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INTRODUCTION

1 The statistics in this publication were compiled from data collected in the Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership Survey conducted throughout Australia in August 2004 as a supplement to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS). Respondents to the LFS who fell within the 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 which are 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).

CAI IMPLEMENTATION

4 Information for this survey was collected using computer assisted interviewing (CAI), whereby responses are recorded directly onto an electronic questionnaire on a notebook computer. The CAI method was implemented progressively from October 2003. In August 2004, all interviews were conducted using the CAI method.

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 & Standards).

SCOPE

7 The scope of the LFS was restricted to persons aged 15 years and over and excluded the following persons:

• 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 persons living in very remote parts of Australia who would otherwise have been within the scope of the survey. The exclusion of these persons will have only a minor impact on any aggregate estimates that are produced for individual states and territories, except the Northern Territory where such persons account for over 20% of the population.

10 In addition to those already excluded from the LFS, employees who worked solely for payment in kind in their main job are excluded from this survey.

COVERAGE

11 The estimates in this publication relate to persons covered by the survey in August 2004. 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

12 The initial sample for the August 2004 LFS consisted of 40,663 private dwelling households and special dwelling units. Of the 33,006 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 30,489 or 92.4% were fully responding to the Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership 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 25,789.

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 ASCO - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition (cat. no. 1220.0).

16 Industry data are classified according to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0).

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

NOTES ON ESTIMATES

18 In August 2004, weekly earnings could not be determined for a number of persons. This group includes persons working in their own limited liability company who did not draw a wage or salary. In previous years this category also included cases where information related to weekly earnings was not provided by the respondent. See paragraph 27 which outlines how these records were treated in 2004.

19 Care should be taken when using estimates of mean or median weekly earnings. Employees who did not draw a wage or salary are excluded from estimates of mean or median weekly earnings.

20 Persons who said 'yes' to either of the following questions:

• does your employer/business provide you with paid sick leave?
• does your employer/business provide you with paid holiday leave?
  are categorised as 'with leave entitlements'. In all other cases, respondents are categorised as 'without leave entitlements'.

22 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. As a result of the reduction in sample size, standard errors for this survey differ from those applicable to previous surveys.

23 In August 1990, persons aged 70 years and over were excluded from this survey, restricting the age of respondents to 15-69 years. The scope of surveys since 1991 and surveys run prior to August 1990, included persons aged 70 and over.

24 Care should be taken when comparing movements in mean weekly earnings and employment benefits estimates that include the July 1991 and August 1997 surveys. The usual period between surveys is 12 months; however, in 1991 the elapsed time was 11 months (August 1990 to July 1991), and in 1992 it was 13 months (July 1991 to August 1992). In 1997, the elapsed time was 2 years (August 1995 to August 1997).

25 A change was made in 2002 in the method used to determine whether an employee works full-time or part-time in their main job. Prior to 2002, 'full-time or part-time employees in main job' was derived from a self-perception question in which all employees were asked 'Is your job full-time or part-time?'. Following the redesign in 2001 of the LFS questionnaire, actual hours worked in main job in the reference week is now collected. From August 2002, data on hours worked in main job are used to derive full-time or part-time status of employees in main job.

26 This approach is consistent with the method used in the LFS to derive full-time or part-time status in all jobs. For further details see Glossary entries 'Full-time employees in main job' and 'Full-time workers'.

27 In August 2004, there were 2,924 cases where information relating to earnings was not provided by the respondent. Where this was the only information missing from the record, a value has been imputed based on answers provided from another respondent with similar characteristics (referred to as the donor). Donor records are selected by matching information on sex, age group, state or territory of usual residence and labour force characteristics (full-time or part-time in main job, occupation major group, hours worked in main job) of the person with missing information. Depending on which values are to be imputed, donors are chosen from the pool of individual records with complete information for the block of questions where the missing information occurs.

28 This imputation method was not used in the 2003 survey. In 2003 and previous surveys, employees whose weekly earnings could not be determined were excluded from estimates of mean or median weekly earnings. Care should therefore be taken when comparing 2004 earnings data with earnings data from 2003 and previous years. The table below gives a comparison of the impact of the method on key estimates using 2003 data for illustrative purposes.

