Analysis shows women outearned men in only 107 occupations in 2015-16, compared with 1,072 where men earned more

Rare breed: goat farming one of few jobs where women earn more than men

Julie Cameron owns Victoria’s largest and most successful goat dairy, Meredith Dairy, with her husband Sandy.

She does not earn markedly more than him. In fact, she says, they are careful to ensure that all their 130 employees receive equal work for equal pay.

According to an analysis of the most recent Australian income-tax data, the Camerons are in the minority.

Goat farming was one of the top 10 occupations in which women had a higher median taxable income than men in 2015-16, according to an analysis by Guardian Australia. (The ABC previously conducted an analysis using average annual incomes, which returned slightly different results.)

The only jobs where women outearned men to a greater extent were state governor, bulldozer operator, master fisher, sand blaster, conservation scientist, unspecified legal registrar, saw sharpener, trainee beauty therapist and fishing guide.

But men outnumber women in all those occupations except conservation scientist (272 women to 149 men), unspecified legal registrar (five to four) and trainee beauty therapist (263 to six).

Six female sand blasters outearned their 1,314 male counterparts by $23,762, taking home a median wage of $84,528 compared with $60,766 for the men.

Four female bulldozer operators took home a median wage of $125,313, about $52,000 higher than the 440 men in the same position.

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Six female state governors, a category that accounts for its wide salary range by including other unspecified legislators such as Aboriginal land councillors, had a median income of $290,070. That was more than $200,000 higher than the median income of $89,495 earned by the 19 men in the same position. In the relevant year, three state and two territory governors were women.

The 18 listed female goat farmers earned a median annual income of 40,983, about $11,000 higher than the 22 male goat farmers on $29,751.

Women outearned men in 107 occupations, based on median annual income figures, while men earned more than women in 1,072 occupations.

The wage gap favoured men most in surgical and specialist medical professions, where they outearned women in every field.

Men earned between $160,000 and $337,000 more than women as: ear, nose, and throat surgeons; diagnostic radiologists; ophthalmologists; radiologists; plastic surgeons; orthopaedic surgeons; kidney specialists; intensive care specialists; pathologists; and cardiologists.

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The remaining 22 Australian Taxation Office occupation categories did not contain enough people of each gender to make a comparison.

They included porcelain turner (six men, no women); wood turner (50 men, no women); bungee jump master (six men, no women); and mothercraft nurse (201 women, no men).

Cameron said it was possible that female goat farmers recorded a higher taxable income because they were more diligent about meeting the compliance requirements of what was a growing and heavily regulated industry.

It could also be attributed to the age of the industry, she said.

There has been something of a goat renaissance in Australia in the past 20 years – most large enterprises have been formed under modern workplace expectations.

“Because it’s a new industry, it probably doesn’t come with the same baggage of an older industry with a traditionally male-dominated workforce,” Cameron said.

Meredith Dairy runs 10,000 goats, of which about 6,000 are milked.

About 1,600km north at Cranley Park near Clifton, Queensland, Peggy Jensen and her husband have a milking herd of about 1,800 goats.

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They acquired their first goat 40 years ago to provide milk for their son, Craig, and expanded it to a commercial venture.

Jensen said she was not aware of goat farming becoming a female-dominated industry, but said it was a business that could be managed on a small property with only a few people, which made it more accessible.

“They are small animals so they can easily be managed by women,” she said.

Steven Baldock from the Dairy Goat Association of Australia has a much simpler answer.

“I don’t know whether women get paid more than men – they’re probably just better goat farmers than men,” he said.