentage of people with no superannuation were the youngest and oldest groups:

• 15-24 year old women (49.4%) and men (50.3%), which has remained relatively consistent over the last decade
• 55-64 year old women (22.4%) and men (16.3%), though this has reduced over the last decade (33.2% women and 23.0% of men in 2009-10).
   

See Data Cube 2, Table 2.8 for these data.

This section presents data that is available on request from Household Income and Wealth, Australia (cat. no. 6523.0).

Low economic resource households are those in the bottom two quintiles for both income and wealth (this includes imputed rent, which represents the economic benefit to those people who own their own home or who are paying subsidised rent). For most Australians, income is the most important resource they have to meet their living costs. However, reserves of wealth (such as equity in a house) can be drawn upon to maintain living standards in periods of reduced income or substantial unexpected expenses. Considering income and wealth together helps to better understand the economic well-being or vulnerability of households.

In 2017–18, about one in five women and men (21.1% and 20.3% respectively) aged 15 years and over were living in low economic resource households. The rates were much higher for lone parents with children (including both dependant and non-dependant children). In 2017-18 around half of lone mothers (46.4%) and more than a quarter of lone fathers (26.7%) were living in low economic resource households (see Data Cube 2, Table 2.9).

This section presents data from the Survey of Income and Housing that is available on request from Household Income and Wealth, Australia (cat. no. 6523.0).

In 2017–18, women were more likely than men to live in a home they owned or were buying (58.6% females compared with 55.5% males). Young women were more likely to be buying their home than young men: 24.3% of women compared with 18.3% of men aged 15 to 34 years owned their home with a mortgage in 2017–18. Home ownership rates for women and men have dropped slightly over the last decade: a drop of 3.6 and 3.3 percentage points respectively from 2007–08. (see Data Cube 2, Table 2.15 and Table 2.16).

The key findings for Education are:

1. Over a quarter of females (29.7%) and around one-fifth of males (21.1%), aged 20-24 years in 2018, were not fully engaged in education and/or employment. These proportions have increased over the last decade.
2. Women are more likely than men to have attained a Bachelor degree or above qualification. This is unlikely to change in the near future as more women are currently enrolled in Bachelor Degree or above courses.
3. For graduates of most fields of study, females are paid less than their male counterparts.
    

The detailed data supporting the following insights are available from the Data downloads section of this publication:

• Data Cube 4: Education - Attainment
• Data Cube 5: Education - Participation and Education & employment.
   

This section presents information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 4, Table 4.1.

In 2018, the majority of people aged 15 to 64 years had attained Year 12 or a formal qualification at Certificate II or above (78.6% of females and 79.2% of males). Around nine in ten people aged 20-44 years had attained this qualification: for every 5 year age group between 20 to 44 the rate of attainment was between 84.8% and 91.1%. Over the past 10 years, there has been an overall increase in attainment for all age groups especially for those aged 35 years and over, with greater increases for females than males. This increase was most notable for those aged 40-44 years: females from 70.3% to 88.7% and males from 74.7% to 84.8%. There was also a large increase for the 45-49 years age group: females from 67.8% to 84.2% and males from 72.2% to 81.6%.

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 4, Table 4.3.

More than half of females and males aged 18-64 years had attained a formal qualification of Certificate III or above in 2018 (60.4% and 60.1% respectively). Although this proportion has increased for both groups over the past 10 years, it has increased more sharply for females who were less likely than males to have this attainment in 2008 (47.5% for females in 2008 compared to 52.4% for males).

Between 2008 and 2018, the proportion of females with a Certificate III or above increased at a greater rate than males across all age groups. In 2018, 74.6% of women and 70.7% of men aged 30-34 years had attained a Certificate III or above. This was the age group with the largest total increase since 2008, when 60.4% of women and 60.2% of men had a Certificate III or above. The largest increase for females between 2008 and 2018 was for the 35-44 years age group (52.8% in 2008 compared to 72.2% in 2018). These data are available in Data Cube 4, Table 4.3.

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 4, Table 4.5

In 2018, females aged 18-64 years were more likely than males to have attained a Bachelor degree or above qualification (33.5% compared to 26.8%). Although the proportion of people with a Bachelor degree or above attainment has increased for both groups over the past 10 years, it has been greater for females leading to an increased gap between the two groups:

• increased from 25.0% of females in 2008 to 33.5% in 2018
• increased from 21.7% of males in 2008 to 26.8% in 2018.
   

