Data sources and definitions
WORK: DATA SOURCES
 | Indicators using this source | |
| National indicators | State indicators |
| | |
| ABS Labour Force Survey. | 1-11, 13-21, 25-30, 36-47, 50-51, 54-57 | 1-11, 13-21, 25-30, 36-47, 50-51, 54-57 |
| ABS Labour Force Survey and Australian Demographics Statistics June 2004 (ABS cat. no. 3101.0). | 12 | 12 |
| Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, August 2004 (ABS cat. no. 6310.0). | 22-24, 31 | 22-24, 31 |
| Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, May 2004 (ABS cat. no. 6306.0). | 33-35 | 33-35 |
| Industrial Disputes, Australia, September 2004 (ABS cat. no. 6321.0.55.001). | 32 | 32 |
| Labour Mobility, Australia, February 2004 (ABS cat. no. 6209.0). | 48-49 | 48-49 |
| Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia, September 2004 (ABS cat. no. 6220.0). | 52-53 | 52-53 |
WORK: DEFINITIONS
Average hours worked per week
aggregate hours worked by a group divided by the number of persons in that group.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Discouraged jobseekers
persons who were marginally attached to the labour force, wanted to work and who were available to start work within four weeks but whose main reason for not actively seeking work was that they believed they would not find a job for any of the following reasons:
- considered too old or too young by employers
- difficulties with language or ethnic background
- lacked necessary schooling, training, skills or experience
- no jobs in their locality or line of work
- they considered that there were no jobs available at all.
Employed
- persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week:
- worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind, in a job or business or on a farm (comprising employees, employers and own account workers)
- worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers)
- were employees who had a job but were not at work and were
- away from work for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week
- away from work for more than four weeks up to the end of the reference week and received pay for some or all of the four week period to the end of the reference week
- away from work as a standard work or shift arrangement
- on strike or locked out
- on workers' compensation and expected to return to their job
- were employers or own account workers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.
Employee
a person who works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, a retainer fee by their employer while working on a commission basis, tips, piece rates or payment in kind, or a person who operates his or her own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Employees without leave entitlements
employees who were not entitled to either paid holiday leave nor
sick leave in their main job.
Reference: Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6310.0).
Employer
a person who operates their own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Extended labour force underutilisation rate
the unemployed, plus the underemployed, plus two groups of persons marginally attached to the labour force:
i. persons actively looking for work, not available to start work in the reference week, but were available to start work within four weeks
ii. discouraged jobseekers
as a percentage of the labour force augmented by (i) and (ii).
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Full-time employed
persons who usually worked 35 hours or more a week (in all jobs) and those who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Industrial dispute
a state of disagreement over an issue or group of issues between an employer and its employees, which results in employees ceasing work.
Industrial disputes comprise of strikes, which are a withdrawal from work by a group of employees; and lockouts, which are a refusal by an employer or group of employers to permit some or all of their employees to work.
Reference: Industrial Disputes, Australia (ABS cat. No. 6321.0.55.001).
Labour force
the labour force is the labour supply available for the production of economic goods and services in a given period, and is the most widely used measure of the economically active population.
Persons in the labour force are classified as either employed or unemployed according to their activities during the reference period by using a specific set of priority rules.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Labour force underutilisation rate
the unemployed plus the underemployed, as a percentage of the labour force.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Long-term unemployed
persons unemployed for a period of 52 weeks or longer.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Manufacturing industries
consists of the manufacturing division of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).
Reference: ANZSIC 1993 (ABS cat. no. 1292.0).
Marginally attached
persons aged 15-69 years who were not in the labour force, wanted to work and; were actively looking for work but were not available to start; or were not actively looking for work, but were available to start work or would have been if child care was available.
Reference: Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6220.0).
Median age
the age at which half the given population is older and half is younger.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Median duration of unemployment
the duration which divides unemployed persons into two equal groups, one comprising persons whose duration of unemployment is above the median and the other, persons whose duration is below it.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Occupation
a collection of jobs which are sufficiently similar in their main tasks to be grouped together for the purposes of classification.
The Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, which is used for the classification of occupations, applies skill level and skill specialisation as major criteria. Skill level is measured by: formal education and training, and previous experience usually required for entry into an occupation. ASCO Second Edition assigns each of the nine major groups in the classification to one of five ranked skill levels.
Skill Level 1 - Managers and administrators and Professionals
Skill Level 2 - Associate professionals
Skill Level 3 - Tradespersons and related workers and Advanced clerical and service workers
Skill Level 4 - Intermediate production and transport workers and Intermediate clerical, sales and service workers
Skill Level 5 - Elementary clerical, sales and service workers and Labourers and related workers
Reference: ASCO - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second edition (ABS cat. no. 1220.0).
Own account worker
a person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires no employees. (This category was formerly entitled self-employed).
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Participation rate
for any group, the labour force participation rate within the population is the labour force component of that group, expressed as a percentage of the population of that group.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Part-time employed
persons who usually worked less than 35 hours a week (in all jobs) and either did so during the survey reference week, or were not at work in the reference week.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Pay set by award only
employees who had their pay set by an award, and who were not paid more than the award rate of pay.
Reference: Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6306.0).
Pay set by collective agreements
employees who had the main part of their pay set by a registered or unregistered collective agreement or enterprise award.
Reference: Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6306.0).
Pay set by individual arrangements
employees who had the main part of their pay set by an individual contract, registered individual agreement (e.g.Australian Workplace Agreement), common law contract, employees who receive overaward payments by individual agreement, and working proprietors of incorporated businesses.
Reference: Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6306.0).
Persons employed part-time who prefer more hours
persons employed part-time who indicated they would prefer to work more hours.
Proportion of the total population in employment
the number of employed persons expressed as a percentage of the total population. Also known as employment to population ratio.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Retrenchment rate
total persons retrenched during the 12 month period before the survey, as a percentage of all people who had been employed at some time over the same period. Persons retrenched are those who ceased their last job because they were either:
- employees who were laid off, including no work available,retrenched, made redundant, employer went out of business or dismissed
- self employed persons whose business closed down for economic reasons, including 'went broke', liquidated, no work, or no supply or demand.
Service industries
the combination of the following divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC): Wholesale trade; Retail trade; Accommodation, cafes and restaurants; Transport and storage; Communication services; Finance and insurance; Property and business services; Government administration and defence; Education; Health and community services; Cultural and recreational services; and Personal and other services.
Reference: ANZSIC 1993 (ABS cat. no. 1292.0).
Trade union members
employees with membership in an organisation consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members, in conjunction with their main job.
Reference: Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6310.0).
Underemployed
underemployed workers are employed persons who want, and are available for, more hours of work than they currently have. They comprise:
- Persons employed part-time who want to work more hours and are available to start work with more hours, either in the reference week or in the four weeks subsequent to the survey.
- Persons employed full-time who worked part-time hours in the reference week for economic reasons (such as being stood down or insufficient work being available). It is assumed that these people wanted to work full-time in the reference week and would have been available to do so.
Unemployed
persons aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the reference week, and had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week, and:
- were available for work in the reference week
- were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week, and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then.
Unemployed looking for full-time work
unemployed persons who actively looked for full-time work and were either available for work in the reference week or were not available for work in the reference week because they were waiting to start a new full-time job.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Unemployment rate
for any group, the number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the labour force in the same group.
Reference: Australian Labour Market Statistics (ABS cat. no. 6105.0).
Working days lost
total working days lost by employees directly or indirectly involved in industrial disputes.
Reference: Industrial Disputes, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6321.0.55.001).
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