More Australian women now run their own businesses

If you’ve suspected there’s a growing cohort of women owning their own businesses in Australia, the latest 2016 Census data proves your instincts are right.

But the uptick recorded is not huge, with women now accounting for 33% of owner-managers in Australia, compared to 31% in 2006.

I’m certainly not surprised by the increase, I thought it’d be larger. Especially given the apparent growing level of interest in female-led entrepreneurial and small business events and courses in Australia, the increased prominence of entrepreneurial women in the media, as well as research on Women’s Agenda regarding ambitions for starting businesses.

Still, the growth in female owner-operators is happening at a faster rate than men, with the number of female owner managers up 7.6% over the last decade (now at 504,838), compared to a rise of just 0.3% for men.

Across the country, 14% of employed people identified as owner-managers of businesses, slightly down from 16% in 2006. The majority (57%) do not employ other people, and just 4.2% of owner-managers employ 20 people or more.

Plenty of female business owners are dealing with ‘the juggle’, with 33% in couple families with children under 15 years of age, and another 3.9% juggling both work and family roles in sole parent households. Read more

Angela Priestley - Smartcompany - 29 Mar 2018