In 2018, people aged 30-34 years were most likely to have attained a Bachelor degree or above, close to half of women (46.5%) and over a third of men (35.4%). In 2008, females had a higher level of attainment then males but this gap has increased in 2018. For all groups aged 25 years and over, there was a greater increase between 2008 and 2018 for females than males in attaining a Bachelor degree or above. The greatest increase for both females and males was for the 35-44 year age group: females from 28.6% to 43.6% and males from 25.4% to 33.4%.

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 4, Tables 4.7 and 4.9.

Almost two-thirds of people aged 15-64 years had attained a non-school qualification in 2018: 62.0% of females compared to 60.9% of males.

However, the type of qualifications attained varied between women and men:

• Women with a non-school qualification were most likely to have attained a Bachelor degree (34.8% compared to 27.7% of males)
• Men were most likely to have attained a Certificate III or IV (37.7% compared to 22.5% of females).
   

This pattern has been consistent across the past 10 years.

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 4, Table 4.10.

The main fields of non-school qualifications have remained fairly consistent for both females and males over the past 10 years.

In 2018:

• Management and Commerce was the main field of non-school qualifications for females (27.4%)
• Engineering and Related Technologies was the main field of non-school qualifications for males (30.1%).
   

The top three main fields of highest non-school qualification with the largest difference between women and men, in 2018, were:

1. Engineering and related technologies (women 2.3% compared with 30.1% of men). Men were thirteen times more likely than women to have completed a qualification in this field, that covers a wide range of areas including Electrical Engineering, Garment Making and Rail Operations
2. Society and Culture (women 20.8% compared with 9.1% of men)
3. Health (women 16.2% compared with 5.3% of men).
    

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 4, Table 5.1.

In 2018, almost one in five people aged 15-64 years were participating in either full-time or part-time formal learning (20.2% of females and 17.7% of males). This proportion was highest for those aged 15-24 years, with two-thirds of females (64.7%) and close to two-thirds of males (61.6%) participating in formal learning.

This section presents information from Schools, Australia, 2018 (cat. no. 4221.0) as provided in Data Cube 5, Tables 5.3 and 5.4.

In 2018, the apparent retention rate from Year 7/8 to Year 12 was higher for females (88.5%) than males (80.6%). The rate has increased for both groups over the previous 10 years. In 2008 the apparent retention rate was 80.5% for women and 68.9% for men.

The apparent retention rate from Year 7/8 to Year 12 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in 2018 was lower than the national rates. However, like the national rates, those for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2018 was higher for females (65.4%) than males (56.5%). These apparent retention rates increased from those in 2008, for both females (51.1%) and males (43.4%).

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 5, Tables 5.5 and 5.6.

Enrolments by sex vary, according to the qualification enrolled in, with women more likely to be enrolled in higher qualifications.

For the 18-64 year age group, in 2018:

• More females (9.4%) than males (7.4%) were enrolled in a Bachelor Degree or above
• More females (2.1%) were enrolled in an Advanced Diploma than males (1.3%)
• Females (2.6%) were less likely to be enrolled in a Certificate III or IV than males (3.0%).
   

For the 18-24 year age cohort, in 2018:

• More females (38.0%) than males (30.5%) were enrolled in a Bachelor Degree or above
• More females (5.2%) were enrolled in an Advanced Diploma or Diploma than males (3.5%)
• Females (4.3%) were less than half as likely to be enrolled in a Certificate III or IV than males (10.3%).
   

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 5, Table 5.7.

In 2018, enrolments in an apprenticeship or traineeship for females (0.6%) aged 18-64 years were around a quarter of that of males (2.6%). This difference was even greater for those aged 15-24 years (2.1% females compared to 13.6% for males). The likelihood of females or males aged 18-64 being enrolled in an apprenticeship or traineeship has decreased over the past 10 years: 1.1% for females in 2008 and 3.3% for males.

This section presents previously unpublished information from Survey of Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0), as provided in Data Cube 5, Table 5.13.

Gender Indicators presents data for 15-24 year olds who were not fully engaged in education and/or employment.

