GLOSSARY

Access to motor vehicle(s) to drive

Access that a person has to any motor vehicle to drive. Such motor vehicles include vehicle(s) which they wholly or jointly own, vehicle(s) belonging to another member of the household, and company or government vehicle(s) which they have access to for personal use.

Age

The age of a person on their last birthday.

Child

A person of any age who is a natural, adopted, step, or foster son or daughter of a couple or lone parent, usually resident in the same household, and who does not have a child or partner of his/her own usually resident in the household.

Contact with family or friends living outside the household

Refers to face to face contact, or other types of contact such as telephone, mail and email, which a person has had with family or friends who do not live with them.

Couple

Two people in a registered or de facto marriage, who usually live in the same household.

Dependent child/ren/Dependants

All persons aged under 15 years; and people aged 15-24 years who are full-time students, have a parent in the household and do not have a partner or child of their own in the household.

Disability or long-term health condition

A disability or long-term health condition exists if a limitation, restriction, impairment, disease or disorder, had lasted, or was likely to last for at least six months, and which restricted everyday activities.

It is classified by whether or not a person has a specific limitation or restriction. Specific limitation or restriction is further classified by whether the limitation or restriction is a limitation in core activities or a schooling/employment restriction only.

There are four levels of core activity limitation (profound, severe, moderate, and mild) which are based on whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment with any of the core activities (self care, mobility or communication). A person's overall level of core activity limitation is determined by their highest level of limitation in these activities.

The four levels are:

• profound - always needs help/supervision with core activities
• severe - does not always need help with core activities
• moderate - has difficulty with core activities
• mild - uses aids to assist with core activities.

Persons are classified as having only a schooling/employment restriction if they have no core activity limitation and are aged 18 to 20 years and have difficulties with education, or are less than 65 years and have difficulties with employment.

Family

Two or more persons, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering, and who are usually resident in the same household. The basis of a family is formed by identifying the presence of a couple relationship, lone parent-child relationship or other blood relationship. Some households will, therefore, contain more than one family.

Feelings of safety

How safe a person feels in various circumstances (i.e. when home alone during the day, when home alone after dark, or when walking alone through their local area after dark) was reported on a five point scale, from very safe to very unsafe. If the respondent indicated that they were never home alone or never walked alone after dark this response was recorded.

Household

One or more persons usually resident in the same private dwelling.

Household composition

This publication presents information for a selection of household composition categories which are based on various family and household compositions, and sometimes, the age of the selected person (the survey respondent). Categories presented are:

• couple only, one family household - a household consisting of a couple with no other related or unrelated persons usually resident
• couple family with dependent children - a household consisting of a couple and at least one dependent child usually resident in the household. Related non-dependent children may also be present in the household. Households which also have other related or unrelated residents are not included
• one parent family with dependent children - a household consisting of a lone parent and at least one dependent child usually resident in the household. Non-dependent children may also be present in the household. Households which also have other related or unrelated usual residents are not included
• lone person household - a household consisting of a person living alone
• other households - comprises all other households, including multi-family households, and households consisting of unrelated adults.

Non-dependent child/ren

All persons aged 15 years or over (except those aged 15-24 years who are full-time students) who have a parent in the household and do not have a partner or child of their own in the household.

Organisation or group

An organisation or group is any body with a formal structure. It may be as large as a national charity or as small as a local book club. Purely ad hoc, informal and temporary gatherings of people do not constitute an organisation.

Participants in sport and physical recreational activities

Participants comprise those people who physically undertook a sport or physical recreational activity in the last 12 months, as well as people involved in 'non-playing roles', such as coaches, officials, umpires and administrators.

Participation rate

For any group, the number of persons who participated in the activity or event at least once in the specified reference period (usually the last 12 months), expressed as a percentage of the population of that group.

Personal stressors

Any of the following events or circumstances which the person considers have been a problem for themselves or someone close to them in the last 12 months:

• serious accident
• mental illness
• serious disability
• death of family member or close friend
• divorce or separation
• not able to get a job
• involuntary loss of job
• alcohol or drug related problems
• gambling problem
• abuse or violent crime
• witness to violence
• trouble with the police.

Remoteness areas

Broad geographical regions which share common characteristics of remoteness based on the Remoteness Structure of the ABS's Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC).

Self assessed health status

The selected person's general assessment of their own health, against a five point scale from excellent through to poor.

Small favours

Assistance which a person may seek from other people in their day to day lives.

Examples of small favours include looking after pets or watering the garden, collecting mail or checking the house, minding a child for a brief period, helping with moving or lifting objects, and borrowing equipment.

Support in a time of crisis

Refers to whether there is someone outside the person's household that could be asked for support in a time of crisis. Support could be in the form of emotional, physical or financial help. Potential sources of support could be family members, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and various community, government and professional organisations.

Trust

To ascertain peoples feelings of trust in others, and in some major institutions, they were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following statements, giving a rating on a 5-point scale:

• That most people can be trusted?
• That your doctor can be trusted?
• That hospitals can be trusted?
• That police in your local areas can be trusted?
• That police outside your local area can be trusted?

The response categories in the five point scale were: 'strongly agree', 'somewhat agree', 'neither agree nor disagree', 'somewhat disagree', and 'strongly disagree'.

The phrase 'most people' is based on the respondent's interpretation - there is no specific definition. The idea is whether people can go about their affairs confidently, expecting that others will generally deal fairly with them and act in the ways normally expected in our society.

Transport difficulties

The person's assessment of how difficult it is for them to travel to places they may need to go to in normal circumstances. Four options were provided:

• can easily get to the places needed
• sometimes have difficulty getting to the places needed
• often have difficulty getting to the places needed
• can't get to the places needed.

If they indicated that they never go out or are housebound this response was recorded. Difficulties which may have been taken into account are traffic problems, parking and distances, as well as those difficulties not directly related to transport such as poor health or lack of finances.

Voluntary work

The provision of unpaid help willingly undertaken in the form of time, service or skills, to an organisation or group, excluding work done overseas.

Some forms of unpaid work, such as student placements or work under a Community Service Order, that were not strictly voluntary have been excluded.