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Definitions and references

Adult employees - employees aged 21 years or over and employees who, although under 21 years of age, are paid at the full adult rate for their occupation.

    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Age pensioners - the number of age pensioners at 30 June. The figure does not include associated wife's or carer's pensions.
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Report

Aged on age pension - the number of age pensioners expressed as a proportion of the aged (men aged 65 years and over and women aged 60 years and over).
Reference: Estimated Resident Population by Sex and Age: States and Territories of Australia (cat. no. 3201.0); Department of
    Social Security Annual Report

Consumer price index (CPI) - a measure of change over time in the retail price of a constant basket of consumer goods and services. The choice of goods and services is representative of consumption patterns of resident employee households in Australian metropolitan areas. Indexed to 1990=100.
    Reference: Consumer Price Index, Australia (cat. no. 6461.0)

Current usual income - usual income at time of interview.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Disability support pensioners - the number of people receiving the disability support pension at 30 June. The figure does not include associated wife's or carer's pensions.
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Report

Employees - all wage and salary earners who received pay for any part of the reference period.
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Equivalent income - current usual income adjusted on the basis of size, composition and labour force status of the income unit, using Henderson equivalence scales.
    Reference: Social Indicators 5 (4101.0)

Female/male ratio of mean total full-time adult weekly earnings -
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Full-time employees - permanent, temporary and casual employees who normally work the agreed or award hours of a full-time employee in their occupation and who received pay for any part of the reference period. If agreed or award hours do not apply, employees are regarded as full-time if they ordinarily work 35 hours or more a week.
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

GDP(A) per capita - gross domestic product (GDP) is an aggregate measure of the value of economic production in Australia in a given period. GDP(A) is an average of income, expenditure and production based GDP.
    Reference: Australian National Accounts; National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5204.0)

GDP spent on income support - special appropriations under the Social Security Act for income support as a proportion of GDP(I) original.
    Reference: Australian National Accounts: National Income and Expenditure (cat. no. 5206.0); Department of Social Security Annual Report

Gini coefficient - an index for measuring inequality of income. The index, always between 0 and 1, is low for populations with relatively equal income distributions and high for populations with relatively unequal distributions.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Gross income - current usual income received per week at the time of interview, before tax or any other deductions are made.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Gross state product per mean head of population - a similar measure to GDP per capita but based on state income estimates.
    Reference: Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5216.0)

Household disposable income per mean head of population - household income less income tax and other direct taxes, fees, fines etc. charged to persons by the general government, consumer debt interest and transfers overseas, expressed as a value per mean head of population in each state/territory.
    Reference: Australian Economic Indicators (cat. no. 1350.0); Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0)

Income unit - a group of related people who live together and form a single spending unit. Income units can be considered to be analogous to family units with the distinction that non-dependant children and other adults living in the same household are treated as separate income units.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Main income source from government benefits - income units who received 50% or more of their current usual income from government pensions or benefits.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Managerial employees - adult managerial, executive and professional staff, generally defined as those employees who do not receive payment for overtime, and/or who are in charge of a significant number of employees in a separate establishment(s).
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Mean total weekly earnings -
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Mean weekly ordinary time earnings of full-time non-managerial adults -
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Median weekly income - the level of weekly income at which half the income units have higher incomes and half have lower incomes.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Net income - gross income less personal income tax (including the Medicare levy).
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Ordinary time - refers to employee's award or standard agreed hours of work. It includes stand-by or reporting time which are part of standard hours of work, and that part of annual leave, paid sick leave and long service leave taken during the reference period.
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Quintile - twenty per cent groupings of the population when income units are ranked in ascending order according to each income unit's income.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Real household disposable income per mean head of population - household disposable income per mean head of population deflated by the implicit price deflator for private final consumption expenditure.
    Reference: Australian Economic Indicators (cat. no. 1350.0); Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0)

Share of gross/net equivalent income going to top/bottom quintile - share of gross/net equivalent income received by the 20% of income units with the highest/lowest incomes.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Sole parent pensioners - the number of recipients of the sole parent pension at 30 June. In 1989, the supporting parent benefit and A class widow pensions were combined to form the sole parent pension. Figures prior to 1989 include these two pensions.
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Reports

Unemployment beneficiaries - the number of recipients of unemployment benefit, job search allowance and new start allowance. June monthly average.
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Report



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