A new report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed that the number women in senior roles in the Australian Public Service (APS) is the highest it’s ever been.
However, the ABS’s 2019 Gender Indicators report still shows mixed outcomes for both sexes in other categories.
Director of Household Characteristics and Social Reporting at the ABS, Emily Walter said that while more women than men were enrolled in tertiary degree courses and more women had attained a Bachelor degree or above, for most fields of study, graduate females were paid less than their male counterparts.
“While most senior leadership roles in the private sector are occupied by men (82.9 per cent), for the first time the number of women in executive-level positions in the Public Service has surpassed men (51.2 per cent and 48.8 per cent respectively),” Ms Walter said.
She said that over the past decade, women’s median superannuation balance at or approaching preservation age had increased at a faster rate than men, but a significant gap remained.
“In 2017-18 the median superannuation balance for women aged 55 to 64 was $119,000 compared to $183,000 for men of the same age,” Ms Walter said.
The report also showed that the life expectancy gap for men and women is narrowing.
“Women are now expected to live 4.2 years longer than men, compared to 40 years ago when the life expectancy gap was seven years,” she said.
The annual Gender Indicators publication brings together data from the ABS and other official data partners to compare outcomes for women and men across a number of domains of social interest.
More information can be accessed on the ABS website at this PS News link.