Of people in the 15-24 year age group, those aged 20-24 years were the least likely in 2018 to be fully engaged. In 2018:

• Over a quarter of females (29.7%) and around one-fifth of males (21.1%) aged 20-24 years were not fully engaged in education and/or employment. This has increased from 2008, where estimates were 24.4% of females and 14.8% of males who were not fully engaged in education and/or employment
• Around one in ten females (10.5%) and males (12.1%) aged 15-19 years were not fully engaged in education and/or employment. This proportion has decreased for females since 2008 (14.3%), with no statistically significant movement in the proportion of males (10.7%).
   

This section presents information from Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching, 2018 Graduate Outcomes Survey, as provided in Data Cube 5, Table 5.15.

In 2018, the median starting salary for female undergraduates was $60,000 compared to $63,000 for males.

The five study areas with the highest median starting salary in 2018 were the same for both females and males: Dentistry; Medicine; Social Work; Teacher Education; and Engineering. The highest median starting salary for both females and males was for Dentistry undergraduates, with female graduates paid a median starting salary of $78,000 and male graduates paid $24,000 more ($102,000). The lowest starting salary for both groups was Pharmacy, with females paid a median starting salary of $46,000 and males paid $51,300.

Female graduates were paid less than male graduates in all but four study areas. For further information see Data Cube 5, Table 15.

No new data is available for the below topics. For analytical commentary on these topics please refer to previous versions of this publication.

• Literacy and numeracy skills
• Work related learning.

The key findings for Health are:

1. Women are expected to live 4.2 years longer than men, though the gap is narrowing. Around 40 years ago, the gap was 7.0 years.
2. Ischaemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men, but has been overtaken as the leading cause of death for women by Dementia & Alzheimer's disease.
3. Women are more likely then men to have reported experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress or a mood (affective) disorder such as depression.
    

The detailed data supporting the following insights are available from the Data downloads section of this publication:

• Data Cube 7: Health - Health status
• Data Cube 8: Health - Deaths
• Data Cube 9: Health - Risk factors and Services.
   

This section presents information from Australian Historical Population Statistics (cat. no. 3105.0.65.001), Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia, 2016-18 (cat. no. 3302.0.55.001), and Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2015-2017 (cat. no. 3302.0.55.003).

Life expectancy at birth is greater for Australian females than males, however male life expectancy is improving at a faster rate than that of females. In 2016-18, life expectancy at birth for females was 4.2 years more than males: 84.9 years for females and 80.7 years for males. Around 40 years ago (1976), life expectancy for females was 76.4 years compared with 69.4 years for males: a gap of 7.0 years. For these data see Australian Historical Population Statistics (cat. no. 3105.0.65.001).

According to Life Expectancy at Birth in Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia, 2016-18 (cat.no. 3302.0.55.001), reasons for improvements in life expectancy include, but are not limited to,:

• Improved health services
• Safer working environments
• Advances in medicine and technology.

In 2015-17, life expectancy at birth for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was higher for females (75.6 years) than males (71.6 years). It has increased slightly more for males than females since 2005-07: 73.1 years for females and 67.5 years for males.

This section presents information from National Health Survey: First Results 2017-18 (cat. no. 4364.0.55.001).

In 2017-18, women (78.0%) were more likely then men (75.9%) to have one or more reported long-term health conditions.

Mental and behavioural conditions were more common amongst females (22.3%) than males (17.9%). Unlike many other conditions, the proportion of people with a mental or behavioural condition did not increase with age. Almost one in three females (30.0%) aged 15-24 years had a mental or behavioural condition and just over one in five males (21.3%) of the same age.

Women were more likely to have:

• Asthma
• Arthritis
• Mental and behavioural conditions.
   

Men were more likely to have:

• Ischaemic heart disease
• Heart, stroke and vascular disease
• Diabetes (Diabetes / High sugar levels and Diabetes mellitus).
   

While women (12.3%) had higher rates of asthma than men (10.2%), asthma was more common among boys (12.1%) aged 0-14 years than girls (7.9%), with this pattern being consistent since 2001.

This section presents information from National Health Survey: First Results 2017-18 (cat. no. 4364.0.55.001).

More women than men reported experiencing high or very high levels of psychological distress in 2017-18 (14.5% and 11.3% respectively). This difference was highest among 18 to 24 year olds, where 18.4% of females experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress, compared with 12.4% of males.

In 2017-18, females (12.0%) were more likely to have reported a mood (affective) disorder, such as depression, compared with males (9.5%). In most age groups, females were more likely to have a mental or behavioural condition, except for the 0-14 age group (8.2% of females compared with 13.7% of males).

