Age
The date of birth field has been used to calculate age. Wage and salary earner data applicable to persons aged 15 years and over.
Average wage and salary income
Calculated by dividing total wage and salary income by the number of wage and salary earners (as defined).
Income tax year
Refers to the financial year, i.e. 1 July to 30 June. Note: Wages and salaries for some taxpayers may not relate to a whole year's employment or may relate to more than one job during the year.
Local Government Area (LGA)
These areas are the spatial units which represent the geographical areas of incorporated local government councils and incorporated Community Government Councils (CGCs) where the CGC is of sufficient size and statistical significance. The various types of LGAs are cities (C), areas (A), boroughs (B), rural cities (RC), towns (T), shires (S), district councils (DC) and municipalities (M).
Median wage and salary income
The median is the mid value which divides a population distribution into two, with half of the observations falling below it and half above it. Median wage and salary income has been calculated from data provided in ranges and therefore the distribution within a range has been assumed to be even. Care should be taken when using the data and the median treated as an estimate only. Medians have not been calculated for areas with small numbers of wage and salary earners.
Metropolitan Australia
Metropolitan areas in each state and territory have been defined as the Capital City Statistical Division with exceptions in New South Wales, where the Newcastle and Wollongong SSDs have also been included; Victoria, where the Greater Geelong City Part A SSD has been included; and Queensland, where the Gold Coast City Part B and Sunshine Coast SSDs have been included. For the Northern Territory, Darwin City SSD and Palmerston-East Arm SSD have been defined as metropolitan. For further details, including lists of SLAs and LGAs that make these SDs and SSDs, see Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), 2001 (cat. no. 1216.0).
Non-metropolitan Australia
Non-metropolitan areas cover all other parts of a state or territory excluding the metropolitan areas as defined above.
Occupation
Taxpayers who earned wage and salary income are asked by the ATO to provide details of the title of their occupation for the job in which they earned the most wage and salary income. From the income tax return, occupation is coded to the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, First Edition. In addition some ATO specific codes are also used. These are: (a) Members of the defence forces, (b) Pensioners and social security benefit recipients and (c) Unemployed persons. These specific ATO codes comprise less than 1% of the total wage and salary earner population for Australia and have been included in the category 'not stated'. Further details about the occupation classification can be referenced in Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) - Statistical Classification (First Edition), 1993, (cat. no. 1222.0).
(Note: The total number of wage and salary earners in the category 'not stated' is high at around 27% for total Australia in 1995-96, 25% in 1996-97, 24% in 1997-98, 22% in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and 20% in 2000-01. For some SLAs the 'not stated' category is as high as 50%, although in many of these SLAs the 'Members of the defence forces' category contributes significantly to the high proportion. The 'not stated' category includes non-response to the occupation question, occupation descriptions which were unable to be coded and the ATO specific codes as mentioned above. In addition, due to internal auditing purposes within the ATO, some occupations are not coded for some individuals. Most of these are lower income earners. The magnitude of the contribution of each of these groups to the 'not stated' category is unknown).
PAYG payment summary - individual non-business
A summary received at the end of the financial year by a wage or salary earner which details amounts earned from the employer during the year and the tax withheld. (Note: Previously called Group Certificate).
Principal source of income
The source from which the most income was received during the financial year.
Statistical Division (SD)
These consist of one or more SSDs. The divisions are designed to be relatively homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable social and economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities.
Statistical Local Area (SLA)
These geographical areas are in most cases identical with, or have been formed from a division of, whole LGAs. In other cases, they represent unincorporated areas. In aggregate, SLAs cover the whole of a state or territory without gaps or overlaps. In some cases legal LGAs overlap Statistical Subdivision boundaries and therefore comprise two or three SLAs (Part A, Part B and, if necessary, Part C).
Statistical Subdivision (SSD)
These are of intermediate size, between SLAs and SDs. In aggregate, they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. They are defined as socially and economically homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable links between the inhabitants. In the non-urban areas an SSD is characterised by identifiable links between the economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities.
Total income
The sum of income from all sources as reported on the individual income tax return for the financial year.
Wage and salary earners
Persons aged 15 years and over who have submitted a tax return and for whom wage and salary income was the principal or main source of income for the financial year.
Wage and salary income
Includes gross income as shown on the 'PAYG (Pay As You Go) payment summary - individual non-business' as well as allowances, commissions, bonuses, tips, gratuities, consultation fees, honoraria and other payments for services. Allowances and other earnings may include car, travel or transport allowances, allowances for tools, clothing or laundry and dirt, risk, meal or entertainment allowances, etc. The statistics were compiled from questions 1 and 2 on the individual income tax return (2000-01).
DATA CLASSIFICATIONS
Age
15 - 24
25 - 34
35 - 44
45 - 54
55 and over
Occupation (Major Groups) - ASCO First Edition
1 Managers and Administrators
2 Professionals
3 Para-Professionals
4 Tradespersons
5 Clerks
6 Salespersons and Personal Service Workers
7 Plant and Machine Operators
8 Labourers and Related Workers
9 Not stated
Occupation (Minor Groups) - ASCO First Edition
11 Legislators and Government Appointed Officials
12 General Managers
13 Specialist Managers
14 Farmers & Farm Managers
15 Managing Supervisors (Sales & Service)
16 Managing Supervisors (Other Business)
21 Natural Scientists
22 Building Professionals and Engineers
23 Health Diagnosis and Treatment Practitioners
24 School Teachers
25 Other Teachers and Instructors
26 Social Professionals
27 Business Professionals
28 Artists and Related Professionals
29 Miscellaneous Professionals
31 Medical and Science Technical Officers and Technicians
32 Engineering and Building Associates and Technicians
33 Air and Sea Transport Technical Workers
34 Registered Nurses
35 Police
39 Miscellaneous Para-Professionals
41 Metal Fitting and Machining Tradespersons
42 Other Metal Tradespersons
43 Electrical & Electronics Tradespersons
44 Building Tradespersons
45 Printing Tradespersons
46 Vehicle Tradespersons
47 Food Tradespersons
48 Amenity Horticultural Tradespersons
49 Miscellaneous Tradespersons
51 Stenographers and Typists
52 Data Processing and Business Machine Operators
53 Numerical Clerks
54 Filing, Sorting and Copying Clerks
55 Material Recording and Despatching Clerks
56 Receptionists, Telephonists and Messengers
59 Miscellaneous Clerks
61 Investment, Insurance and Real Estate Salespersons
62 Sales Representatives
63 Sales Assistants
64 Tellers, Cashiers and Ticket Salespersons
65 Miscellaneous Salespersons
66 Personal Service Workers
71 Road and Rail Transport Drivers
72 Mobile Plant Operators (except Transport)
73 Stationary Plant Operators
74 Machine Operators
81 Trades Assistants and Factory Hands
82 Agricultural Labourers and Related Workers
83 Cleaners
84 Construction and Mining Labourers
89 Miscellaneous Labourers
99 Not Stated, Inadequately Described
Sex
Males
Females
Total Income (Annual)
nil/negative income
$1 to less than $10,400
$10,400 to less than $20,800
$20,800 to less than $31,200
$31,200 to less than $41,600
$41,600 to less than $52,000
$52,000 or more
Wage and Salary Income (Annual)
$1 to less than $10,400
$10,400 to less than $20,800
$20,800 to less than $31,200
$31,200 to less than $41,600
$41,600 to less than $52,000
$52,000 or more
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