Women hold more than 50% of all jobs in Australia

Women now hold more than half of all filled jobs in Australia — a milestone that says something important about how the labour market is changing.

New ABS Labour Account data show women held 8.18 million filled jobs in June 2026, compared with 8.12 million held by men. Women therefore accounted for 50.2 per cent of all filled jobs.

But there is a catch.

Women still do not hold a majority of Australians’ main jobs. Men held around 7.63 million main jobs, compared with 7.53 million for women.

The difference comes from secondary employment.

Women held approximately 656,000 secondary jobs, compared with 493,000 for men. That means women accounted for about 57 per cent of all secondary jobs.

In other words, men still held roughly 98,000 more main jobs, but women held around 163,000 more secondary jobs. Once both are counted, women finished with about 65,000 more filled jobs overall.

A “filled job” counts each job rather than each worker. Someone working for two employers therefore contributes two filled jobs: their main job and a secondary job.

The female share of filled jobs first moved above 50 per cent in late 2025 and remained there through June 2026.

The milestone therefore reflects two long-term changes in Australia’s labour market: the growing importance of female employment, particularly in rapidly expanding industries such as health and education, and the increasing prevalence of people holding more than one job.

Women now hold most Australian jobs. But the reason why is almost as interesting as the headline itself.