The latest census information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed a number of changes over the past decade in the demographics of the grape and wine sector workforce. Employment in wine manufacturing1 has increased, driven by increased female participation, while employment in grapegrowing has declined, except in Tasmania. The overall impact is a decrease in total employment in the wine sector by 7 per cent over 10 years, from 21,690 people in 2011 to 20,217 people in 2021.
Wine manufacturing workforce increases – led by women
Employment in wine manufacturing grew by 5 per cent from 14,387 people in 2011 to 15,054 people in 2021. This was largely driven by an increase in the number of female employees, which grew by 15 per cent over 10 years from 4992 people in 2011 to 5750 people in 2021. In contrast, over the same period, the male participation rate decreased by 1 per cent from 9395 people in 2011 to 9304 people in 2021 (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 Employment in wine manufacturing and grapegrowing by gender over time
Source: Wine Australia analysis of ABS census data
This has meant that the gap between males and females has narrowed over the decade in the wine manufacturing sector, with females accounting for 38 per cent of employees in 2021 compared with 35 per cent in 2011.
The occupations driving growth in wine manufacturing are managers and professionals2, which have increased by 701 and 400 people (or 21 per cent and 18 per cent) respectively.
Grapegrowing workforce shrinks – except in Tasmania
In the grapegrowing sector, the workforce shrunk by 29 per cent from 7,303 people in 2011 to 5,163 people in 2021 due to a decline in both genders. Females decreased by 32 per cent from 1982 people in 2011 to 1354 people in 2021 and males decreased by 28 per cent, from 5321 people to 3809 people over 10 years. The decline can be seen in all states except for Tasmania where the grapegrowing workforce grew by 74 per cent from 2011 to 2021 – albeit from a small base (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 Grapegrowing employment by state and gender over time
Source: Wine Australia analysis of ABS census data
The greater relative decline in number of females means that the gap between males and females increased slightly over the decade, with the share of women declining from 27 per cent in 2011 to 26 per cent in 2021. However, there was actually a small increase in female representation between 2016 (24 per cent) and 2021.
All occupations in grapegrowing businesses recorded a decline, in line with the decline in the overall workforce over the decade. The biggest decrease in numbers were in the manager and labourer categories, which decreased by 1172 and 613 people (or 30 per cent and 25 per cent) respectively. Together these categories accounted for 88 per cent of all employees in grapegrowing businesses in 2021.
As a result of the decline in overall grapegrowing employment and growth in wine manufacturing employment, wine manufacturing’s share of the overall sector has increased substantially over the past decade, up from 66 per cent in 2011 to 74 per cent in 2021 (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Share of employees in wine manufacturing vs grapegrowing over time
Source: Wine Australia analysis of ABS census data
Wine manufacturing employees are younger than grapegrowing employees and the total population
The age profile of the wine sector workforce has shown little change over the past decade, with the average age increasing by just 1 to 2 years in each subcategory (see Figure 4). Male employees in wine manufacturing are on average 5 years younger than male grapegrowing employees, while female employees in wine manufacturing are an average of 9 years younger than their grapegrowing counterparts, as well as being slightly younger than male wine manufacturing employees. Compared with the total population, employees in wine manufacturing are on average 3 to 7 years younger whereas grapegrowing employees (both males and females) are on average 2 years older than the total population.
Figure 4 Average age of employees in the wine sector by gender
Source: Wine Australia analysis of ABS census data
South Australia has the largest share of employees, but under-indexes compared with its share of the crush
South Australia has the largest number and share of grapegrowers and winemakers. However, both South Australia and NSW under-index on their share of employees relative to their share of the winegrape crush (Figure 5).
Figure 5 Share of employees and share of crush by state
Source: Wine Australia national vintage survey and ABS census data
New South Wales (including Australian Capital Territory) had an average of 22 grapegrowing employees per 1000 hectares of vineyard3 in 2021 (the lowest), whereas Tasmania had 172 (the highest) (Figure 6). This is likely a reflection of the difference in operations and practices between smaller and larger vineyards; whereby larger vineyards are more likely to have adopted additional automation. Generally, South Australia and New South Wales have more larger vineyard businesses (by area), where Tasmania and Victoria have proportionally more smaller vineyard businesses.
Figure 6 Number of employees per 1000 hectares of vineyard by state
Source: Wine Australia national vineyard scan and ABS census data
In terms of wine manufacturing employees, Tasmania recorded the highest number of employees per 1000 tonnes of grapes crushed4 in 2021 by state (Figure 7).
Figure 7 Number of employees per 1000 tonnes of grapes crushed by state
Source: Wine Australia national vintage survey and ABS census data
A detailed analysis of the 2021 census data and comparisons with 2011 and 2016 can be found here.
1. Includes all occupations in a winemaking business, not just actual winemakers
2. This is likely to be the category that includes winemakers