Women in these 80 occupations earn more than men, on average

Updated

Women surfers earn more than men — making them one of just 80 occupations where that happens, Australia's latest tax statistics show.

Fast food cooks, receptionists, furniture removalists, movie projectionists and goat farmers are also among the few occupations where women had higher taxable incomes than men.

On the flip side, men out-earn women in more than 1,000 different occupations: medical specialists see the largest pay gap.

As with all data, it's worth keeping in mind the fine print:

The data covers the 2015-16 financial year and was released by the Australian Tax Office today.

These figures look at the earnings of 16 million Australians, based on what they declare on their tax returns, including what job they work in.

The data does not take into account whether someone is working part-time or full-time; therefore if more women than men in a given occupation work part-time, for example, that affects the averages.

Doctors and sportspeople have biggest gender gap

The biggest discrepancy between male and female taxable incomes was for doctors, particularly eye specialists and ear, nose and throat specialists, where men's taxable incomes were more than $300,000 higher than women, on average.

Male cricketers had taxable incomes $270,000 higher than women cricketers.

There can be multiple different explanations for the various earnings differences. For example:

There are 215 men who declare making their living as cricketers, and many of these likely play at state and lower levels of the game, pulling down the average. By comparison, there are only 47 women in that occupation group, meaning a higher proportion of those are likely to be in the national side and lifting their average closer to men.

These figures also represent "taxable income", which is a person's income after all tax deductions have been removed from their total income. Those deductions can include net rent losses or gains, deductions for specific occupations and gifts and donations. The total income of different occupation groups could look quite different.

Overall, surgeons had the highest taxable incomes, at $393,467, followed by anaesthetists, internal medicine specialists and financial dealers.

Women futures traders and surfers turn the tables

The greatest difference in female versus male average taxable income was for an occupation category the ATO labelled "state governors", but which is defined more broadly as "legislators not classified under other occupations", and which includes Aboriginal Community Council Members and Aboriginal Land Councillors.

Six women and 19 men listed that category as their occupation, with the women having taxable incomes of $286,676 and the men $169,148.

Female futures traders had an average taxable income of $388,681 compared with $300,923.

The 22 female surfers ($68,178) had higher taxable incomes than the 81 male surfers ($40,396).

And the 18 female goat farmers ($66,127) earn more than their 22 male counterparts ($44,495).

Highest average incomes are in Sydney's eastern suburbs

Overall, the suburbs of Edgecliff, Darling Point and Point Piper (making up the 2027 postcode) in Sydney's east had the highest average taxable income, followed by Hawksburn and Toorak in Melbourne (3142 postcode).

There was little change in the top average taxable incomes by postcode or occupation compared with the 2014-15 tax statistics.

