What is gender analysis?

Gender analysis is a tool that anyone can use to help make their work and lives more equitable for women, men and people of other genders.

It can help achieve gender equality across all aspects of society, including government, private and community sectors. It is especially useful when designing policies, programs and services to address the needs and challenges of all genders.

Gender analysis can help you better understand:

  • the lives of people of different genders
  • how different genders participate in social and economic life
  • how policies, program and services impact genders differently.

Gender analysis uses a process that can be applied to any policy, program or service in any organisation. It will help you identify inequality and develop responses to ensure that people of all genders benefit from an activity, event or policy. It is broad enough to capture large scale impacts, and sensitive enough to pick up on how particular community members, such as single mothers or older women, may be affected.

Why is it necessary?

The roles, responsibilities and influence of women in Australia have progressed markedly in recent decades. For example, women:

  • no longer have to resign from their jobs in the public service or teaching when they get married
  • have more choice about when, and if, they will have children
  • have laws to protect them from sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse
  • have the right to equal pay for work of equal value
  • have access to universal paid parental leave.

However, women remain under-represented and experience disadvantage in many areas. Some challenges have persisted over many years, such as experiencing high levels of domestic, family and sexual violence. Other challenges emerged as gender roles changed, such as the issues faced by women in leadership positions.

These inequalities affect women's personal relationships, working lives, long-term economic security, and overall health and wellbeing.

Below are some recent examples of the many gender inequalities affecting Queensland women:

  • Women are over 3 times more likely than men to be killed by their partner.
  • 85% of one-parent families with children under 15 years are headed by mothers.
  • Women make up just 30% of members on ASX 200 boards.
  • Women have a labour force participation rate of 62%, compared with 71% for men.
  • 46% of female employees work part-time, compared with 18% of male employees. This has been the case over the past 2 decades (see figure below).

Proportion of women and men working part time between 1999 and 2019

Our Gender Equality Report Cards provide further information on where and how gender inequalities continue to impact women and girls.

A video snapshot of Queensland gender equality statistics is also available.

Find out more about joining a government board or committee.

What are the benefits?

Gender analysis can help your organisation:

  • increase your client base
  • tailor your products to different client groups for maximum effect
  • better understand the outcomes of your services and meet the desired outcomes
  • tap into a more diverse range of ideas and inputs
  • improve economic performance through greater participation of women
  • demonstrate support for diversity and equality
  • ensure certain client groups are not being left behind, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, culturally and linguistically diverse groups of women and women with disabilities.

These benefits are good for individuals, communities, businesses and governments. For example, more women in the workforce will:

  • help individual women become more economically secure
  • benefit the communities in which women are active participants
  • benefit the economy through increased income tax revenue
  • reduce women's reliance on government support mechanisms.