For both females and males, those in the 15-24 year age group were most likely to have reported a mental or behavioural condition (30.0% and 21.3% respectively).

This section presents information from Causes of Death, Australia, 2018 (cat. no. 3303.0).

In 2018, the top five leading causes of death for females and males were the same, although the ranking of the causes differed between the sexes. The table below lists the top 15 leading causes of death for females and males in 2018.

Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer-related death for both females and males in 2018. It was the second leading cause of death overall for men and the fifth for women. Sex specific cancers (Malignant neoplasm of breast and Malignant neoplasm of prostate) were the sixth leading causes for females and males respectively. Suicide was the top ranked external cause of death among males (ranked 10th of all causes of death among males) in 2018, while accidental falls was the highest ranked external cause of death for females (ranked 14th).

Over the last decade deaths due to ischaemic heart disease have been decreasing, while deaths due to Dementia & Alzheimer's disease has been increasing for both women and men.

Ischaemic heart disease remained the leading cause of death for men, yet was overtaken as the leading cause of death for women by Dementia & Alzheimer's disease. Dementia was the 7th leading cause of death for men in 2009 and had moved up to, and remained as, the 3rd leading cause of death for men since 2015. It has been suggested that Dementia will soon become the leading cause of death for both women and men, as discussed in 'Dementia: Australia's future leading cause of death?' in Causes of Death, Australia, 2015 (cat. no. 3303.0).

This section presents information from National Health Survey: First Results 20107–18 (cat. no. 4364.0.55.001).

Women aged 18 years and over were less than half as likely as men to exceed the lifetime risk guideline of more than two standard drinks on average per day: 8.8% of women and 23.7% of men. Whilst men were more likely than women to exceed the guideline, the proportion of men exceeding the guideline declined since 2014-15 (25.8%). Whilst for women the rate has remained largely unchanged (9.3%).¹

In 2017-18, women aged 15 years and over were less likely than men to be a current smoker (11.7% compared to 17.6%). Women were also less likely than men to smoke in 2007-08, but the rates of smoking were higher for both groups: 18.0% for women and 22.2% for men. The greatest decrease over the 10 years was for the 25-34 year age group: women from 22.3% to 11.6% and men from 32.8% to 21.7%. This was also the age group in both periods with the greatest difference between rates of smoking for women and men.

In the last twenty years, the proportion of overweight or obese women and men aged 18 years and over has continued to increase.

In 2017-18, women were less likely than men to be overweight or obese across all age groups. A smaller proportion of women than men aged 18 years and over were overweight or obese (59.7% and 74.5% respectively). This difference was greatest in the overweight category, with 29.6% of women in the overweight category compared with 42.0% of men. Since 2014-15, the proportion of women in the overweight category has increased (up from 28.8%), while remaining consistent for men.

The proportion of women who were in the obese category was also lower than for men but the gap was much narrower (30.2% compared with 32.5%). Since 2014-15, the proportion of both women and men in the obese category increased. For women this changed from 27.4% to 30.2% and for men the increase was from 28.4% to 32.5%.

No new data is available for the below topic. For analytical commentary on this topic, please refer to previous versions of this publication.

• Living with a disability.

The key finding for Work and Family Balance is:

1. Proportionally, managers in the non-public sector were more likely than those in non-managerial positions to access parental leave, either in a primary or secondary carer capacity.
    

The detailed data supporting the following insights are available from the Data downloads section of this publication:

• Data Cube 10: Work and Family Balance.
   

This section presents data provided to the ABS by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). The data discussed in this section refers to non-public organisations with 100 or more employees. Under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 , non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees must report annually to WGEA on the gender composition of their workforce.

WGEA defines primary parental leave as leave taken by a member of a couple or a single carer, regardless of gender, identified as having greater responsibility for the day-to-day care of a child. Secondary parental leave is defined as leave taken by a member of a couple or a single carer, regardless of gender, who is not the primary carer. Primary parental leave is the type of leave most likely to affect people's career trajectories.

In 2017–18, for non-public sector employees:

• 94.9% of primary parental leave (paid or unpaid) was taken by women
• 94.0% of secondary parental leave (paid or unpaid) was taken by men.
   