Full list: All 80 occupations where women have higher taxable incomes

Occupation No. of women Average taxable income ($) No. of men Average taxable income ($) Difference ($) State governor 6 286,676 19 169148 117,528 Broker - futures trader; Futures trader 23 388,681 268 300923 87,758 Gymnast; Sportsperson - gymnast 11 81,354 4 31339 50,015 Bulldozer operator 4 106,899 440 76283 30,616 Sportsperson - surfer; Surfer 22 68,178 81 40396 27,782 Master fisher 12 110,385 306 83644 26,741 Apprentice - forestry; Trainee - forestry 5 53,413 41 29484 23,929 Farmer/farm overseer - goats; Goat farmer or farm overseer 18 66,127 22 44495 21,632 Apprentice - autoglazier; Trainee - autoglazier 4 56,072 148 34891 21,181 Saw sharpener; Saw doctor 36 84,464 275 64616 19,848 Magistrate 199 265,478 337 251713 13,765 Sand-blaster 4 91,570 1314 77973 13,597 Apprentice - automotive electrician; Trainee - automotive electrician 38 51,816 821 38752 13,064 Apprentice - beauty therapist; Trainee - beauty therapist 263 25,741 6 13672 12,069 Conservator; Scientist - conservator 272 59,529 149 48008 11,521 Apprentice - electronics tradesperson; Trainee - electronics tradesperson 22 53,561 581 44292 9,269 Director - film and video editor; Editor - film, video or television; Film editor; Video editor 989 80,226 2525 71495 8,731 Registrar - legal - type not specified 5 105,726 4 97638 8,088 Apprentice - electrician; Trainee - electrician 552 49,208 20103 42027 7,181 Therapist - type not specified 109 25,798 5 18860 6,938 Driver - furniture removalist; Furniture packer; Furniture removalist - driver; Packer - furniture; Removalist 414 43,695 5704 36812 6,883 Medical receptionist; Medical secretary; Receptionist - medical; Secretary - medical 39,889 38,606 784 31991 6,615 Apprentice - security and correctional services; Trainee - security and correctional services 30 64,306 96 57732 6,574 Paving plant operator; Plant operator - paving plant 6 77,985 399 71647 6,338 Bookkeeper; Registrar - school 35,269 48,404 2886 42453 5,951 Receptionist - general 61,742 35,991 1961 30348 5,643 Programmer - type not specified 18 54,511 66 49081 5,430 Apprentice - shearer; Trainee - shearer 9 30,307 42 25600 4,707 Dishwasher; Food preparation assistant; Hospitality employee - kitchenhand; Kitchen hand; Sandwich hand 49,603 26,092 43411 21652 4,440 Apprentice - transport and distribution driver; Trainee - transport and distribution driver 18 51,669 89 47715 3,954 Housekeeper - domestic 5,797 25,407 984 21700 3,707 Child care worker - type not specified; Governess - type not specified 5,704 28,118 353 24453 3,665 Model 1,190 31,825 364 28232 3,593 Out of school hours care worker; Child carer - out of school hours care worker 5,028 29,292 1095 25700 3,592 Earthmoving plant operator - general; Plant operator - earthmoving plant - general 1,598 83,515 31352 80086 3,429 Library assistant 4,722 39,192 791 35975 3,217 Apprentice - upholsterer; Trainee - upholsterer 14 32,048 65 29163 2,885 Weaver 26 52,385 27 49526 2,859 Farmer/farm overseer - mixed crop 378 68,367 1875 65698 2,669 Apprentice - IT technician; Trainee - IT technician 68 36,922 457 34259 2,663 Beautician; Beauty therapist; Manicurist; Therapist - beauty 18,277 30,915 321 28372 2,543 Dental assistant; Dental nurse; Nurse - dental 26,659 37,352 534 34903 2,449 Bar useful or busser; Hospitality employee - bar useful or busser 1,654 27,624 1798 25255 2,369 Apprentice - automotive - other; Trainee - automotive - other 96 36,720 2388 34420 2,300 Counsellor - of students; Student counsellor 2,382 50,150 775 47885 2,265 Excavator operator 40 68,276 5693 66170 2,106 Motion picture projectionist; Projectionist - film 40 44,164 172 42148 2,016 School teacher - type not specified 1,052 25,699 679 23689 2,010 Gunsmith 3 56,150 56 54146 2,004 Cab driver; Driver - taxi; Taxi driver 163 27,866 1604 25900 1,966 Apprentice - storeperson; Trainee - storeperson 57 30,534 228 28586 1,948 Decorator - interior; Interior decorator 786 52,980 139 51063 1,917 Housekeeper - type not specified 670 19,859 150 18128 1,731 Attendant - crèche; Crèche attendant; Child care aide; Child care worker; Child carer - child care assistant; Child carer - child care worker; Early childhood worker; Child carer - child care aide 103,111 33,483 3310 31786 1,697 English language teacher; Teacher - English language; Language tutor (private tuition); Tutor - language (private tuition); Maths tutor (private tuition); Tutor - maths (private tuition) 4,402 38,842 2281 37205 1,637 Office secretary or stenographer; Secretary - office; Stenographer 29,731 53,386 326 51813 1,573 University tutor; Tutor - university 9,009 29,524 8688 28002 1,522 Counsellor - type not specified 61 36,013 31 34537 1,476 Mushroom picker; Farm hand/worker - mushroom picker 880 31,316 335 29874 1,442 Concrete mixer driver; Driver - concrete mixer; Driver - lorry; Driver - semi-trailer; Driver - truck or transport; Lorry driver; Semi-trailer driver; Transport driver; Truck driver - general 3,942 64,974 142014 63702 1,272 Factory worker - meat packer; Meat packer; Meatworker - meat packer; Packer - meat; Process worker - meat packer 4,627 35,231 2720 33991 1,240 Apprentice - clerical services; Trainee - clerical services 744 34,854 250 33653 1,201 Interviewer - surveys or market research; Market research interviewer 1,774 29,185 1177 28065 1,120 Apprentice - animal attendant; Trainee - animal attendant 53 36,214 19 35128 1,086 Casting director; Director - casting; Audio director; Director - audio 103 60,580 82 59542 1,038 Apprentice - signwriter; Trainee - signwriter 27 32,074 201 31220 854 Apprentice - butcher; Trainee - butcher 101 33,475 1415 32637 838 Cook - fast food or short order; Fast food cook; Fish and chip cook; Hamburger cook or maker; Hospitality employee - fast food cook; Pizza chef or maker; Short order cook 14,287 19,781 20139 18957 824 Apprentice - food, drink or meat processor; Trainee - food, drink or meat processor 62 32,822 91 32016 806 Apparel cutter 31 44,232 56 43439 793 Clerk - typist; Typist; Word processing operator; Medical typist 5,525 48,712 371 47922 790 Clerk - filing; Filing clerk 1,295 37,532 535 36859 673 Chemist shop assistant; Pharmacy assistant; Retail assistant - chemist shop; Retail assistant - pharmacy; Sales assistant - chemist shop; Sales assistant - pharmacy; Salesperson - chemist shop; Salesperson - pharmacy; Shop assistant - chemist shop; Shop assistant - pharmacy 32,804 31,244 3,688 30,577 667 Auditor - type not specified 56 66,209 89 65694 515 Apprentice - greenkeeper; Trainee - greenkeeper 8 31,186 542 30805 381 Electorate officer 663 53,222 477 52905 317 Builder - professional; Builder - project; Project builder 733 77,793 11166 77611 182 Apprentice - metal fabrication engineer; Trainee - metal fabrication engineer 48 39,422 3588 39283 139 Apprentice - mechanical trades engineer; Trainee - mechanical trades engineer 129 45,413 3810 45395 18

Topics: tax, australia

First posted