- The share of workers in the labour force who want to work more hours has declined, as reflected in the underemployment rate which fell from 7.2% in March 2024 to 6.6% in September 2025.
- This decline is primarily attributable to the drop in the female underemployment rate from 8.4% in March 2024 to 7.3% in September 2025. In comparison, the male underemployment rate fell marginally from 6.1% to 6% over the same period.
Victorian underemployment rate, by sex, 2015 to 2025
Underemployment rates
Date Males
Females
Victoria
2015-25
averageSep-2015 9.5 6.9 12.6 8.1 Oct-2015 9.5 7.0 12.4 8.1 Nov-2015 9.4 6.8 12.3 8.1 Dec-2015 9.1 6.7 11.8 8.1 Jan-2016 9.0 7.0 11.4 8.1 Feb-2016 8.9 7.2 10.9 8.1 Mar-2016 8.8 6.7 11.2 8.1 Apr-2016 9.2 7.4 11.3 8.1 May-2016 8.9 6.8 11.3 8.1 Jun-2016 9.4 7.3 11.9 8.1 Jul-2016 9.1 6.9 11.7 8.1 Aug-2016 9.5 7.1 12.3 8.1 Sep-2016 9.3 6.6 12.5 8.1 Oct-2016 9.4 7.2 12.0 8.1 Nov-2016 8.9 6.5 11.7 8.1 Dec-2016 9.3 7.1 11.9 8.1 Jan-2017 9.1 6.7 11.9 8.1 Feb-2017 9.0 7.0 11.3 8.1 Mar-2017 8.9 6.9 11.1 8.1 Apr-2017 8.8 6.8 11.0 8.1 May-2017 8.6 6.7 10.9 8.1 Jun-2017 8.3 6.8 10.0 8.1 Jul-2017 8.5 6.8 10.5 8.1 Aug-2017 8.7 7.3 10.4 8.1 Sep-2017 8.9 7.1 10.9 8.1 Oct-2017 8.5 6.9 10.3 8.1 Nov-2017 8.3 6.9 9.9 8.1 Dec-2017 8.2 6.4 10.2 8.1 Jan-2018 8.9 8.0 9.8 8.1 Feb-2018 8.2 6.5 10.1 8.1 Mar-2018 8.4 6.7 10.4 8.1 Apr-2018 7.8 5.8 9.9 8.1 May-2018 8.0 6.3 9.9 8.1 Jun-2018 8.2 6.4 10.2 8.1 Jul-2018 8.2 6.3 10.5 8.1 Aug-2018 7.9 5.9 10.2 8.1 Sep-2018 7.7 5.8 9.9 8.1 Oct-2018 7.8 5.6 10.2 8.1 Nov-2018 8.0 6.4 9.9 8.1 Dec-2018 8.3 6.4 10.4 8.1 Jan-2019 8.1 5.8 10.7 8.1 Feb-2019 8.2 6.1 10.7 8.1 Mar-2019 8.5 7.0 10.2 8.1 Apr-2019 8.3 6.7 10.2 8.1 May-2019 9.4 7.5 11.6 8.1 Jun-2019 7.9 6.4 9.7 8.1 Jul-2019 8.5 6.9 10.4 8.1 Aug-2019 8.4 6.8 10.2 8.1 Sep-2019 8.0 6.6 9.6 8.1 Oct-2019 8.2 6.3 10.3 8.1 Nov-2019 8.3 6.4 10.3 8.1 Dec-2019 8.0 6.5 9.7 8.1 Jan-2020 8.2 6.6 10.0 8.1 Feb-2020 8.2 6.4 10.2 8.1 Mar-2020 8.5 6.9 10.3 