Labour Force
CONTACT
Assistant Director
Labour Force Estimates
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Telephone (02) 6252 6525
Facsimile (02) 6252 7784
DESCRIPTION
This household survey provides information about the labour force status and other characteristics of the usually resident civilian population aged 15 and over. It provides monthly estimates of employment, unemployment, labour force participation and unemployment rates.
Estimates from the Labour Force Survey are used to facilitate the analysis and monitoring of social and economic aspects of the labour market and the working age population. In particular, the Commonwealth and State Governments use labour force data to support the development, implementation and evaluation of labour market policies. The Labour Force Survey provides a valuable time series for family-related statistics, the labour force status of persons within families, and the number of dependants present.
SCOPE
All persons aged 15 years and over except members of the permanent Australian defence forces, certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants) stationed in Australia and overseas residents visiting Australia. The sample includes private dwellings and selected non-private dwellings (such as hotels, motels, hospitals, residential colleges, nursing homes and prisons). Visitors to private dwellings are also included. The survey is conducted in both urban and rural areas in all States and Territories.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Labour Statistics, Australia (cat. no. 6101.0) [Irregular]
Labour Force, Australia, preliminary (cat. no. 6202.0)
Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6203.0)
The Labour Force, Australia: Historical Summary, 1978 to 1995 (cat. no. 6204.0) [Irregular]
Labour Force Projections, Australia, 1995--2016 (cat no. 6260.0) [Irregular].
Data for year to June are available as a standard data service (cat. no. 6224.0.40.001).
In addition, a number of State and Territory publications and information papers relating to various aspects of the Labour Force Survey are available.
Data Service
Customised unpublished data are available in a variety of formats.
Labour Force, Australia, Preliminary Data on Floppy Disk (cat. no. 6271.0).
National Dial-A-Statistic Line: 0055 86 400
Data Details
Data are primarily available at person level. Extensive data are also available at family level.
Demographic and family information
Age
Sex
Relationship in household
Social marital status
Birthplace
Year of arrival in Australia
Family type
Labour force characteristics
Labour force status
Unemployment rate
Participation rate
Employed persons
Status in employment (employee, employer, own account worker, contributing family worker)
Full-time/part-time status
Hours worked last week
Prefer to work more hours (for part-time workers)
Reason for working less than 35 hours last week (for full-time workers)
Occupation (data available at Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition four-digit level from August 1996)
Industry (data available at Australia and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) 3-digit level)
Unemployed persons
Whether looking for full-time or part-time work
Reason for ceasing last full-time job
Industry and occupation of last full-time job
Reason not available to start work in reference week
Duration of unemployment
Whether looking for first job
Persons not in the labour force
Whether looking for work
Education
School attendance
Year and month left school
Full-time tertiary educational institution attendance
Note: Data from the Labour Force Survey are available on the following bases:
- original (unadjusted).
- seasonally adjusted - available for major series for Australia and some series for States/Territories.
- trend (smoothed seasonally adjusted) - availability as for seasonally adjusted series.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia, States, Territories and Labour Force Statistical Regions within each State. Labour Force Statistical Regions are used as the basis for the dissemination of regional labour force statistics. State publications may include regional data, and customised regional data are available on request.
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Monthly.
METHOD OF COLLECTION
Monthly Population Survey.
HISTORICAL DATA
The quarterly population survey commenced in November 1960 and was confined to State capital cities. In February 1964 the survey was first conducted as an Australia-wide collection. Due to changes in the frequency of the survey, changes to questions and definitions and revisions to the population benchmarks, current estimates may not be strictly comparable with the early estimates. Estimates from August 1966 are published in The Labour Force, Australia: Historical Summary, 1966-1984 (cat. no. 6204.0). Since February 1978, the data have been collected every month, and only minor changes to the survey have been made, allowing a time series of monthly estimates from February 1978 onwards. For detailed information on the minor changes to the survey refer to the Explanatory Notes in Labour Force Australia (cat. no. 6203.0)
Note: Due to a number of changes in the classification systems used for occupation and industry coding since 1978, a time series from 1978 for these estimates is not available.
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