DATA SOURCES AND DEFINITIONS

ENDNOTE

DATA SOURCES AND DEFINITIONS Data in this article were drawn from the Census of Population and Housing, conducted in August 2001 and August 2011. Analysis in this article is based on Statistical Areas Level 4 (SA4) regions. SA4s represent labour markets or groups of labour markets and are used for the output of regional labour force estimates. Statistical Areas Level 2 are also used. SA2s generally have a population range of 3,000 to 25,000 persons, and have an average population of about 10,000 persons. They aggregate up into SA4 regions. More information on SA4s and SA2s is available in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, Australia, July 2011 (cat. no. 1270.0.55.001). People usually resident in other territories, and migratory, offshore and shipping areas were excluded from regional analysis (SA4), however were included in totals for Australia. This article uses the Census classification 'Non-School Qualification: Level of Education' (QALLP). This classification describes the level of a person's highest completed non-school qualification. As such, only the highest qualification a person holds is included, and therefore the analysis in this article does not describe the total qualifications held in a population but describes the highest level of attainment in a population. References to higher level qualifications in this article relate to non-school qualifications at the following levels: postgraduate degree, graduate diploma and graduate certificate, bachelor degree, advanced diploma and diploma, certificate III and IV. Certificates level I and II are excluded from the definition of higher level qualifications as these are considered to be below or equivalent to year 12 education level. A proportion of the population aged 20-64 years did not state or provide enough information to determine what their highest level of education was. These people may have a higher level qualification but did not adequately indicate this information on their Census form. For Australia, this represents 11% of people aged 20-64 years in 2011 and 10% in 2001. The definition of 'Higher Level Qualifications' used in this article is equivalent to that of 'Non-school Qualifications' in 'Perspectives on Regional Australia: Non-school Qualifications in Regions, 2011 (cat. no. 1380.0.55.011)' and is consistent with other ABS education publications, such as Perspectives on Education and Training: Australians with qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), 2010–11 (cat. no. 4250.0.55.005).

ENDNOTE

1. The wellbeing of nations: the role of human and social capital, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2001, viewed 18 March 2014 <http://www.oecd.org/site/worldforum/33703702.pdf >