8.1 Apr-2020 14.2 13.0 15.7 8.1 May-2020 14.8 13.9 15.8 8.1 Jun-2020 13.0 12.3 13.7 8.1 Jul-2020 13.0 12.0 14.2 8.1 Aug-2020 14.2 14.0 14.4 8.1 Sep-2020 14.6 14.5 14.7 8.1 Oct-2020 12.9 12.0 14.0 8.1 Nov-2020 10.1 8.9 11.5 8.1 Dec-2020 9.0 7.3 10.9 8.1 Jan-2021 8.3 7.3 9.5 8.1 Feb-2021 9.1 8.3 9.9 8.1 Mar-2021 8.0 6.7 9.4 8.1 Apr-2021 7.6 6.3 9.1 8.1 May-2021 7.9 7.0 8.9 8.1 Jun-2021 9.8 8.6 11.2 8.1 Jul-2021 8.2 6.6 10.0 8.1 Aug-2021 9.4 8.2 10.8 8.1 Sep-2021 9.9 8.7 11.3 8.1 Oct-2021 11.3 11.5 11.1 8.1 Nov-2021 7.3 6.5 8.2 8.1 Dec-2021 6.4 5.1 7.9 8.1 Jan-2022 6.0 4.8 7.3 8.1 Feb-2022 6.2 5.2 7.3 8.1 Mar-2022 5.9 4.8 7.1 8.1 Apr-2022 6.1 5.1 7.2 8.1 May-2022 6.0 4.9 7.2 8.1 Jun-2022 6.1 5.2 7.1 8.1 Jul-2022 5.9 4.6 7.3 8.1 Aug-2022 5.8 4.5 7.1 8.1 Sep-2022 5.7 4.7 6.9 8.1 Oct-2022 5.9 5.0 6.8 8.1 Nov-2022 5.9 4.8 7.0 8.1 Dec-2022 6.2 4.9 7.6 8.1 Jan-2023 6.3 5.2 7.4 8.1 Feb-2023 5.4 4.3 6.6 8.1 Mar-2023 6.2 5.0 7.6 8.1 Apr-2023 6.0 4.9 7.2 8.1 May-2023 5.8 5.0 6.7 8.1 Jun-2023 6.5 5.3 7.9 8.1 Jul-2023 6.3 5.6 7.1 8.1 Aug-2023 6.7 5.9 7.5 8.1 Sep-2023 6.6 5.8 7.4 8.1 Oct-2023 6.4 5.5 7.4 8.1 Nov-2023 6.6 5.9 7.5 8.1 Dec-2023 6.3 4.9 7.9 8.1 Jan-2024 7.2 6.0 8.5 8.1 Feb-2024 7.1 5.8 8.4 8.1 Mar-2024 7.2 6.1 8.4 8.1 Apr-2024 6.8 5.1 8.6 8.1 May-2024 7.1 5.5 8.8 8.1 Jun-2024 6.6 5.2 8.1 8.1 Jul-2024 6.5 5.0 8.2 8.1 Aug-2024 6.7 5.6 7.9 8.1 Sep-2024 6.6 5.5 7.8 8.1 Oct-2024 6.5 5.4 7.8 8.1 Nov-2024 6.2 4.9 7.5 8.1 Dec-2024 6.4 5.4 7.4 8.1 Jan-2025 5.9 5.1 6.7 8.1 Feb-2025 6.1 5.5 6.8 8.1 Mar-2025 6.2 5.3 7.3 8.1 Apr-2025 6.4 5.6 7.2 8.1 May-2025 6.3 5.6 7.1 8.1 Jun-2025 6.6 6.0 7.3 8.1 Jul-2025 6.6 6.2 7.0 8.1 Aug-2025 6.1 5.4 6.9 8.1 Sep-2025 6.6 6.0 7.3 8.1 Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, September 2025.
- Download 'Victorian underemployment rate, by sex, 2015 to 2025'
- The Victorian labour force participation rate rose to 68.1% in September 2025, almost equal to the all-time high of 68.2% in September 2024.
