Australia: number of people working in industries by form of employment 2023

As of 2023, approximately 865 thousand people working in the construction industry in Australia were employees. A further 278 thousand people working in the industry were independent contractors. Across the vast majority industries, employees were the most common form of employment.

Number of people working in Australian industries in 2023, by form of employment (in thousands)

Characteristic	Independent Contractors	Other Business Operators	Employees
Construction	278.1	153.8	865.2
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	146.7	157.8	977.9
Health Care and Social Assistance	136.3	102.5	1,917.2
Administrative and Support Services	78	50.9	290.2
Transport, Postal, and Warehousing	104.7	55.9	579.7
Other Services	57.3	92.9	357.1
Education and Training	40.3	36.3	1,067.7
Manufacturing	32.9	80.3	825.1
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing	22.7	142.4	139
Arts and Recreation Services	26.5	22.8	204.5
Information Media and Telecommunications	20.1	10.7	145.7
Retail Trade	15.9	109.7	1,213.6
Financial and Insurance Services	20.8	45.7	481.6
Accommodation and Food Services	16.4	65.1	826.9
Rental, Hiring, and Real Estate Services	17.4	35.5	170.3
Public Administration and Safety	8.9	4.4	910.6
Electricity, Gas, Water, and Waste Services	3.2	2.9	157.5
Wholesale Trade	13.2	40.9	362.3
Mining	3.8	2.3	289.9

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Release date

December 2023

More information

Region

Australia

Survey time period

Aug 2023

Age group

15 years and older

Supplementary notes

The Characteristics of Employment survey excluded the following: Members of the permanent defence forces, certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, overseas residents in Australia, members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants) stationed in Australia, students at boarding schools, patients in hospitals, residents of homes (e.g. retirement homes, homes for people with disabilities), inmates of prisons, people living in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, contributing family workers, people not in the labour force, and unemployed people.

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