International Women’s Day 2026 marks 2 years since the launch of Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality (the Strategy). Covering the decade from 2024 to 2034, the Strategy outlines the priority areas where the Australian Government is focusing efforts to achieve its vision – an Australia where people are safe, treated with respect, have choices and have access to resources and equal outcomes no matter their gender.
The annual Status of Women Report Card, produced by the Office for Women, is an important mechanism for taking stock of where we are making progress towards gender equality, and where challenges still remain.
The fourth annual Status of Women Report Card (the report card) was released on Friday 6 March 2026.
It brings together data from a range of sources to help identify where policies and reforms are making a difference, and where ongoing effort is needed to address inequality, prevent harm, and expand opportunity. The report card includes new insights from available and recently released data to provide a point in time snapshot on the social and economic equality issues facing women and girls in Australia.
It highlights areas where progress is being made, including:
- Australia is ranked 13th globally for gender equality - our highest score ever. It’s up from our 2022 ranking of 43rd
- The national gender pay gap continues to narrow and is currently at 11.5%
- Dads are spending more time with their kids - 20% of primary carer parental leave recipients in medium and large private sector employers are men
- Men are entering the aged and disabled care workforce at faster rates than women (6.2% versus 2.1% in 2025)
It also highlights areas where more work is needed, view the Status of Women Report Card to find out more.