Victorian labour force participation rate, 2015 to 2025
Date Participation rate
2015-25 average
Sep-2015 64.6 66.2 Oct-2015 64.8 66.2 Nov-2015 65.1 66.2 Dec-2015 64.6 66.2 Jan-2016 64.6 66.2 Feb-2016 65.0 66.2 Mar-2016 64.9 66.2 Apr-2016 64.8 66.2 May-2016 64.9 66.2 Jun-2016 65.3 66.2 Jul-2016 65.5 66.2 Aug-2016 65.4 66.2 Sep-2016 65.4 66.2 Oct-2016 65.8 66.2 Nov-2016 65.7 66.2 Dec-2016 66.0 66.2 Jan-2017 65.4 66.2 Feb-2017 65.8 66.2 Mar-2017 65.8 66.2 Apr-2017 66.2 66.2 May-2017 66.0 66.2 Jun-2017 66.0 66.2 Jul-2017 66.0 66.2 Aug-2017 66.2 66.2 Sep-2017 66.3 66.2 Oct-2017 65.8 66.2 Nov-2017 65.9 66.2 Dec-2017 66.2 66.2 Jan-2018 66.0 66.2 Feb-2018 65.4 66.2 Mar-2018 65.5 66.2 Apr-2018 65.3 66.2 May-2018 65.5 66.2 Jun-2018 65.7 66.2 Jul-2018 65.7 66.2 Aug-2018 65.4 66.2 Sep-2018 65.6 66.2 Oct-2018 65.4 66.2 Nov-2018 65.9 66.2 Dec-2018 65.7 66.2 Jan-2019 65.9 66.2 Feb-2019 66.0 66.2 Mar-2019 65.9 66.2 Apr-2019 65.9 66.2 May-2019 65.9 66.2 Jun-2019 66.0 66.2 Jul-2019 66.0 66.2 Aug-2019 66.4 66.2 Sep-2019 66.3 66.2 Oct-2019 66.3 66.2 Nov-2019 66.2 66.2 Dec-2019 66.7 66.2 Jan-2020 66.8 66.2 Feb-2020 66.1 66.2 Mar-2020 66.1 66.2 Apr-2020 64.2 66.2 May-2020 63.3 66.2 Jun-2020 64.3 66.2 Jul-2020 64.2 66.2 Aug-2020 63.6 66.2 Sep-2020 62.4 66.2 Oct-2020 64.5 66.2 Nov-2020 65.7 66.2 Dec-2020 65.7 66.2 Jan-2021 66.3 66.2 Feb-2021 66.1 66.2 Mar-2021 66.5 66.2 Apr-2021 66.1 66.2 May-2021 66.1 66.2 Jun-2021 65.7 66.2 Jul-2021 66.2 66.2 Aug-2021 66.4 66.2 Sep-2021 64.5 66.2 Oct-2021 64.3 66.2 Nov-2021 66.5 66.2 Dec-2021 66.9 66.2 Jan-2022 66.5 66.2 Feb-2022 66.9 66.2 Mar-2022 66.7 66.2 Apr-2022 67.1 66.2 May-2022 66.5 66.2 Jun-2022 66.8 66.2 Jul-2022 66.4 66.2 Aug-2022 66.8 66.2 Sep-2022 66.4 66.2 Oct-2022 66.6 66.2 Nov-2022 67.0 66.2 Dec-2022 66.6 66.2 Jan-2023 66.2 66.2 Feb-2023 67.1 66.2 Mar-2023 67.6 66.2 Apr-2023 67.2 66.2 May-2023 67.4 66.2 Jun-2023 67.4 66.2 Jul-2023 67.5 66.2 Aug-2023 67.1 66.2 Sep-2023 66.9 66.2 Oct-2023 67.5 66.2 Nov-2023 67.4 66.2 Dec-2023 67.1 66.2 Jan-2024 66.7 66.2 Feb-2024 67.3 66.2 Mar-2024 67.3 66.2 Apr-2024 67.4 66.2 May-2024 67.7 66.2 Jun-2024 67.7 66.2 Jul-2024 68.1 66.2 Aug-2024 68.1 66.2 Sep-2024 68.2 66.2 Oct-2024 68.2 66.2 Nov-2024 67.9 66.2 Dec-2024 67.9 66.2 Jan-2025 67.9 66.2 Feb-2025 67.4 66.2 Mar-2025 67.5 66.2 Apr-2025 67.8 66.2 May-2025 67.6 66.2 Jun-2025 67.9 66.2 Jul-2025 67.7 66.2 Aug-2025 68.0 66.2 Sep-2025 68.1 66.2 Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, September 2025.
- Download 'Victorian labour force participation rate, 2015 to 2025'
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