SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Jun Qtr 2009 to Sep Qtr 2009	Sep Qtr 2008 to Sep Qtr 2009
			% change	% change
Wage Price Index (WPI) Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses Trend(a)
	Australia		0.7	3.4
	Sector
		Private	0.7	3.1
		Public	1.0	4.5
Original
	Australia		0.9	3.4
	Sector
		Private	0.8	3.1
		Public	1.4	4.6
(a) See Explanatory Notes paragraphs 45-46, 49

			2007-08	2008-09
			% change	% change
Labour price index excluding bonuses
	Australia		4.1	3.5
	Sector
		Private	4.1	3.5
		Public	4.0	3.7

WPI - Quarterly changes: Trend(a), Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses

WPI - Annual change: original, Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses - For selected industries, Sep Qtr 2009

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS

TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGE (JUN QTR 2009 TO SEP QTR 2009)

• The index for all employee jobs in Australia increased by 0.7%, in trend terms.

ANNUAL CHANGE (SEP QTR 2008 TO SEP QTR 2009)

• The increase in the trend index through the year to September 2009 for all employee jobs in Australia was 3.4%.

LABOUR PRICE INDEX EXCLUDING BONUSES

CHANGE FROM 2007-08 TO 2008-09

• The change to 2008-09 was 3.5%, with the private sector increasing by 3.5% and the public sector by 3.7%.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
December 2009	24 February 2010
March 2010	19 May 2010
June 2010	18 August 2010
September 2010	17 November 2010

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

From the September quarter 2009, indexes presented in the tables containing the industry classification reflect the contemporary Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) 2006. Data in previous issues were based on the 1993 version of ANZSIC. Indexes for previous periods have been reproduced on an ANZSIC 2006 basis by reclassifying the businesses that reported data in earlier periods to the appropriate industry division of ANZSIC 2006. Index movements for Australia, state/territory, sector and All industries series were not affected by the introduction of the new industry classification.

The distribution of expenditure on wages, provided in Appendix 1, has been updated to reflect the new industry classification. The distribution of expenditure on wages updated annually on an ANZSIC 2006 basis is now available for previous issues in a spreadsheet (Table A1) on the ABS website.

Further information about the introduction of ANZSIC 2006 can be found in Information Paper: Update on ANZSIC 2006 Implementation for the Labour Price Index, Australia, 2009 (cat.no. 6345.0.55.001).


NEW INDEX REFERENCE BASE

From the September quarter 2009, all index numbers have been calculated on a new reference base of 2008-09, that is, the numbers in each index series have been reset to equal 100.0 for the financial year 2008-09. Period-to-period percentage changes may differ slightly to those previously published due to re-referencing and rounding. These differences do not constitute a revision. See Appendix 2 for more detail.


ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Original indexes are compiled for various combinations of state/territory, sector and broad industry group. Indexes not included in this publication may be made available on request by telephoning Kathryn Parlor on Perth (08) 9360 5151 or email labour.price.index@abs.gov.au.


DATA REFERENCES

Data referenced in the Key Points and Commentary are available from the tables shown in this publication or in the corresponding tables of this publication on the ABS website <https://www.abs.gov.au>.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Kathryn Parlor on Perth (08) 9360 5151.