Proportionally, managers in the non-public sector were more likely than non-managers to use parental leave, either in a primary or secondary carer capacity. Around one in 14 women who were managers in the non-public sector accessed primary parental leave in 2017–18, compared with one in 24 women in non-managerial positions (a rate of 7.0 and 4.3 per 100 respectively). Primary parental leave rates for male managers and non-managers were 0.5 and 0.2 per 100 respectively.

More men used secondary parental leave (1.5 per 100 compared with 0.1 per 100 for women), with the managerial/non-managerial split for men being 2.4 and 1.4 per 100 respectively.

Overall, 95,000 women employed in the non-public sector used some form of parental leave in 2017-18, compared with 36,500 men.

In 2017-18, the Mining industry continued to have the highest take up rates of primary parental leave for women: 11.2 and 11.8 women per 100 female managers and non-managers respectively. The Financial and Insurance Services industry also continued to have the highest take up rates of primary parental leave for men, with 1.1 and 1.2 men per 100 managers and non-managers respectively.

The Public Administration and Safety industry had the lowest rates of women taking primary parental leave, with 2.6 and 2.4 women per 100 female managers and non-managers respectively. This is down from 5.4 and 3.1 women per 100 female managers and non-managers in 2016-17.

No new data is available for the below topics. For analytical commentary on these topics please refer to previous versions of this publication.

• Overall life satisfaction
• Volunteering
• Providing care
• Time Stress and Work and Family Balance
• Time Use.

The key findings for Safety and Justice are:

1. In 2018, the number of recorded incidences of female victims of sexual assault increased and was more than five times higher than males.
2. In 2017–18, illicit drug offences continued as the leading principal offence for females, while for males illicit drug offences and acts intended to cause injury remained the two leading principal offences.
    

The detailed data supporting the following insights are available from the Data downloads section of this publication:

• Data Cube 12: Safety and Justice.
   

This section presents information from Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2017–18 (cat. no. 4530.0).

During the 2017–18 reference period men were more likely than women to have experienced threatened physical assault (3.2% males compared to 2.4% females) and face-to-face threatened assault (3.0% males compared to 2.1% females).

In the 2017–18 reference period, 4.4% of females and 5.2% of males aged 15 years and over had experienced physical assault or threatened assault (435,800 women and 494,500 men). Since 2008-09, this has decreased for both females (5.1% in 2008–09) and males (7.5% in 2008-09). See Data Cube 12, Table 12.5.

This section presents information from Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2018 (cat. no. 4510.0).

In 2018, the number of recorded incidences of female victims of sexual assault was more than five times higher than males, with 175.5 per 100,000 females compared with 33.1 per 100,000 males.

These rates have increased for women this decade (143.8 per 100,000 females in 2010). The rates have also slightly increased for males over the same period (26.1 per 100,000 males in 2010). There was a peak in 2017 of 37.1 males per 100,000. Detailed data are available in Data Cube 12, Table 12.8.

This section presents information from Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2018 (cat. no. 4510.0).

In 2018, males 15 years and older were more likely to have a recorded incidence of being robbed than females.

Recorded robbery rates declined between 2010 and 2018:

• 86.6 per 100,000 males in 2010 to 53.5 per 100,000 males in 2018
• 27.3 per 100,000 females in 2010 to 18.1 per 100,000 females in 2018.
   

Males were also twice as likely as females to have a recorded incidence of being blackmailed. See Data Cube 12, Table 12.8.

This section presents information from Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2017-18 (cat. no. 4530.0).

In 2017–18, men and women who had experienced an assault were more likely to have reported their most recent physical assault to police than a face-to-face threatened assault. The reporting rates were:

• Men had reported 52.4% of physical assaults and 33.7% of face-to-face threatened assaults
• Women had reported 52.2% of physical assaults and 45.7% of face-to-face threatened assaults.
   

Women (85.9%) were also more likely than men (49.4%) to have reported their most recent incident of robbery in the last 12 months to police. See Data Cube 12, Table 12.7.

This section presents information from Prisoners in Australia, 2018 (cat. no. 4517.0).

At 30 June 2018, there were 3,600 women and 39,300 men in Australian adult corrective services facilities. Imprisonment rates were highest for males aged 25–29.

