Regional disparity in Australia: Analysis of Gender Development Index

Measurement of the level of socio-economic development of a nation is a complex task. However, the socio-economic environment affects overall economic development and business activities. Existence of different types of inequalities such as gender disparities affects the process of development adversely. The UNDP uses two major indicators (HDI and GDI) to measure the achievements of a country's population and gender disparities. These are primarily national level indicators and do not reflect regional differences. Although most of the academic studies in the area of gender inequality are based on developing countries, there are evidences of gender inequalities in developed countries such as Australia. This paper attempted to estimate gender inequalities in the states and territories in Australia using GDI and HDI following the UNDP procedure modified for regional application. The results indicate that, in terms of gender difference, all the states and territories performed well in Australia in the year 2002. The study found existence of gender inequalities in all states and territories in Australia except in the state of NSW. In NSW, women marginally outperformed men. However, the extent of inequalities was very small in all cases. Inter-state differences were also not very significant. In general, women outperformed men in education and health areas. But achievement of women in income earning abilities was less than men in all states and territories.