Gender inequality can be defined as the unequal treatment of individuals based on their gender. Individuals can be marginalised and discriminated from society and be restricted to participate in society due to their gender. Australian women, men, and transgender and non-binary people may all experience aspects of gender inequality. In 2017, Australia ranked as the 35th best country for gender equality.
Legislation
Various legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 addresses gender inequality. The legislation covers the issues of discrimination in education, partnerships, marital status, sexual harassment and potential pregnancy. This legislation was pushed and supported by the Bill put forward by South Australia's Premier, Don Dunstan in 1975.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency is an Australian Government statutory agency charged with promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces. It is responsible for administering the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, which replaced the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency was formerly known as the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.
Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap refers to men and women not receiving equal pay for equal work. In Australia, the principle of "equal pay for equal work" was introduced in 1969. Anti-discrimination on the basis of sex was legislated in 1984. All government statistics in this area do not compare like-for-like roles but are an average on both male and female total wages.
Between 1990 and 2009, the gender pay gap remained within a narrow range of between 15 and 17%. In November 2017, the Australian gender pay gap was 15.3%. In 2018, it was reported that Australia’s full-time gender pay gap was 14.6% and women earnt on average per week less than men. It was also reported that Western Australia had the highest pay gap by state and territory (22.4%), while the lowest pay gap was reported in Tasmania (9.7%). As well, the highest pay gap by industry in Australia was Financial and Insurance Services (26.6%) and the lowest pay gap by industry was Public Administration and Safety (5.8%).
Studies show that unexplained differences in wages may be due to direct discrimination, or to other unmeasured differences between men and women, calculations do not account for education, experience or area of work so little can be known about the causes.
Studies that examine the gender pay gap across the entire wage distribution find that the gender pay gap is much greater among high wage earners than among low wage earners even after controlling for various individual and workplace related factors. These results indicate that a glass ceiling may be found in the Australian labour market.
Violence
Sexual harassment violence
Many Australians have experienced sexual harassment and/or sexual or physical violence in their lifetime. In 2022, a survey by the Australian Human Rights Commission found that 41% of women, and 26% of men have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace within the past 5 years.
It was reported in 2018, that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience violence at around twice the rate of non-Indigenous women.
Domestic violence
In Australia, 17% of women and 6.1% of men have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15. 23% of women and 16% of men have experienced emotional abuse since the age of 15. It was also reported in 2018 that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalised from domestic violence than non-Indigenous Australian women. Due to these high rates, it was estimated in 2015-2016 that domestic violence against women and their children was costing the Australian Government $22 billion.
Imprisonment
Within prisons throughout Australia, the male population makes up the majority of those imprisoned. Specifically in New South Wales, over 9 in 10 (92%) of prisoners were male.
The rate of male prisoners has continued to increase in recent years. Growing from 398 to 406 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population.
Among the imprisoned population of Australia, there is a vast over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, accounting for just over a quarter (27%) of the Australian prisoner population. This is despite only accounting for 2% of the Australian population. These incarceration rates regarding male Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals increased by 22.4% between 2000 and 2010.