Today, women make up just over half of Australia’s total population. More women than men are now educated at secondary schools and universities, and more women than men graduate from university with bachelor degrees. In 2006, women accounted for 54.8 per cent of all tertiary education students and 47.5 per cent of all students enrolled in vocational education and training courses. The majority were enrolled in management and commerce, society and culture, and food, hospitality and personal services courses. Women were not well represented in engineering and related technologies or architecture and building courses (4.6 per cent of all women enrolled).
Almost 4.8 million women were in some form of paid employment in January 2008, with a labour force participation rate of 58 per cent, while the unemployment rate was 4.6 per cent (compared with an overall rate of 4.3 per cent for the same month). More than 30 per cent of Australia’s small business operators are women. Women make up more than half of the Australian public service workforce (57 per cent) and hold around 36 per cent of senior executive positions. In the private sector, however, women hold only around 12 per cent of management jobs. Women hold 34 per cent of all seats on federal government-controlled boards and around 23 per cent of chair or deputy chair positions. However, women hold only 9 per cent of private board directorships.
In the federal parliament in 2008, 30 per cent of members and senators were women. In the Senate there were 27 women, out of a total of 76 senators, and in the House of Representatives there were 40 women, out of a total of 150 members. The position of Deputy Prime Minister is now held by a woman, Julia Gillard, for the first time in parliamentary history.