Between 30 June 2008 and 30 June 2018, the imprisonment rate increased or remained the same for all age and sex cohorts except 19 year old and 20-24 year old males who experienced a slight decrease in imprisonment rates (see Data Cube 12, Table 12.9). The median sentence length has remained relatively steady for both females and males over the past decade, with females having lower sentence lengths at 24.0 months in 2018 compared to 37.1 months for males in 2018 (see Data Cube 12, Table 12.12).

In 2018, the median sentence length was longer for non-Indigenous male sentenced prisoners (45 months) than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male sentenced prisoners (26 months). Similarly the median sentence length was also longer for non-Indigenous female sentenced prisoners (30 months) than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female sentenced prisoners (18 months). See Data Cube 12, Table 12.13.

At 30 June 2018, there were 2,300 female and 26,800 male sentenced prisoners in Australia. Sentenced prisoners made up 68% of prisoners, with the remainder being unsentenced. Unsentenced prisoners are confined to custody or remand while awaiting the outcome of their trial. For further information on unsentenced prisoners see Prisoners in Australia, 2018 (cat. no. 4517.0).

For sentenced prisoners, the most common serious offences for men and women were:

• Women: illicit drug offences (22.6%) and acts intended to cause injury (14.7%)
• Men: acts intended to cause injury (18.5%) and sexual assault and related offences (14.6%).
   

Females are more likely to have been sentenced for Illicit drug offences (22.6% females compared with 14.3% of male sentenced prisoners). Males were more likely to have been sentenced for sexual assault and related offences (14.6% compared with 1.7% of female sentenced prisoners). See Data Cube 12, Table 12.11.

In 2018, imprisonment rates were higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (3,984.4 per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males) than non-Indigenous males (322.2 per 100,000 non-Indigenous males). Imprisonment rates were also higher for Aboriginal and Torres females (459.9 per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females) in 2018 than non-Indigenous females (26.8 per 100,000 non-Indigenous females). See Data Cube 12, Table 12.10.

This section presents information from Recorded Crime - Offenders, 2017-18 (cat. no. 4519.0).

Offenders are defined as people aged 10 years and over who police have taken legal action against for one or more criminal offences.

The most common principal offences (that is, the most serious offence for which a person has been proceeded against by police during the reference period) for both females and males were:

• Acts intended to cause injury
• Illicit drug offences
• Theft and related offences.
   

The male offender rate for acts intended to cause injury was more than three times that recorded for females in 2018 (571 per 100,00 males compared with 160 per 100,000 females).

The leading principal offence for females has changed in the last ten years. In 2008-09, theft and related offences was the leading principal offence for females. However, illicit drug offences has emerged as the leading principal offence for females since 2014-15.

In 2017-18, the leading principal offences for females were:

1. Illicit drug offences (174.3 per 100,000 females)
2. Acts intended to cause injury (159.7 per 100,000 females)
3. Theft and related offences (159.2 per 100,000 females)
4. Offences against justice (51.3 per 100,000 females).

Over the last ten years, illicit drug offences and acts intended to cause injury have remained the leading principal offences for males.

In 2017-18, the leading principal offences for males were:

1. Acts intended to cause injury (571.2 per 100,000 males)
2. Illicit drug offences (553.8 per 100,000 males)
3. Theft and related offences (227.3 per 100,000 males)
4. Offences against justice (194.8 per 100,000 males).
    

No new data is available for the below topic. For analytical commentary on these topics please refer to previous versions of this publication.

• Experience of crimes: sexual harassment.

The key findings for Democracy, Governance and Citizenship are:

1. More men (82.9%) occupy senior leadership positions in the non-public sector than women.¹
2. Women continued to be outnumbered by men in Parliament. In 2019, three in ten federal parliamentarians in the House of Representatives and almost two in five federal parliamentarians in the Senate were women.
3. In 2019, the proportion of women (51.2%) in Executive Level positions in the public service surpassed men (48.8%) for the first time.
    

The detailed data supporting the following insights are available from the Data downloads section of this publication:

• Data Cube 13: Democracy, Governance and Citizenship.
   

This section presents information from data provided to the ABS from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and WGEA's Australia's gender equality scorecard, November 2018. The data discussed in this section refers to non-public organisations with 100 or more employees. Under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees must report annually to WGEA on the gender composition of their workforce.

