Western Australia has some of the highest workforce participation rates in the nation, but the number of people in training is lower than in other states, according to recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Western Australia has some of the highest workforce participation rates in the nation, but the number of people in training is lower than in other states, according to recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In 2005-06, WA had the highest workforce participation rate nationally, with 65.1 per cent of the state’s total population in employment.
This represented an increase of nearly four percentage points since 1996.
WA employees also worked longer days than their counterparts in other states, working an average of 41 hours each week per full-time employee.
A quarter of all full-time employees work more than 50 hours per week, the highest number out of all the states.
Over the past decade, the composition of the state’s workforce has changed to include more women, while the median age of workers has risen.
While the workforce participation rate for men remained steady from 1996 to 2006, women increased their involvement in the workforce from 56 per cent to 59.4 per cent.
Women with young children are also more likely to be in the workforce now than ten years ago, with 48.1 per cent of women with children aged 0 to 4 years in some form of employment last year, compared with 42.1 per cent in 1996.
The median age of employees rose for both sexes over the past decade, with the average age of male workers at 39 years in 2006 (up from 37) and 38 years for female workers (up from 35).
On the industrial relations front, union membership has fallen markedly since 1996, from 25 per cent of all employees to 16 per cent – the lowest in the nation.
The number of working days lost to industrial action has also dropped, from 167.4 days per 1,000 employees to 29.8 days, although this is the second highest figure nationally.
WA’s strong uptake of Australian workplace agreements is also reflected in the data, with nearly half of all employees having their wages set by individual arrangements in 2006.
The state’s strong employment market has also ensured that labour force under-utilisation (which measures people who are unemployed or would like to work longer hours) is lowest in WA of all the states, at 7.5 per cent.
However, the figures show WA lags behind the other states (aside from Tasmania) in training rates.
WA had 31,500 apprentices and trainees last year, equal to 2.9 per cent of total employment.
Nationally, there were 400,200, apprentices and trainees in education last year, equal to 3.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, the small business sector in WA appears strong, with eight per cent of all households in 2003-04 sourcing their main income from their own business or partnership.
This was the highest percentage of any state or territory.
Since 1996, gross household disposable income per capita has increased from $19,000 to $29,000, while the average weekly total cash earnings rose from $560 to $912.
