Share of primary school teachers who are women in Australia
Australia: Share of primary school teachers who are women was 76.9% in 1997. ▲ Rising
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Australia, 1971–1997
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Australia recorded 76.9% for share of primary school teachers who are women in 1997. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.0% on the previous year and up 7.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary school teachers who are women in Australia peaked at 76.9% in 1997 and was at its lowest, 53.5%, in 1971.
Australia ranks 109th of 212 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 53.5% | — |
| 1972 | 54.2% | +1.3% |
| 1973 | 70.5% | +30.1% |
| 1974 | 70.9% | +0.5% |
| 1975 | 71.7% | +1.1% |
| 1976 | 71.6% | -0.2% |
| 1977 | 71.5% | -0.1% |
| 1978 | 71.0% | -0.7% |
| 1979 | 70.8% | -0.3% |
| 1981 | 70.0% | -1.1% |
| 1984 | 71.8% | +2.6% |
| 1986 | 70.9% | -1.2% |
| 1987 | 71.4% | +0.6% |
| 1988 | 71.7% | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 72.3% | +0.8% |
| 1991 | 73.7% | +2.0% |
| 1992 | 74.2% | +0.6% |
| 1993 | 74.4% | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 76.1% | +2.2% |
| 1996 | 76.2% | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 76.9% | +1.0% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 76.9% is below the median for high income countries, which is 84.3%, 91% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Australia's 76.9% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 76.1%, 1.0× the median. (33 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary school teachers who are women in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | +30.1% | 54.2% | 70.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 67.3% | 53.5% | 71.7% | 9 |
| 1980s | 71.4% | 70.0% | 72.3% | 6 |
| 1990s | 75.3% | 73.7% | 76.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More education data for Australia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 104,110 (1992)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 316,638 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 292,593 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.65 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.27 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.4362 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0835 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary school teachers who are women in Australia?
- Share of primary school teachers who are women in Australia was 76.9% in 1997, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 76.9% in 1997.
- What is the lowest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 53.5% in 1971.
- How does Australia rank for share of primary school teachers who are women?
- Australia ranks 109th out of 212 countries with data for 1997.
- Is share of primary school teachers who are women rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary school teachers who are women. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Percentage of female teachers among all teachers at the primary education level during a given school year.