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EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION

1 The statistics in this publication were compiled from data collected in the Persons Not in the Labour Force Survey that was conducted throughout Australia in September 2005 as a supplement to the monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS). Respondents to the LFS who were in scope of the supplementary survey were asked further questions.

2 The publication Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) contains information about survey design, sample redesign, scope, coverage and population benchmarks relevant to the monthly LFS, which also apply to supplementary surveys. It also contains definitions of demographic and labour force characteristics, and information about telephone interviewing relevant to both the monthly LFS and supplementary surveys.

3 From April 2001 the LFS has been conducted using a redesigned questionnaire containing additional questions and some minor definitional changes. These changes also affect the supplementary surveys. For further details, see Information Paper: Implementing the Redesigned Labour Force Survey Questionnaire (cat. no. 6295.0) and Information Paper: Questionnaires Used in the Labour Force Survey (cat. no. 6232.0).

4 Information for this survey was collected using computer-assisted interviewing (CAI), whereby responses are recorded directly onto an electronic questionnaire via a notebook computer. The CAI method was implemented in the LFS progressively between October 2003 and August 2004.

5 The change of interviewing method is not expected to have affected the estimates in any meaningful way.

CONCEPTS SOURCES AND METHODS

6 The conceptual framework used in Australia's LFS aligns closely with the standards and guidelines set out in Resolutions of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians. Descriptions of the underlying concepts and structure of Australia's labour force statistics, and the sources and methods used in compiling these estimates, are presented in Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001) which is available on the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au> (Methods, Classifications, Concepts and Standards).

SCOPE

7 The scope of the LFS is restricted to people aged 15 years and over and excludes the following people:

• members of the permanent defence forces
• certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from census and estimated populations
• overseas residents in Australia
• members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants).

9 This supplementary survey was conducted in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, but excluded approximately 120,000 people living in very remote parts of Australia who would otherwise have been within the scope of the survey. The exclusion of these people will have only a minor impact on any aggregate estimates that are produced for individual states and territories, except the Northern Territory where such people account for around 23% of the population.

COVERAGE

10 The estimates in this publication relate to people covered by the survey in September 2005. In the LFS, coverage rules are applied which aim to ensure that each person is associated with only one dwelling and hence has only one chance of selection in the survey. See Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) for more details.

SAMPLE SIZE

11 Supplementary surveys are not always conducted on the full LFS sample. Since August 1994 the sample for supplementary surveys has been restricted to no more than seven-eighths of the LFS sample. Since it was introduced, this survey has been conducted on various proportional samples and therefore sampling errors associated with previous supplementary surveys may vary from the sampling error for this survey.

12 The initial sample for the September 2005 LFS consisted of 41,671 private dwelling households and special dwelling units. Of the 33,632 private dwelling households and special dwelling units that remained in the survey after sample loss (e.g. households selected in the survey which had no residents in scope for the LFS, vacant or derelict dwellings and dwellings under construction), approximately 30,790 or 91.5% were fully responding to the Persons Not in the Labour Force survey. The number of completed interviews obtained from these private dwelling households and special dwelling units (after taking into account scope, coverage and subsampling exclusions) was 17,512.

RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES

13 Estimates in this publication are subject to sampling and non-sampling errors:

• sampling error is the difference between the published estimate and the value that would have been produced if all dwellings had been included in the survey. For more information see the Technical Note.
• Non-sampling errors are inaccuracies that occur because of imperfections in reporting by respondents and interviewers, and errors made in coding and processing data. These inaccuracies may occur in any enumeration, whether it be a full count or a sample. Every effort is made to reduce the non-sampling error to a minimum by careful design of questionnaires, intensive training and supervision of interviewers, and efficient processing procedures.

CLASSIFICATIONS USED

15 Occupation data are classified according to the ASCO - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition, 1997 (cat. no. 1220.0).

16 Country of birth data are classified according to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 1998 (cat. no. 1269.0).

REVISION TO HISTORICAL DATA

17 Historical estimates of the civilian population for reference periods 1996 to 1999 were revised in the 2000 publication to exclude institutionalised people, and sparsely settled and remote parts of Australia.

COMPARABILITY OF TIME SERIES

18 Revisions are made to population benchmarks for the LFS after each five-yearly Census of Population and Housing. The last such revision was made in February 2004 to take account of the results of the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. Estimates from supplementary surveys conducted from and including February 2004 are therefore based on revised population benchmarks.

19 Persons Not in the Labour Force Surveys conducted up to and including September 1987 included all people aged 15 years and over. From September 1988 to September 2004, the survey excluded all people aged 70 years and over.

20 The scope of the Persons Not in the Labour Force survey was expanded in September 2005 to include all people aged 15 years and over. This change has resulted in an extra 1.6 million people coming within the scope of this survey. Users need to exercise care when comparing the estimates in this publication with previous publications. Direct comparisons should only be made where the populations are the same.

21 Comparability of 2001 to 2005 estimates with previous years, for people who wanted to work, including 'discouraged job seekers', may have been affected by the following:

• As part of the LFS redesigned questionnaire, implemented in April 2001, people aged 65 and over were allowed to specify that they are 'permanently not intending to work'. Those people who answered that they were 'permanently not intending to work' have not been asked for details about 'wanting to work' and 'looking for work'. It is likely that, if they had answered these questions, some of these people may have been classified as people who 'wanted work', and also as 'discouraged job seekers'.
• A further change in the redesigned LFS questionnaire is that it more accurately identifies 'future starters'; that is, people waiting to start, within four weeks of the end of the reference week, a new job that they have already obtained (and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then). Under International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines these people do not have to be actively looking for work to be classified as unemployed, and therefore are not asked questions related to job search activities. If they had been asked why they were not looking for work, it is possible that some may have given reasons other than 'had a job to go to', and as a result could have been classified as 'wanted to work', and also as 'discouraged job seekers'.
• People who are 'permanently unable to work' have been classified as a separate group within Persons Not in the Labour Force Surveys for many years. In the 2005 survey, there were 250,700 people in this group.

23 For the years 1988 to 2004, the difference between the estimates appearing in this publication and Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) is chiefly the result of excluding people aged 70 years and over from the sample of this supplementary survey. In these years, over one-quarter (29%) of the civilian population aged 15 years and over who were not in the labour force were excluded from answering questions because they were aged 70 years and over.

24 Core LFS series from April 1986 to March 2001 have been revised on the basis of the redesigned LFS questionnaire. Supplementary survey data have not been revised.

25 Further information on persons not in the labour force is available in Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

PREVIOUS SURVEYS

26 The Persons Not in the Labour Force Survey was first conducted in May 1975 and again in May 1977. From 1979 to 1987 the survey was collected twice a year (March and September). Since then it has been conducted annually. Results of previous surveys were published in:

• Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia, (cat. no. 6220.0)
• standard data service Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia, (cat. no. 6220.0.40.001) for 1994 and 1995 (available in hardcopy only).

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

28 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated: without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

29 ABS publications which may be of interest include:

• Australian Labour Market Statistics, (cat. no. 6105.0)
• Job Search Experience, Australia, (cat. no. 6222.0)
• Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods, (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001)
• Underemployed Workers, Australia, (cat. no. 6265.0)