EMPLOYEES, Full-time or part-time status in main job
		Mean weekly earnings in main job			Median weekly earnings in main job
		2003(a)	2003(b)	2004(c)	2003(a)	2003(b)	2004(c)
		$	$	$	$	$	$
Males
	Full-time employees	963	965	993	805	805	850
	Part-time employees	304	303	329	230	230	240
	Total	862	867	896	750	750	782
Females
	Full-time employees	786	785	817	700	700	728
	Part-time employees	333	333	355	297	296	320
	Total	571	573	604	515	520	550
Persons
	Full-time employees	900	901	930	769	769	800
	Part-time employees	325	325	349	277	276	300
	Total	726	730	758	635	644	660
(a) As published.
(b) Results for 2003 if data had been imputed using donor imputation method for cases where information relating to earnings was not provided by the respondent.
(c) 2004 data, as published, using donor imputation method.

COMPARABILITY WITH MONTHLY LFS STATISTICS

29 Due to differences in the scope and sample size of this supplementary survey and that of the LFS, the estimation procedure may lead to some small variations between labour force estimates from this survey and those from the LFS.

COMPARABILITY WITH EMPLOYER-BASED AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS SURVEY

30 Caution should be exercised when comparing estimates of mean weekly earnings in this publication with estimates of average weekly earnings included in the quarterly publication Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (cat. no. 6302.0), which are compiled from a survey of employers. There are important differences in the scope and methodology of the two surveys.

31 The quarterly Survey of Average Weekly Earnings excludes employees in the industries of Agriculture, forestry and fishing (ANZSIC Division A) and Private households employing staff (ANZSIC Subdivision 97), both of which are included in this household survey. The quarterly Survey of Average Weekly Earnings collects information from employers who complete a mailed questionnaire with details of their employees' total gross earnings and the total number of employees. For this household survey, respondents are either interviewed personally, or another adult member of their household responds on their behalf.

32 The methodology used in this household survey may result in non-sampling error not evident in surveys of employers (and vice versa). This may account for some of the differences between the results of the two surveys.

PREVIOUS SURVEYS OF WEEKLY EARNINGS

33 Similar surveys have been conducted annually since August 1975, except 1991 when the survey was conducted in July, and in 1996 when the survey was not conducted.

34 Prior to 1998, this publication was titled Weekly Earnings of Employees (Distribution), Australia (cat. no. 6310.0). The change in title reflects the inclusion of employment benefits and trade union membership data previously released in other publications.

PREVIOUS SURVEYS OF EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

35 Results of previous surveys on employment benefits have been published in:

• Employment Benefits, Australia, August 1983 to August 1992 (cat. no. 6334.0)
• Employment Benefits, Australia, August 1994 (cat. no. 6334.0.40.001)
• Weekly Earnings of Employees (Distribution), Australia, August 1995 (cat. no. 6310.0.40.001)
• Weekly Earnings of Employees (Distribution), Australia, August 1997 (cat. no. 6310.0)

• Labour Force, Australia, December 1994, December 1995 (cat. no. 6203.0)
• Trade Union Members, Australia, August 1986, August 1988, August 1990, August 1992, August 1996 (cat. no. 6325.0)
• Trade Union Members, Australia, August 1994 (cat. no. 6325.0.40.001)

• Weekly Earnings of Employees (Distribution), Australia, August 1995 (cat. no. 6310.0.40.001)
• Weekly Earnings of Employees (Distribution), Australia, August 1997 (cat. no. 6310.0)
• Working Arrangements, Australia, November 2000 (cat. no. 6342.0)
• Working Arrangements, Australia, November 2003 (cat. no. 6342.0)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

39 ABS surveys draw extensively on information provided 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

40 Other publications which may be of interest include:

• Australian Labour Market Statistics, cat. no. 6105.0
• Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, cat. no. 6302.0
• Career Experience, Australia, cat. no. 6254.0
• Working Arrangements, Australia, cat. no. 6342.0
• Industrial Disputes, Australia, cat. no. 6321.0
• Labour Force, Australia, cat. no. 6202.0
• Employment Arrangements and Superannuation, Australia, cat. no. 6361.0
• Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, Preliminary, cat. no. 6306.0