|
EXPLANATORY NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1 This publication contains estimates of public sector employees and cash wages and salaries obtained from the annual Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE).
CONCEPTS, SOURCES AND METHODS
2 The conceptual framework used in SEE 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 employment and earnings statistics, and the sources and methods used in compiling these estimates, are presented in Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2013 (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001).
3 Estimates of employee earnings presented in this publication are based on the Australian conceptual framework for measures of employee remuneration. Refer to paragraphs 24 and 25 for further details.
4 The businesses that contribute to the statistics in this publication are classified:
REFERENCE PERIOD
5 Although earnings estimates relate to the full twelve months, employment estimates relate to the last pay period ending in June of the given year. As a result, estimates of wages and salaries per person employed may be affected by any fluctuations in employment during the reference period.
6 Financial data incorporate all units in scope of the SEE that were in operation at any time during the year.
SCOPE AND COVERAGE
7 All Commonwealth, State and Local government units are represented in this survey except:
- ANZSIC class 6330 Superannuation funds;
- ANZSIC class 7552 Foreign government representation;
- ANZSIC 9559 Other interest group services n.e.c. with SISCA 5000 Non profit institution serving households; and
- ANZSIC subdivision 96 Private households employing staff and undifferentiated goods- and-service-producing activities of households for own use.
8 Also excluded are the following employees who are not regarded as employees for the purposes of this survey:
- members of the Australian permanent defence forces;
- employees of overseas embassies, consulates, etc.;
- employees based outside Australia;
- employees on workers' compensation who are not paid through the payroll; and
- directors and office holders of public sector organisations who are not paid a salary.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN
9 The SEE uses a sample survey methodology and collects information using on-line web form facilities. Approximately 2,000 public sector employing units, selected from the ABS Business Register, are included in the survey.
10 The statistical unit for the survey comprises all the activities of a public sector employer in a particular state or territory based on the Australian Business Number (ABN) unit or Type of Activity Unit. Each statistical unit is classified to an industry which reflects the predominant activity of the business. The statistical units are stratified by state, sector, industry and employment size, and within each stratum, statistical units are selected with equal probability.
11 The sample for SEE, like most ABS business surveys, is selected from the ABSBR which is primarily based on registrations to the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) Pay-As-You-Go Withholding scheme.
STATISTICAL UNITS DEFINED ON THE ABS BUSINESS REGISTER
12 The ABSBR is a list of businesses and organisations operating in Australia and is based on the Australian Business Register (ABR). Organisations are included on the ABR when they register for an ABN. The Commonwealth Government requires all government departments and agencies to make use of the ABR to reduce government imposed reporting load, and to use the ABN as the primary reference number for all dealings between government and business. The ABSBR is used to create frames for the various business surveys run by the ABS.
13 The Economic Units Model is used by the ABS to determine the structure of Australian businesses and other organisations. It is not practicable for the ABS Economic Units Model to be applied to all ABR registrants and is organised into two parts; the profiled population, and the Non-Profiled Population.
14 The Legal Entity (LE) is an institutional unit covering all the operations in Australia of an entity which possesses some or all of the rights and obligations of individual persons or corporations, or which behaves as such in respect of those matters of concern for economic statistics. Examples of legal entities include companies, partnerships, trusts, sole (business) proprietorships, government departments and statutory authorities. Legal entities are institutional units. In most cases the LE is equivalent to a single ABR registration.
15 The Enterprise Group (EG) is an institutional unit that covers all the operations within Australia's economic territory of legal entities under common control. Control is defined in Corporations legislation. Majority ownership is not required for control to be exercised.
16 The TAU comprises one or more Legal Entities, sub-entities or branches of a Legal entity that can report productive and employment activities. TAUs are created if accounts sufficient to approximate Industry Value Added (IVA) are available at the ANZSIC subdivision level.
17 A Location is a producing unit comprised of a single, unbroken physical area from which an organisation is engaged in productive activity on a relatively permanent basis, or at which the organisation is undertaking capital expenditure with the intention of commencing productive activity on a relatively permanent basis at some time in the future.
18 For more information please refer to the appendix to the publication Standard Economic Classifications of Australia (SESCA), 2008 (cat. no. 1218.0).
Profiled Population
19 Businesses and other organisations which are considered sufficiently complex and significant, are profiled by the ABS according to the Economic Units Model. These enterprise groups typically have multiple legal entities and multiple TAUs and are among the largest contributors within industries.
Non-Profiled Population
20 Businesses and other organisations with less complex structures are regarded as an enterprise group with a single legal entity and a single TAU in accordance with the Economic Units Model. Information for units in the non-profiled population is largely sourced from the ABR.
21 The two populations are mutually exclusive and cover all organisations in Australia which have registered for an ABN.
INPUT INTO THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL ACCOUNTS
22 Estimates of employee remuneration for the public sector are one of the inputs to the gross domestic product component of the Australian National Accounts, specifically compensation of employees estimates. The private sector component of compensation of employees estimates is provided by the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey which is published in Business Indicators, Australia (cat. no. 5676.0). For further details see Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods, Edition 3 (cat. no. 5216.0).
COMPARABILITY OF RESULTS
23 The SEE was not conducted in respect of 2010-11. The 2010-11 estimates of public sector employment and cash wages and salaries were produced from the Major Labour Costs Survey.
24 As noted in paragraph 3, estimates of employee earnings from the annual survey have been produced in accordance with the Australian conceptual framework for measures of employee remuneration.
25 The measure of employee earnings presented for the annual series is 'cash wages and salaries', which is regular and irregular wages and salaries in cash, including amounts salary sacrificed.
26 Care should also be taken when comparing data for the public sector over time. Estimates of public sector employment and earnings can change over time due to: changes in the sample design; privatisation of public financial and public trading enterprises; changes to machinery of government, especially resulting from a change of government; and other changes to statistical unit structures, including industry classification, resulting from periodic updating of the Profiled population (refer paragraph 19).
27 Caution should be exercised when comparing estimates of numbers of employees from the SEE with those published monthly in Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) as there are a number of differences between the two collections. The SEE is a business survey that collects information from a sample of employers about their employees, whereas the Labour Force Survey is a household survey that collects information from the occupants of selected dwellings. The two collections use different sample design and survey methodologies and there are differences in scope and coverage. Users are directed to Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) as the primary source for official ABS estimates of employment.
REVISIONS
28 Estimates for the 2011-12 reference year have been revised since the previous issue of this publication due to correcting errors to previously published data and more recent data becoming available. The revisions are incorporated in this publication.
ROUNDING
29 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
30 The following publications contain related information:
- Australian Labour Market Statistics (cat. no. 6105.0) - issued annually;
- Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (cat. no. 6302.0) - issued biannually;
- Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0) - issued biennially;
- Information Paper: Changes to ABS Measures of Employee Remuneration (cat. no. 6313.0) - issued 14 November 2006;
- Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) - issued monthly;
- Wage Price Index, Australia (cat. no. 6345.0) - issued quarterly;
- Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2013 (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001)
- Labour Costs, Australia, 2010-11 (cat. no. 6348.0) - issued 07 May 2012.
|
Quality Declaration 
Print Page
Print All