The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) data for the six months to November 2012. A breakdown of the key changes is provided below:
According to the ABS, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, national total AWE increased by 2.7% in the six months to November 2012, to be 4.5% higher year-on-year.
A time series of annual average wages is shown below. According to the ABS, the average Australian earned $56,228 per annum as at November 2012, with the average full-time worker earning $75,650:
You can see from the above chart that males earn significantly more on average than females. As at November 2012, full-time male earners earned 27% more on average than females full-time workers, whereas total male average earnings were 58% higher.
The disparity between the private and public sectors is also striking, with public sector workers earning on average 21% more than private sector workers, and public sector full-time workers earning 7.0% more:
At the state level, wages growth was solid in the six months to November in all states and territories except South Australia and the ACT.
Over the year, however, the ACT (+7.5%), New South Wales (+5.9%) and Tasmania (+5.9%) were the standout performers, whereas Victoria (+2.6%) was the lagard:
In dollar terms, workers in the ACT, Western Australia, and Northern Territory get paid the most on average, whereas those in Tasmania, South Australia, and Victoria are paid the least:
