GLOSSARY
Balance of state
That part of each Australian state or territory not defined as capital city. Balance of state estimates for Northern Territory are regarded as too unreliable to publish separately since they exclude collection districts defined as very remote, which account for a significant proportion of the population. All of the Australian Capital Territory is defined as capital city for this publication.
Capital city
Refers to Australia's six state capital city Statistical Divisions and the Darwin Statistical Division as defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0). For the Australian Capital Territory the estimates relate predominantly to urban areas.
Collection district
The Census Collection District (CD) is the smallest geographic area defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0).
Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement
An agreement made between the Australian, state and territory governments under the Housing Assistance Act 1996 (Cwlth) to provide strategic direction and funding certainty for the provision of housing assistance.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
A general measure of price inflation for the household sector in Australia. Specifically, it provides a measure of changes, over time, in the cost of a constant basket of goods and services acquired by capital city households in Australia.
Couple
Two persons in a registered or de facto marriage, who usually live in the same household.
Deciles
Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic, such as their household income, and then dividing the population into 10 equal groups, each comprising 10% of the estimated population.
Dependent children
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.
Disposable income
Gross income less income tax and the Medicare levy i.e. remaining income after taxes are deducted, which is available to support consumption and/or saving. Income tax and the Medicare levy are imputed based on each person's income and other characteristics as reported in the survey. Disposable income is sometimes referred to as net income.
Dwelling
Defined as a suite of rooms contained within a building which are self-contained and intended for long-term residential use. To be self-contained the suite of rooms must possess cooking and bathing facilities as building fixtures. See also Dwelling structure.
Employed
Persons aged 15 years and over who, during the week before the interview:
- worked one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (includes employees, employers and own account workers)
- worked one hour or more, without pay, in a family business or on a family farm
- had a job, business or farm but was not at work because of holidays, sickness or other reason.
Employee
An employed person who, for most of his/her working hours:
- works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages or salary, or is paid a retainer fee by his/her employer and works on a commission basis, or works for an employer for tips, piece-rates or payment in kind, or
- operates his or her own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.
Employer
A person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees.
Equity in the dwelling
A household's equity in the dwelling is the difference between the value of the dwelling and the total amount outstanding on loans related to the dwelling. The loans included are any mortgages on the dwelling (excluding those for business or investment purposes), and any unsecured loans taken out for housing purposes.
Equivalised disposable household income
Disposable household income adjusted using an equivalence scale. For a lone person household it is equal to disposable household income. For a household comprising more than one person, it is an indicator of the disposable household income that would need to be received by a lone person household to enjoy the same level of economic wellbeing as the household in question. For further information see Appendix 3 in Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2005-06 (cat. no. 6523.0).
Family
Two or more people, 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 usually live in the same household. A separate family is formed for each married couple, or for each set of parent-child relationships where only one parent is present.
Flat, unit or apartment
Includes all self-contained dwellings in blocks of flats, units or apartments. These dwellings do not have their own private grounds and usually share a common entrance foyer or stairwell. This category includes houses converted into flats and flats attached to houses such as granny flats. A house with a granny flat attached is regarded as a separate house.
Gross imputed rent
The estimated market rent that a dwelling would attract if it were to be commercially rented.
Gross income
Regular cash receipts (including salary sacrificed income) before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted.
Household
A person living alone or a group of related or unrelated people who usually live in the same private dwelling.
Housing costs
Housing costs for the purpose of calculating net imputed rent for owner-occupiers in this study comprise:
- rates payments (general and water)
- body corporate fees
- the interest component of mortgage and unsecured loan repayments, where the loan was obtained for the purposes of purchasing or building
- rent payments
- house insurance costs
- repair and maintenance costs.
Income
Regular and recurring cash receipts including monies received from:
- wages and salaries (whether from an employer or own incorporated enterprise), including income provided as part of a salary sacrifice arrangement
- profit/loss from own unincorporated business (including partnerships)
- investment income (interest, rent, dividends, royalties)
- government pensions and allowances
- private cash transfers (e.g. superannuation, regular workers' compensation, income from annuities, child support, and other transfers from other households).
Gross income is the sum of the income from all these sources before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted. Note that child support and other transfers from other households are not deducted from the incomes of the households making the transfers. Other measures of income are disposable income and equivalised disposable income.
See also Gross income, Disposable income and Equivalised disposable household income.
Incorporated business
An incorporated business is a company that has a registered business name with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and a legal status which is separate to that of the individual owners of the business.
Landlord type
For renters, the type of entity to whom rent is paid or with whom the tenure contract or arrangement is made.
Lone person household
A household consisting of a person living alone.
Low income households
For the purpose of this publication, low income households are defined as those containing the 20% of people with equivalised disposable household income between the 10th and 30th percentiles.
Market rent
The rent that a dwelling would attract if it was commercially rented.
Market renter
For the purpose of this study, a market renter is a household that rents its dwelling from a real-estate agent, an unrelated person not living in the same household, or the owner/manager of a caravan park.
Medicare levy
Medicare is Australia's universal health care system. The Medicare levy is a specific tax, based on individual income, intended to assist in the funding of this system.
Mortgage
A mortgage is a loan taken out using the usual residence as security. An owner with a mortgage must still owe money from such a loan.
Net imputed rent
Gross imputed rent less housing costs. Net imputed rent is an estimate of the value for the flow of household consumption services conferred by home ownership or by households paying subsidised rent or occupying their dwelling rent-free.
Net worth
Net worth represents the difference between the value of household assets (both financial and non-financial) and the value of household liabilities. Net worth is positive when the value of a household's assets exceeds the value of its liabilities. Net worth is negative when household liabilities exceed household assets.
Non-dependent children
All people aged 15 years and over who:
- do not have a spouse or offspring of their own in the household
- have a parent in the household, and
- are not full-time students aged 15-24 years.
One parent family with dependent children
One parent family with dependent children - a household comprising a lone parent with at least one dependent child. The household may also include non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals.
Own unincorporated business income
The profit/loss that accrues to persons as owners of, or partners in, unincorporated businesses. Profit/loss consists of the value of gross output of the business less operating expenses (including depreciation). Losses occur when operating expenses are greater than gross receipts and are treated as negative income.
Owner (of dwelling)
A household in which at least one member owns the dwelling in which the household members usually reside. Owners are divided into two classifications - owners without a mortgage and owners with a mortgage. If there is any outstanding mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner with a mortgage. If there is no mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner without a mortgage.
Owner-occupied dwelling
A dwelling usually inhabited by its owner.
Private renter
A household paying rent to a landlord who is a real estate agent, a parent or other relative not in the same household, or another person not in the same household.
Public renter
A household paying rent to a state or territory housing authority or trust.
Quintiles
Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic, such as their household income, and then dividing the population into five equal groups, each comprising 20% of the estimated population. In this publication the quintiles are formed by ranking people by their equivalised disposable household income.
Reference person
The reference person for each household is chosen by applying, to all household members aged 15 years and over, the selection criteria below, in the order listed, until a single appropriate reference person is identified:
- one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, with dependent children
- one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, without dependent children
- a lone parent with dependent children
- the person with the highest income
- the eldest person.
For example, in a household containing a lone parent with a non-dependent child, the one with the higher income will become the reference person. However, if both individuals have the same income, the elder will become the reference person.
Renter
A household which pays rent to reside in the dwelling. See Tenure type and Landlord type.
Salary sacrifice
An arrangement under which an employee agrees contractually to forgo part of their remuneration, which the employee would otherwise receive as wages and salaries, in return for the employer or someone associated with the employer providing benefits of a similar value.
State/territory housing authority
A state/territory government authority which, under the Housing Assistance Act 1996 (Cwlth) and in accordance with a Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement, is charged with the provision of housing assistance.
Subsidised renter
A household renting its dwelling for less than it would be expected to pay in a commercial market. For the purpose of this study, subsidised renters are those households renting from a parent or other relative not living in the same household, an employer, or a housing cooperative or community/church group. However, some households in these categories were judged to be paying commercial rents; net imputed rent for such households was zero.
Tenure type
The nature of a household's legal right to occupy the dwelling in which the household members usually reside. Tenure is determined according to whether the household owns the dwelling outright, owns the dwelling but has a mortgage or loan secured against it, is paying rent to live in the dwelling, occupies the dwelling rent free, or has some other arrangement to occupy the dwelling. For the purpose of this study, renters have been further disaggregated into market renters, tenants of state/territory housing authorities and other subsidised renters, based on their landlord type.
Unincorporated business
A business in which the owner(s) and the business are the same legal entity, so that, for example, the owner(s) are personally liable for any business debts that are incurred.
Wages and salaries
The gross cash income received as a return to labour from an employer or from a person's own incorporated business. Salary sacrificed income is regarded as cash or 'near cash' income and is included in the scope of wages and salaries.
Wealth
See Net worth.
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