In 2017-18, most senior leadership roles in the non-public sector are occupied by men (82.9%). The representation of women declines with seniority, however the representation of women across all management levels has grown consistently since 2013-14.²

While the proportion of women in senior leadership roles has increased between 2013-14 and 2017-18, the growth in female appointments remains slow. There was only a 1.4 percentage point increase in the number of female CEOs (up to 17.1% in 2017-18). Women's representation on boards also marginally increased by 2.1 percentage points in the five years to 2017-18. The number of female chair persons also marginally increased, up 1.7 percentage points to 13.7% in 2017-18.

Between 2013-14 and 2017-18, the industries with the largest increases in the proportion of women in CEO positions were:

• Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services (12.1 percentage points)
• Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services (8.0 percentage points)
• Arts and Recreation (7.0 percentage points).
   

In 2017-18, women had the highest representation in CEO roles in the Healthcare and Social Assistance (39.8%), Education and Training (35.6%) and Administrative and Support Services (23.8%) industries. Women had no representation in CEO roles in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Industry and the lowest representation in the Construction (4.4%) and Manufacturing (5.7%) industries.

This section presents information from data provided to the ABS by the Australian Commonwealth Parliamentary Library.

In January 2019, three in ten federal parliamentarians in the House of Representatives were women and almost two in five federal parliamentarians in the Senate were women. Over the last decade, the proportion of female federal parliamentarians in the House of Representatives has increased slowly. Levels of female representation in the Senate has remained largely unchanged since 2012. However, over the last decade, the average proportion of women has been consistently higher in the Senate (38.2%) than in the House of Representatives (26.8%).

One in five (20.0%) Federal Government Ministers and over a quarter (26.1% ) of Federal Government Cabinet Ministers were women, as of January 1, 2019.

This section presents information from the APS Employment Data 30 June 2019 release, Australian Public Service Commission, Canberra.

The proportion of female senior and middle managers in the Australian Public Service has been increasing over the last decade. In 2019, 46.3% of Senior Executive Service (SES) managers were women, up from 36.5% in 2009. The proportion of women (51.2%) in Executive Level (EL) positions surpassed men (48.8%) for the first time in 2019. These data are available in Data Cube 13, Table 13.6.

This section presents information from data provided to the ABS from the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA) and AIJA's Judicial Gender Statistics.

In 2018, there were 57 female and 100 male Commonwealth Justices and Judges. Male Federal Court Justices/Judges outnumber female Justices/Judges by almost three to one (74.0% compared with 26.0%), however the proportion of High Court Justices was much closer to parity (57.1% male and 42.9% female).

In 2018, just over a quarter (25.6%) of State Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Justices/Judges were women.

This section presents information from data provided to the ABS by the Australian Honours and Awards Secretariat, Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General.

The Order of Australia in both the General Division and Military Division have four award levels - the Companion (AC), Officer (AO), Member (AM) and Medal (OAM) of the Order.

In 2019, 38.1% of all nominees for the Order of Australia (General Division) were women. Between 2009 and 2019, three in every ten nominees in this division were women, on average. Although more men received nominations, women were slightly more likely to receive an order if they had been nominated: 73.9% of female nominees received an order compared with 73.1% of male nominees.

Of the 56 Order of Australia (Military Division) awarded in 2019, 8.9% were received by women. Between 2009 and 2019, the ratio of total female to male recipients for the Military division was roughly 1:13.

In 2019, women were represented in all four award categories for the General Division and three out of the four award levels for the Military Division (see Data Cube 13, Tables 13.8 and 13.9).

The Community category generally receives the most nominations and generates the most Order of Australia (General Division) awards of any of the 31 categories. Between 2009 and 2018, roughly half of all the awards nominated and subsequently granted were for services to the community. While nominations for men outnumbered those for women, men and women were almost as likely as each other to receive the award. In 2019, 71.2 % of female nominees and 72.5% of male nominees in the community category received an award. Overall, 40.7% of Order of Australia Awards in the Community Category were received by women (see Data Cube 13, Table 13.10).

Of all the Order of Australia (General Division) categories, women had the highest proportion of nominations in the Library and Related Occupations (75.0%), Conservation and the Environment (56.2%) and Education (53.1%) categories. In 2019, women received no nominations (and subsequently no awards) in the Information Technology, Mining, Surveying and Mapping and Veterinary Science categories.

No new data is available for the below topic. For analytical commentary on these topics please refer to previous versions of this publication.

• Participation in civic, community or social groups

This release previously used catalogue number 4125.0.